U.S. President Barack Obama is proposing modest cuts in government spending to help offset major investments in health-care, education and energy initiatives.
美国总统奥巴马提议适度削减政府开支，以平衡在医疗保险、教育以及能源新项目上的巨大投入。
The president says all the programs being eliminated or reduced are wasteful or unnecessary.
总统说，所有被取消或是削减的项目都是浪费和不必要的开支。
"We can no longer afford to spend as if deficits do not matter and waste is not our problem," said President Obama. "We can no longer afford to leave the hard choices for the next budget, the next administration, or the next generation."
他说：“我们再也负担不起那种认为赤字没什么，浪费也不是问题的花钱方式了。我们不能再把难题留给下一个预算、下一届政府或是下一代来解决。”
First round of cuts is modest
The first round of cuts is modest, $17 billion out of the president's $3.55-trillion budget proposal for 2010. But Mr. Obama makes clear they are an important start.
奥巴马的第一轮提议比较温和，削减总额将达到170亿美元。这些经费只占奥巴马2010年财政预算3万5000亿美元的很小一部分，但是，奥巴马明确表示，这是一个重要的开端。
"At this moment, at this difficult time for our nation, we cannot accept business as usual," said Mr. Obama. "We cannot accept anything less than a government ready to meet the challenges of our time."
他说：“在这个时候，在我们国家困难的时刻，一切都不会一如既往。如果一个政府不能应对时代的挑战，我们不能接受这样的政府。”
Some unnecessary defense programs will be cut
The list of cuts being sent to Congress for approval includes a long-range radio navigation system rendered obsolete by satellite technology, and an early education program that has yielded poor results. About half the cuts will come in unnecessary defense programs, including weapons systems not needed for 21st century warfare.
提交国会批准的削减项目清单包括一个远程无线电导航系统，由于卫星技术的发展，这个项目早已过时。另外一个是效果不佳的早期教育项目。大约一半的削减项目来自不必要的国防项目，包括不适应21世纪战争需要的武器系统。
The president says all these cuts will help bring the deficit down, and will free up money to fund budget priorities.
奥巴马总统说，所有这些削减项目都会有助于赤字的下降，同时让部分资金解套，用于预算中更重要的项目。
Republicans: budget cuts will have little impact
But Republicans in Congress say they will have little if any impact. Judd Gregg is the top Republican on the Senate Budget Committee.
但是国会共和党人说，这些削减措施的影响力微乎其微的。参议院预算委员会席位最高的共和党参议员贾德.格雷格说：
"It is as if this was the Gobi Desert or the Sahara Desert, and you came along and took a few pieces of sand off the desert," said Senator Gregg.
“这就像戈壁沙漠或是撒哈拉大沙漠，你走过来，从沙漠里取走几颗沙子而已。”
Gregg says the cuts are not nearly enough to offset the huge cost of new initiatives requested by the president.
格雷格说，消减的幅度还不够抵消总统提议的新项目的巨大开支。
"While you are taking these few dollars out, which I congratulate the president for trying to do, they are adding back in massive amounts of spending," he said.
他说：“你削减几个美元，总统能这么做，当然我表示赞赏，可转过身来却又把省下来的几个钱投入到规模更大的支出中。”
Congress has already approved the broad outlines of the president's budget proposal for 2010. But the hard work lies ahead as lawmakers negotiate details - agency by agency, and program by program - before the government's new fiscal year begins October 1.
国会已经批准了总统提出得2010年预算的大致计划，但是前面的任务艰巨。在10月1号开始新的财政年度之前，议员们必须就细节进行辩论，对各个部门和各个项目逐一进行审议。 |