VOA慢速英语2010年-Economics Report - Groups Offer Ideas

This is the VOA Special English Economics Report.
Continuing debt problems in Greece and Portugal. The banking¹ crisis in Ireland. A trillion-dollar deficit² in the United States. These are all reasons why high levels of public debt are a big worry around the world.
Countries that keep spending a lot more than they earn may not be able to repay their debts. That risk of default can make it harder and costlier³ for them to borrow more money. Heavy debt can also affect a country's competitiveness.
Voter anger at government spending and taxes helped lead to the big Republican gains in America's elections this month.
President Obama says for the economy to improve, the government must cut spending and reduce its deficit. In February, he formed the National Commission on Fiscal⁴ Responsibility and Reform. The two chairmen are Erskine Bowles, a Democrat⁵, and Alan Simpson, a Republican.
Last week, the chairmen presented their own ideas for how to cut the federal deficit to about two percent of the economy by twenty fifteen. The administration estimates this year's deficit at about ten and a half percent.
The two chairmen say their proposals would cut the deficit by almost four trillion dollars over the next ten years. One hundred billion would come from the military. Other proposals would cut the federal workforce⁶ by ten percent and freeze civilian⁷ pay.
Democrat Erskine Bowles, left, and Republican Alan Simpson meet with reporters in Washington to present their plan for reducing the government's budget deficit The chairmen propose to simplify the tax laws and reduce tax rates. But they also propose to cut some popular tax breaks. One target is deductions⁸ for interest paid on home mortgage loans over five hundred thousand dollars.
Another proposal would add two years to the full retirement⁹ age for Social Security -- raising it to sixty-nine by about twenty seventy-five.
The commission includes current and former lawmakers from both parties. The group is supposed to reach a compromise acceptable to at least fourteen of the eighteen members by December first.
Other groups are offering their own debt reduction plans. Former senator Pete Domenici and former Clinton administration official Alice Rivlin led a task force that presented its plan on Wednesday.
That plan aims to save six trillion dollars over ten years. It would freeze federal spending for several years, change the tax laws -- and create a national sales tax.
And that's the VOA Special English Economics Report, written by Mario Ritter. You can download all of our programs, including transcripts¹⁰, at voaspecialenglish.com. I’m Steve Ember.
___

1 banking   

n.银行业，银行学，金融业

参考例句：

• John is launching his son on a career in banking.约翰打算让儿子在银行界谋一个新职位。
• He possesses an extensive knowledge of banking.他具有广博的银行业务知识。

2 deficit   

n.亏空，亏损；赤字，逆差

参考例句：

• The directors have reported a deficit of 2.5 million dollars.董事们报告赤字为250万美元。
• We have a great deficit this year.我们今年有很大亏损。

3 costlier   

adj.昂贵的( costly的比较级 )；代价高的；引起困难的；造成损失的

参考例句：

• Alligator skin is five times more costlier than leather. 鳄鱼皮比通常的皮革要贵5倍。 来自互联网
• Disagreements among creditors can be costlier still. 债权人之间的分歧会加大重组的费用。 来自互联网

4 fiscal   

adj.财政的，会计的，国库的，国库岁入的

参考例句：

• The increase of taxation is an important fiscal policy.增税是一项重要的财政政策。
• The government has two basic strategies of fiscal policy available.政府有两个可行的财政政策基本战略。

5 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。

6 workforce   

n.劳动大军，劳动力

参考例句：

• A large part of the workforce is employed in agriculture.劳动人口中一大部分受雇于农业。
• A quarter of the local workforce is unemployed.本地劳动力中有四分之一失业。

7 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

8 deductions   

扣除( deduction的名词复数 )； 结论； 扣除的量； 推演

参考例句：

• Many of the older officers trusted agents sightings more than cryptanalysts'deductions. 许多年纪比较大的军官往往相信特务的发现，而不怎么相信密码分析员的推断。
• You know how you rush at things,jump to conclusions without proper deductions. 你知道你处理问题是多么仓促，毫无合适的演绎就仓促下结论。

9 retirement   

n.退休，退职

参考例句：

• She wanted to enjoy her retirement without being beset by financial worries.她想享受退休生活而不必为金钱担忧。
• I have to put everything away for my retirement.我必须把一切都积蓄起来以便退休后用。

10 transcripts   

n.抄本（ transcript的名词复数 ）；转写本；文字本；副本

参考例句：

• Like mRNA, both tRNA and rRNA are transcripts of chromosomal DNA. tRNA及rRNA同mRNA一样，都是染色体DNA的转录产物。 来自辞典例句
• You can't take the transfer students'exam without your transcripts. 没有成绩证明书，你就不能参加转学考试。 来自辞典例句