VOA慢速英语2010年-Economics Report - Obama Urges Steps t

This is the VOA Special English Economics Report.

This week, President Obama proposed new measures to lift the economy. The central bank in its latest report said there was continued growth in the past several weeks, but with "widespread signs" of slowing.

Congressional elections are November second. One new survey showed that forty-nine percent of likely voters think Republicans should control Congress. Other polls find that about sixty percent of Americans think the country is going in the wrong direction.

President Obama gave a speech Wednesday near Cleveland, Ohio. He proposed a tax plan for businesses that make capital improvements, like buying new equipment.

BARACK OBAMA: "And I'm proposing that all American businesses should be allowed to write off all the investment they do in 2011. And this will help small businesses upgrade their plants and equipment, and will encourage large corporations to get off the sidelines and start putting their profits to work in places like Cleveland and Toledo and Dayton."

Mr. Obama also proposed to permanently¹ extend a tax credit for research and development.

President Obama discussing the economy at Cuyahoga Community College West Campus in Parma, Ohio, Wednesday

And on Monday he offered a plan for "rebuilding and modernizing²" America’s roads, rails and runways. He said it would create jobs and improve transportation. The plan would cost fifty billion dollars, but he promised it would not add to the budget deficit³ over time.

The president spoke⁴ in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Both speeches were in the Midwest, an area hit hard by the recession.

He said almost every Republican in Congress is saying no to his ideas. But retiring Senator George Voinovich of Ohio tells the Washington Post that he plans to help push a bill through the Senate next week. That bill, supported by the president, contains measures to help small businesses.

Still, there is disagreement over the future of the tax cuts approved under President George W. Bush. These are set to end this December. President Obama wants to extend the tax cuts for families that earn less than two hundred fifty thousand dollars a year.

But John Boehner of Ohio, the Republican minority leader in the House of Representatives, told ABC News:

JOHN BOEHNER: "You can’t have a strong economy if you’re raising taxes on the very people you expect to invest in our economy to begin hiring people again."

Republicans oppose ending the tax cuts for higher earners. They say it would hurt small businesses. Democrats⁵ argue that few small businesses earn enough for their taxes to go up.

Congress passed a big stimulus⁶ bill shortly after the president took office last year. But there is little that his newest proposals could do to help the economy before November.

And that's the VOA Special English Economics Report, written by Mario Ritter. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and iTunes at VOA Learning English. I’m Steve Ember.
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Includes reporting by Mil Arcega and Michael Bowman
 

1 permanently   

adv.永恒地，永久地，固定不变地

参考例句：

• The accident left him permanently scarred.那次事故给他留下了永久的伤疤。
• The ship is now permanently moored on the Thames in London.该船现在永久地停泊在伦敦泰晤士河边。

2 modernizing   

使现代化，使适应现代需要( modernize的现在分词 )； 现代化，使用现代方法

参考例句：

• Modernizing a business to increase its profitability and competitiveness is a complicated affair. 使企业现代化，从而达到增加利润，增强竞争力的目的，是一件复杂的事情。
• The young engineer had a large share in modernizing the factory. 这位年轻工程师在工厂现代化的过程中尽了很大的“力”。

3 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。

4 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

5 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 stimulus   

n.刺激，刺激物，促进因素，引起兴奋的事物

参考例句：

• Regard each failure as a stimulus to further efforts.把每次失利看成对进一步努力的激励。
• Light is a stimulus to growth in plants.光是促进植物生长的一个因素。