VOA慢速英语2011-Obama, Boehner and America's Newly Divide

FAITH LAPIDUS: Welcome to THIS IS AMERICA in VOA Special English. I’m Faith Lapidus.

STEVE EMBER: And I’m Steve Ember. This week on our program, we look at the new Congress in Washington.

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FAITH LAPIDUS: The one hundred twelfth Congress opened last Wednesday. The new speaker of the House of Representatives is John Boehner. The Republican from Ohio replaces Democrat¹ Nancy Pelosi of California.

Four years ago, Ms. Pelosi became the first woman ever elected speaker. She will now serve as the minority leader.

NANCY PELOSI: "We now engage in a strong symbol of American democracy -- the peaceful and respectful exchange of power."

STEVE EMBER: John Boehner is sixty-one years old. He grew up the second oldest of twelve children in his family in Ohio. His father owned a bar called Andy's Cafe that his grandfather started. He says working there when he was growing up taught him how to deal with all kinds of people.

House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio holds up the gavel during the first session of the 112th Congress

He also likes to say that his parents used what little money they had to send all their children to Catholic schools. The future House speaker worked nights as a cleaning man to pay for college.

He went on to become president of a plastics company and served in the Ohio state legislature for six years. He was first elected to the House of Representatives in nineteen ninety. He was among a group of first-term Republicans known as the "Gang of Seven" who fought to change Congress.

FAITH LAPIDUS: Last week, Mr. Boehner wiped tears from his eyes as he gave his first speech as House speaker. His new job puts him second in line to the presidency² after the vice³ president.

JOHN BOEHNER: "The American people have humbled⁴ us. They have refreshed our memories as to just how temporary the privilege to serve is. They have reminded us that everything here is on loan from them."

FAITH LAPIDUS: And Speaker Boehner said voters sent a clear message that they are not happy with the situation in the country.

House Speaker John Boehner holds up the gavel after receiving it from outgoing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi

JOHN BOEHNER: "We gather here today at a time of great challenges. Nearly one in ten of our neighbors are looking for work. Health care costs are still rising for American families. Our spending has caught up with us, and our debt will soon eclipse the entire size of our entire economy.

"Hard work and tough decisions will be required of the one hundred twelfth Congress. No longer can we fall short. No longer can we kick the can down the road. The people voted to end business as usual, and today we begin carrying out their instructions."

STEVE EMBER: On the first day, House Republicans passed new rules that aim to cut government spending-- rules that Democrats⁵ criticized. The new rules say any proposed spending increases must be paid for with cuts in other areas.

Also, all legislation will have to be available for anyone to read online three days before a vote. And bills will have to list their basis in the United States Constitution.

This new attention to the Constitution included an eighty-four-minute reading of the document in the House last Thursday.

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STEVE EMBER: But members did not read the parts like those about slavery that were later amended⁶ out of the Constitution.

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FAITH LAPIDUS: This week, House Republicans plan a vote to repeal⁷ the new health care law. However, that effort to end the law faces opposition⁸ in the Senate where Democrats still hold a majority.

Republicans could also try to deny money to pay for the health law or vote against parts of it. But they would have to get enough votes in both houses to defeat a presidential veto.

The law is known as the Affordable⁹ Care Act. President Obama signed the bill last March. The aim is for most Americans to have health insurance by twenty fourteen. The law also faces a fight in the courts over whether the government can require people to buy coverage¹⁰.

Still, the health care law represented one of a number of legislative¹¹ victories for President Obama last year. That was while his Democratic Party controlled both houses of Congress. Mr. Obama also signed into law the biggest rewrite of financial rules since the nineteen thirties.

STEVE EMBER: But as the economy suffered, so did the president’s approval ratings. He was not alone.

Political experts say the last Congress was one of the most productive in American history. By December, however, only thirteen percent of Americans said they approved of the way Congress was handling its job. That was a new low in more than thirty years of public opinion findings by the Gallup organization.

By comparison, the president's approval rating was about forty-five percent after the congressional elections in November.

Those elections gave Republicans control of the House of Representatives for the first time in four years. Republicans also made gains in the Senate. President Obama took responsibility for the results.

BARACK OBAMA: "After what I’m sure was a long night for a lot of you -- and needless to say it was for me -- I can tell you that some election nights are more fun than others. Some are exhilarating; some are humbling¹²."

FAITH LAPIDUS: Many of the new Republican members of the House are young Tea Party activists¹³. They support tax and spending cuts and limited government.

Norman Ornstein is a political scientist at the American Enterprise Institute. He says voters punished Democrats because unemployment remains¹⁴ high. He says the political climate may be even more divided now, since many moderate Democrats and Republicans have been replaced.

NORMAN ORNSTEIN: "We’ve had plenty of times when we have had enormous tension, with the impeachment¹⁵ of President Nixon. We had the impeachment of President Clinton, we had the Vietnam War, we had the Iran-Contra investigation¹⁶, periods when the two parties had an enormously high level of tension. But this is simply worse."

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STEVE EMBER: Third-term Representative Michele Bachmann is a Republican from Minnesota and a favorite of the Tea Party movement. She talked about the trillion-dollar federal deficit¹⁷ on the CBS program "Face the Nation." She said Republicans have a simple message for the new Congress.

Rep. Michele Bachmann

MICHELE BACHMANN: “Stop spending money that you do not have.”

STEVE EMBER: One of the first budget battles of two thousand eleven will center on whether to raise the debt limit in order to borrow more money.

Mike Kelly is a newly elected Republican representative from Pennsylvania.

MIKE KELLY: “Raising the debt ceiling, to me, is absolutely irresponsible. We have been spending money for so long that we do not have, and keep saying this is OK, that we will raise taxes and find it somewhere.”

FAITH LAPIDUS: The Obama administration says not raising the debt limit could leave the United States without enough money to pay its bondholders around the world.

Economic adviser¹⁸ Austan Goolsbee says federal budget deficits¹⁹ must be cut. But he said on ABC’s "This Week" program that they must not be cut in a way that damages economic recovery.

AUSTAN GOOLSBEE: “If you are going to skimp²⁰ on important investments that we need to grow, you are making a mistake. The longer-run fiscal²¹ challenge facing the country is important. But that is totally different than saying we should tighten²² the belt in the midst of coming out of the worst recession since nineteen twenty-nine.”

STEVE EMBER: Republicans are promising²³ to move quickly to cut tens of billions of dollars in government spending. In nineteen ninety-five, Democrat Bill Clinton faced a budget battle with a Republican-controlled Congress in his first term as president. That fight led to a temporary shutdown of government offices.

Now, President Obama faces an opposition-controlled House for the last two years of his term. Mark Penn advised President Clinton, and says President Obama will need Republican help to get things done.

MARK PENN: "Right now I think the president has got to do two key things: move to the center, focus on the economy."

STEVE EMBER: Mr. Obama has agreed to extend the tax cuts from the Bush administration for all Americans for two more years. He had wanted to extend them for all except the wealthiest Americans, but he compromised with Republicans.

FAITH LAPIDUS: Conservative commentator²⁴ Amy Holmes also believes the president should move to the political center.

AMY HOLMES: "I think in the next two years, if President Obama does move to the center, if he does triangulate, much like Bill Clinton did, and pursue policies where there is common ground with Republicans, he can get small things done."

The president will soon offer some idea of how much his plans have or have not changed when he gives his State of the Union speech.

STEVE EMBER: At the White House, a reorganization has begun, in part to prepare for Mr. Obama's re-election campaign in two thousand twelve. Among the changes: the president's spokesman announced last week that he is leaving. Press secretary Robert Gibbs will become a private consultant²⁵ advising President Obama.

David Axelrod, left, talks with Robert Gibbs

Political adviser David Axelrod will be returning to Chicago to work on the campaign. And coming from Chicago will be William Daley as the new chief of staff. Mr. Daley is a banking²⁶ executive with extensive business experience. He was Bill Clinton's commerce secretary. And he comes from Chicago's most powerful political family.

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FAITH LAPIDUS: Our program was written and produced by Brianna Blake, with reporting by Kent Klein, Michael Bowman and Cindy Saine. I’m Faith Lapidus.

STEVE EMBER: And I’m Steve Ember. You can comment on our programs and find transcripts²⁷ and MP3s at voaspecialenglish.com. Join again next week for THIS IS AMERICA in VOA Special English.

1 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。

2 presidency   

n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期)

参考例句：

• Roosevelt was elected four times to the presidency of the United States.罗斯福连续当选四届美国总统。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency.两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。

3 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

4 humbled   

adj. 卑下的，谦逊的，粗陋的 vt. 使 ... 卑下，贬低

参考例句：

• The examination results humbled him. 考试成绩挫了他的傲气。
• I am sure millions of viewers were humbled by this story. 我相信数百万观众看了这个故事后都会感到自己的渺小。

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 Amended   

adj. 修正的 动词amend的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He asked to see the amended version. 他要求看修订本。
• He amended his speech by making some additions and deletions. 他对讲稿作了些增删修改。

7 repeal   

n.废止，撤消；v.废止，撤消

参考例句：

• He plans to repeal a number of current policies.他计划废除一些当前的政策。
• He has made out a strong case for the repeal of the law.他提出强有力的理由，赞成废除该法令。

8 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

9 affordable   

adj.支付得起的，不太昂贵的

参考例句：

• The rent for the four-roomed house is affordable.四居室房屋的房租付得起。
• There are few affordable apartments in big cities.在大城市中没有几所公寓是便宜的。

10 coverage   

n.报导，保险范围，保险额，范围，覆盖

参考例句：

• There's little coverage of foreign news in the newspaper.报纸上几乎没有国外新闻报道。
• This is an insurance policy with extensive coverage.这是一项承保范围广泛的保险。

11 legislative   

n.立法机构，立法权；adj.立法的，有立法权的

参考例句：

• Congress is the legislative branch of the U.S. government.国会是美国政府的立法部门。
• Today's hearing was just the first step in the legislative process.今天的听证会只是展开立法程序的第一步。

12 humbling   

adj.令人羞辱的v.使谦恭( humble的现在分词 )；轻松打败（尤指强大的对手）；低声下气

参考例句：

• A certain humbling from time to time is good. 不时受点儿屈辱是有好处的。 来自辞典例句
• It has been said that astronomy is a humbling and character-buildingexperience. 据说天文学是一种令人产生自卑、塑造人格的科学。 来自互联网

13 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

15 impeachment   

n.弹劾；控告；怀疑

参考例句：

• Impeachment is considered a drastic measure in the United States.在美国，弹劾被视为一种非常激烈的措施。
• The verdict resulting from his impeachment destroyed his political career.他遭弹劾后得到的判决毁了他的政治生涯。

16 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

17 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。

18 adviser   

n.劝告者，顾问

参考例句：

• They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
• Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。

19 deficits   

n.不足额( deficit的名词复数 )；赤字；亏空；亏损

参考例句：

• The Ministry of Finance consistently overestimated its budget deficits. 财政部一贯高估预算赤字。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Many of the world's farmers are also incurring economic deficits. 世界上许多农民还在遭受经济上的亏损。 来自辞典例句

20 skimp   

v.节省花费，吝啬

参考例句：

• She had to skimp to send her son to college.她必须节俭来供她儿子上大学。
• Older people shouldn't skimp on food or heating.老年人不应过分吝惜食物或取暖方面的开销。

21 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。

22 tighten   

v.(使)变紧；(使)绷紧

参考例句：

• Turn the screw to the right to tighten it.向右转动螺钉把它拧紧。
• Some countries tighten monetary policy to avoid inflation.一些国家实行紧缩银根的货币政策，以避免通货膨胀。

23 promising   

adj.有希望的，有前途的

参考例句：

• The results of the experiments are very promising.实验的结果充满了希望。
• We're trying to bring along one or two promising young swimmers.我们正设法培养出一两名有前途的年轻游泳选手。

24 commentator   

n.注释者，解说者；实况广播评论员

参考例句：

• He is a good commentator because he can get across the game.他能简单地解说这场比赛，是个好的解说者。
• The commentator made a big mistake during the live broadcast.在直播节目中评论员犯了个大错误。

25 consultant   

n.顾问；会诊医师，专科医生

参考例句：

• He is a consultant on law affairs to the mayor.他是市长的一个法律顾问。
• Originally,Gar had agreed to come up as a consultant.原来，加尔只答应来充当我们的顾问。

26 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。

27 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