VOA标准英语2008年-Bush Meets Democrats on Stimulus

By Scott Stearns
White House
22 January 2008

President Bush says he is optimistic about reaching agreement with opposition¹ legislators on an economic stimulus² package. VOA White House Correspondent Scott Stearns reports, the U.S. central bank has cut the key interest rate in an effort to boost the troubled U.S. economy and stop a global sell-off of stocks.

President Bush met with leaders from both political parties in Congress to brief them on his trip to the Middle East last week.  But it was concern about the U.S. economy that dominated Mr. Bush's session with lawmakers. 

"I believe we can find common ground to get something done that is big enough and effective enough so that an economy that is inherently strong gets a boost to make sure that this uncertainty³ does not translate into more economic woes⁴ for our workers and small business people," said Mr. Bush.

President Bush says he has reasonable expectations about how quickly an economic stimulus plan can get through Congress, but he is optimistic that it will.

Mr. Bush says broad-based tax relief must be big enough to make a difference. So he is proposing an amount equal to about one percent of the value of all U.S. goods and services. That is between $140 billion and $150 billion.

Before their meeting at the White House, Senate Majority Leader Harry⁵ Reid and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi met with Treasury⁶ Secretary Henry Paulson, who was named by President Bush as his lead negotiator on the stimulus plan.

Speaker Pelosi told reporters that congressional Democrats⁷ are ready to work with their Republican colleagues and the president.

"It's important that we have a stimulus package that is timely, that is temporary, and that is targeted," she said.  "To that end, we are going to work in a bipartisan way in Congress and with the president to do just that."

President Bush wants tax incentives⁸ for businesses to make investments this year as well as direct and rapid income tax relief for individuals.

Democrats agree on the need to help individual taxpayers⁹, but they also want to boost unemployment benefits and food aid in the stimulus package.  That social spending may face opposition from a president who says the deal should not include spending projects with little immediate¹⁰ impact on the economy.

President Bush remains¹¹ determined¹² to make his record tax cuts permanent, but removed what would have been a big obstacle to any deal by agreeing not to include that demand in this request for temporary economic stimulus.

Stock markets around the world have declined recently as investors¹³ worry that a slowing U.S. economy could hurt businesses in the many nations that trade with the United States. Federal Reserve officials say they cut rates to 3.5 percent to ease tight credit.   

1 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。

2 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。

3 uncertainty   

n.易变，靠不住，不确知，不确定的事物

参考例句：

• Her comments will add to the uncertainty of the situation.她的批评将会使局势更加不稳定。
• After six weeks of uncertainty,the strain was beginning to take its toll.6个星期的忐忑不安后，压力开始产生影响了。

4 woes   

困境( woe的名词复数 )； 悲伤； 我好苦哇； 某人就要倒霉

参考例句：

• Thanks for listening to my woes. 谢谢您听我诉说不幸的遭遇。
• She has cried the blues about its financial woes. 对于经济的困难她叫苦不迭。

5 harry   

vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼

参考例句：

• Today,people feel more hurried and harried.今天，人们感到更加忙碌和苦恼。
• Obama harried business by Healthcare Reform plan.奥巴马用医改掠夺了商界。

6 treasury   

n.宝库；国库，金库；文库

参考例句：

• The Treasury was opposed in principle to the proposals.财政部原则上反对这些提案。
• This book is a treasury of useful information.这本书是有价值的信息宝库。

7 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》

8 incentives   

激励某人做某事的事物( incentive的名词复数 )； 刺激； 诱因； 动机

参考例句：

• tax incentives to encourage savings 鼓励储蓄的税收措施
• Furthermore, subsidies provide incentives only for investments in equipment. 更有甚者，提供津贴仅是为鼓励增添设备的投资。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

9 taxpayers   

纳税人，纳税的机构( taxpayer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Finance for education comes from taxpayers. 教育经费来自纳税人。
• She was declaiming against the waste of the taxpayers' money. 她慷慨陈词猛烈抨击对纳税人金钱的浪费。

10 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

11 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。

12 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

13 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会