VOA标准英语2013--Conservatives See Victory in Budget Cuts

 

Conservatives See Victory in Budget Cuts

Earlier this week, Obama was back in campaign mode at a shipyard in Virginia, warning about the dangers of the mandatory¹ budget cuts.

"So these cuts are wrong. They are not smart. They are not fair. They are a self-inflicted wound that does not have to happen,” he said.

While the president is determined² to find a way to avoid the cuts, Republicans like Representative Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee are just as committed to seeing them through.

“OK, the brakes have got to be put on, and we are committed to this, and we realize the severity of it, and it is kind of one of those forks in the road, if you will, where you say you can’t kick the can any more," she stated. "Give me the can. It is spending cuts. It’s got to happen.”

Blackburn is typical of the Republican majority in the House of Representatives, which with the backing of Tea Party elements, is bent³ on reducing the size of the federal government.

“It is encouraging for me to see so many of my colleagues, and also the American people, come to the realization⁴ that the federal government is too big, it is too unwieldy, it has too much control over our lives,” Blackburn added.

Congressional Democrats⁵ say the Republicans' single-minded approach on budget cuts is an obstacle to compromise and will hurt the economy.

Among those taking issue is House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi.

“They are just making noise. They are just saying something that might sound good for domestic consumption back home. But they did not come here to legislate⁶. They are not here to get something done because their caucus⁷ is dominated by anti-government idealogues,” Pelosi said.

Polls show the public will blame Republicans if the budget cuts turn out to be severe. But many Republicans are more worried about the reaction from conservatives if they back away from budget cuts, says analyst⁸ Norm Ornstein.

“If you are sitting there in the House you may be mildly fearful that there could be a huge backlash. But the bigger risk for most of those members is the backlash from their own right wing and not from a broader public uneasiness with the direction they are going,” Ornstein noted⁹.

But others believe there is plenty of blame to go around for both sides, including Republican analyst Scot Faulkner.

“Because everybody is so mired¹⁰ in their own biases¹¹. They are not willing to look up from those biases and really govern," he said. "They are in permanent campaign mode, and that means they can’t govern.”

Both sides now await reaction from the public as the budget cuts slowly take effect. 

1 mandatory   

adj.命令的；强制的；义务的；n.受托者

参考例句：

• It's mandatory to pay taxes.缴税是义务性的。
• There is no mandatory paid annual leave in the U.S.美国没有强制带薪年假。

2 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。

3 bent   

n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的

参考例句：

• He was fully bent upon the project.他一心扑在这项计划上。
• We bent over backward to help them.我们尽了最大努力帮助他们。

4 realization   

n.实现；认识到，深刻了解

参考例句：

• We shall gladly lend every effort in our power toward its realization.我们将乐意为它的实现而竭尽全力。
• He came to the realization that he would never make a good teacher.他逐渐认识到自己永远不会成为好老师。

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 legislate   

vt.制定法律；n.法规，律例；立法

参考例句：

• Therefore,it is very urgent to legislate for the right of privacy.因此，为隐私权立法刻不容缓。
• It's impossible to legislate for every contingency.为每一偶发事件都立法是不可能的。

7 caucus   

n.秘密会议；干部会议；v.（参加）干部开会议

参考例句：

• This multi-staged caucus takes several months.这个多级会议常常历时好几个月。
• It kept the Democratic caucus from fragmenting.它也使得民主党的核心小组避免了土崩瓦解的危险。

8 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

9 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

10 mired   

abbr.microreciprocal degree 迈尔德（色温单位）v.深陷( mire的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The country was mired in recession. 这个国家陷入了经济衰退的困境。
• The most brilliant leadership can be mired in detail. 最有才干的领导也会陷于拘泥琐事的困境中。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

11 biases   

偏见( bias的名词复数 )； 偏爱； 特殊能力； 斜纹

参考例句：

• Stereotypes represent designer or researcher biases and assumptions, rather than factual data. 它代表设计师或者研究者的偏见和假设，而不是实际的数据。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓
• The net effect of biases on international comparisons is easily summarized. 偏差对国际比较的基本影响容易概括。