美国国家公共电台 NPR--Debt ceiling stalemate is one of the issues Biden and McCarthy will discuss

Debt ceiling stalemate is one of the issues Biden and McCarthy will discuss

Transcript¹

President Biden and House Speaker McCarthy hold a meeting at the White House Wednesday. They're hoping to reach an agreement about the federal debt limit.

A MART?NEZ, HOST:

President Biden says he will not negotiate with Republicans over whether to pay the nation's debts. He's expected to hold firm on that position when he meets with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy at the White House today.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

It's the first time the two have met since McCarthy became speaker. They face a recurring² problem that grows out of a quirk³ of American law. Congress effectively votes twice on federal spending. They vote once for popular federal programs and then vote separately to allow the unpopular borrowing to finance those same programs. Many lawmakers vote yes for one thing while voting no on the other. Speaker McCarthy has said he wants cuts on future spending before the House will pay its existing bills.

MART?NEZ: Let's ask White House correspondent Asma Khalid some questions about this.

So, Asma, what message is the president trying to send to Kevin McCarthy?

ASMA KHALID, BYLINE⁴: Well, his opening position is that raising the debt ceiling is not a negotiation⁵. He says it's an obligation. You know, the situation here is that a couple of weeks ago, the Treasury⁶ Department said that the U.S. had already reached its debt limit. And that means, you know, it could be a major trouble if there's not an agreement to raise the debt ceiling by this summer. This news, of course, has been rattling⁷ financial markets and investors⁸ who don't want to see economic uncertainty⁹. And so the White House position, at least publicly, is that it absolutely will not negotiate around the debt ceiling. We've heard this from the president directly.

And, A, there has been a lot of lead-up to this meeting between Biden and McCarthy - you know, I would say, some public jockeying we've seen. Yesterday, in fact, the White House circulated a memo¹⁰ saying the president intends to push McCarthy to commit to never defaulting on the United States financial obligations.

MART?NEZ: And there's been a lot of public jockeying, actually. So what do Republicans want?

KHALID: Essentially¹¹, they want concessions¹² in terms of future spending, or promises around future spending. They see this as an opportunity for leverage¹³ because Republicans now control the House. Kevin McCarthy, the speaker of the House, the newly elected Republican speaker, told CBS' "Face The Nation" on Sunday that he does not want to see the U.S. default, but he blames President Biden for being unwilling¹⁴ to negotiate.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "FACE THE NATION")

KEVIN MCCARTHY: I know the president said he didn't want to have any discussions, but I think it's very important that our whole government's designed to find compromise. I want to find a reasonable and a responsible way that we can lift the debt ceiling but take control of this runaway¹⁵ spending.

KHALID: There was even some more public jockeying yesterday. McCarthy took to Twitter to respond directly and publicly to Biden ahead of this meeting. He said he's not interested in political games, and he is coming to the White House to negotiate for the American people.

MART?NEZ: All right - not a lot of details there. I mean, has he proposed any specific cuts?

KHALID: I will say it is unclear what House Republicans mean when they say that they want to see spending cuts. We've heard some vocal¹⁶ Republicans call for cuts to Social Security and Medicare. Over the weekend, McCarthy insisted multiple times that those entitlement benefits will not be on the chopping block. You know, broadly, he has criticized Democrats¹⁷ for big spending, and he wants to assess where the government can become more efficient.

Leading up to this meeting, Biden said to McCarthy, show me your budget, and I'll show you mine. The White House says it's going to release a budget on March 9 and that it's, you know, essential McCarthy released a budget also to spell out how he intends to make those cuts. But again, I want to be really abundantly clear. The president has said he does not think any spending cuts in the budget ought to be linked to conversations about the debt limit.

MART?NEZ: NPR's Asma Khalid. Thanks a lot.

KHALID: Happy to do it.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 recurring   

adj.往复的，再次发生的

参考例句：

• This kind of problem is recurring often. 这类问题经常发生。
• For our own country, it has been a time for recurring trial. 就我们国家而言，它经过了一个反复考验的时期。

3 quirk   

n.奇事，巧合；古怪的举动

参考例句：

• He had a strange quirk of addressing his wife as Mrs Smith.他很怪，把自己的妻子称作史密斯夫人。
• The most annoying quirk of his is wearing a cap all the time.他最令人感到厌恶的怪癖就是无论何时都戴著帽子。

4 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

5 negotiation   

n.谈判，协商

参考例句：

• They closed the deal in sugar after a week of negotiation.经过一星期的谈判，他们的食糖生意成交了。
• The negotiation dragged on until July.谈判一直拖到7月份。

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 rattling   

adj. 格格作响的, 活泼的, 很好的 adv. 极其, 很, 非常 动词rattle的现在分词

参考例句：

• This book is a rattling good read. 这是一本非常好的读物。
• At that same instant,a deafening explosion set the windows rattling. 正在这时，一声震耳欲聋的爆炸突然袭来，把窗玻璃震得当当地响。

8 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

9 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。

10 memo   

n.照会，备忘录；便笺；通知书；规章

参考例句：

• Do you want me to send the memo out?您要我把这份备忘录分发出去吗？
• Can you type a memo for me?您能帮我打一份备忘录吗？

11 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

12 concessions   

n.（尤指由政府或雇主给予的）特许权( concession的名词复数 )；承认；减价；（在某地的）特许经营权

参考例句：

• The firm will be forced to make concessions if it wants to avoid a strike. 要想避免罢工，公司将不得不作出一些让步。
• The concessions did little to placate the students. 让步根本未能平息学生的愤怒。

13 leverage   

n.力量，影响；杠杆作用，杠杆的力量

参考例句：

• We'll have to use leverage to move this huge rock.我们不得不借助杠杆之力来移动这块巨石。
• He failed in the project because he could gain no leverage. 因为他没有影响力，他的计划失败了。

14 unwilling   

adj.不情愿的

参考例句：

• The natives were unwilling to be bent by colonial power.土著居民不愿受殖民势力的摆布。
• His tightfisted employer was unwilling to give him a raise.他那吝啬的雇主不肯给他加薪。

15 runaway   

n.逃走的人，逃亡，亡命者；adj.逃亡的，逃走的

参考例句：

• The police have not found the runaway to date.警察迄今没抓到逃犯。
• He was praised for bringing up the runaway horse.他勒住了脱缰之马受到了表扬。

16 vocal   

adj.直言不讳的；嗓音的；n.[pl.]声乐节目

参考例句：

• The tongue is a vocal organ.舌头是一个发音器官。
• Public opinion at last became vocal.终于舆论哗然。

17 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》