評論
打印
In the Senate, progressive Sen. Sherrod Brown will lead the Banking Committee. In the aftermath of the financial crisis a dozen years ago, he championed an initiative to break up the largest banks; it was stymied by the panel's then-chairman Chris Dodd, with an assist by the Obama administration. Now Brown is in a position to resurrect the idea, knowing it could generate bipartisan support—and in recent days he signaled an eagerness for aggressive action when he said, "Wall Street doesn't get to run this entire economy" and reiterated his call for "breaking up the big banks."
在參議院，進步派參議員謝羅德·布朗將領導銀行委員會。在十幾年前爆發的金融危機的余波中，他倡導了一項拆分最大銀行的倡議；該倡議遭到了當時該委員會主席多德的阻撓，奧巴馬政府也是幫兇。現在布朗有能力重新提出這個想法，因為他知道這可能會獲得兩黨的支持。最近幾天，他表示迫切希望采取積極行動，他說：“華爾街無法管理整個美國經濟”，并再次呼吁“拆分大銀行”
Meanwhile, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders will chair the powerful Senate Budget Committee. He will be able to set federal spending priorities and also be in a position to use the arcane process known as reconciliation to try to circumvent the Senate filibuster for big-ticket items such as the one he recently floated: an emergency program to extend medical coverage to anyone during the pandemic, whether or not they have existing insurance coverage.
與此同時，佛蒙特州參議員伯尼·桑德斯將擔任參議院預算委員會主席。他將能夠確定聯邦支出的優先次序，也能夠利用“預算調節”的神秘程序來試圖繞過參議院的阻撓，解決一些大問題，比如他最近提出的一項緊急計劃：在疫情期間向所有人提供醫療保險，無論他們現在是否參保。
During the Obama era, Democrats often declined to wield their power—they did not use budget reconciliation to try to enact a public health insurance option, for example, and they did not employ the CRA to repeal Bush-era regulations. By contrast, Republicans during the Trump presidency used reconciliation to pass his giant tax cut for the wealthy, and weaponized the CRA to scrap 14 Obama regulations.
在奧巴馬時代，民主黨人經常拒絕行使權力，例如，他們沒有利用預算調節來制定公共醫療保險方案，他們也沒有利用國會審查法來廢除布什時代的規定。相比之下，特朗普任總統期間的共和黨人利用預算調節通過了他對富人的巨額減稅，并將國會審查法武器化，廢除了奧巴馬的14項規定。
Sanders understands the imperative of using every tool possible to make change. "We have to act with a boldness that we have not seen in this country since FDR," he told NBC News. "If we do not, I suspect that in two years we will not be in the majority."
桑德斯明白使用一切可能的工具進行變革的必要性。他對NBC新聞說：“我們必須大膽行動，即使自羅斯福總統以來我們在美國從未實行過。”“如果我們不這樣做，我懷疑兩年后我們將不會占多數席位。”
Biden campaigned for the presidency promising to restore a pre-crisis normal. But that is not enough to pull America back from the abyss and stave off the surge of authoritarianism today—just as it was not enough during the Great Depression.
拜登競選總統時承諾恢復危機前的正常狀態。但這還不足以把美國從深淵中拉回來，也不足以阻止當今的獨裁主義浪潮，就像大蕭條時期的舉措還不夠一樣。
Back then, Roosevelt seemed to appreciate that business as usual would not stave off fascism and rescue the country—much, much more was required.
當時，羅斯福似乎意識到，一切照舊并不能避免法西斯主義和拯救國家，還需要更多。
"There must be an end to a conduct in banking and in business which too often has given to a sacred trust the likeness of callous and selfish wrongdoing," he said in his first inaugural address. "Restoration calls, however, not for changes in ethics alone. This nation asks for action, and action now."
他在第一次就職演說中說：“必須終止金融業和商業中的一種作法，它常常使得神圣的委托深似無情和自私的惡行。”“然而，恢復需要的不僅僅是改變道德規范。美國要求采取行動，現在就行動。”
Those words ring true in this moment of peril—the best hope for America is not a vapid Biden paean to the "soul of this nation," but a Biden administration that is pressed by progressives to take action and deliver real material gains to the working class.
這些話也同樣適用這個危機四伏的時刻，美國最大的希望不是拜登對“美國的靈魂”的乏味贊歌，而是拜登政府在進步人士的壓力下采取行動，為工人階級帶來真正的物質利益。
If that does not happen, then a new right-wing authoritarian will likely ride another wave of anger at the continued inequality, destitution and dysfunction—and that next menace is likely to be even more dangerous than Trump.
如果這種情況沒有發生，那么一個新的右翼威權主義者很可能會再次崛起于持續的不平等、貧困和功能失調中，下一個威脅可能比特朗普更危險。
譯文由可可原創，僅供學習交流使用，未經許可請勿轉載。
