評論
打印
=====精彩回顧=====
【President Obama Makes a Statement on Averting Tax Hikes for Middle Class Families】
奧巴馬就避免中產階級家庭增稅講話
THE PRESIDENT: Good afternoon, everybody. For the past couple of months, I’ve been working with leaders of both parties to try and forge an agreement that would grow our economy and shrink the deficit -- a balanced plan that would cut spending in a responsible way but also ask the wealthiest Americans to pay a little more, and, above all, protect our middle class and everybody who is striving to get into the middle class.
各位下午好。在過去的幾個月里，我一直與兩黨領導人試圖達成一項協議，促進我國經濟增長，減少財政赤字——平衡方案不僅規定合理削減開支，而且需要美國最富有的人承擔更多的稅收，并且，最重要的是，保護我們的中產階級以及正努力進入中產階級的人群。
I still want to get this done. It’s the right thing to do for our families, for our businesses, and for our entire economy. But the hour for immediate action is here. It is now.
我仍然想把這事干好。對于我們的家庭、企業以及整個經濟，這都是要做的正確事情。但立即采取行動的時刻是在這里，就是現在。
We’re now at the point where, in just four days, every American’s tax rates are scheduled to go up by law. Every American’s paycheck will get considerably smaller. And that would be the wrong thing to do for our economy, it would be bad for middle-class families, and it would be bad for businesses that depend on family spending. Fortunately, Congress can prevent it from happening if they act right now.
按照法律規定，四天后所有美國人的稅率都將增加。每個人的薪水會少很多。對于我國經濟，這是不正確的做法，將對中產階級以及依賴家庭開銷的企業產生糟糕的影響。幸運的是，如果國會立即采取行動，可以防止這種事情發生。
I just had a good and constructive discussion here at the White House with Senate and House leadership about how to prevent this tax hike on the middle class, and I’m optimistic we may still be able to reach an agreement that can pass both houses in time. Senators Reid and McConnell are working on such an agreement as we speak.
就如何防止中產階級增稅，在白宮我與參眾兩院領導人剛剛進行了一次不錯而且富有建設性的討論。我樂觀的認為，在規定的時間內我們仍能達成能通過兩院的協議。當我們說話之際，參議員里德和麥康奈爾正致力于這樣一項協議。
But if an agreement isn’t reached in time between Senator Reid and Senator McConnell, then I will urge Senator Reid to bring to the floor a basic package for an up-or-down vote –- one that protects the middle class from an income tax hike, extends the vital lifeline of unemployment insurance to two million Americans looking for a job, and lays the groundwork for future cooperation on more economic growth and deficit reduction.
但如果參議員里德和麥康奈爾到時沒能達成協議，隨后我將督促參議員里德讓議員席進行投票表決這樣一個基本方案——防止對中產階級增稅，擴大仍在尋求工作的二百萬美國人的重要生命保障—失業保險，奠定未來在經濟增長和赤字削減上更多的合作。
I believe such a proposal could pass both houses with bipartisan majorities as long as those leaders allow it to actually come to a vote. If members of the House or the Senate want to vote no, they can –- but we should let everybody vote. That’s the way this is supposed to work. If you can get a majority in the House and you can get a majority in the Senate, then we should be able to pass a bill.
我相信，如果領導人允許進行投票，有兩黨多數人的支持，議案就能通過兩院。如果眾議院或參議院的成員想投反對票，他們可以——但是我們應該讓大家都投票。本就該如此。如果在眾議院和參議院都能得到大部分人的支持，那么我們應該能夠通過一項法案。
So the American people are watching what we do here. Obviously, their patience is already thin. This is déjà vu all over again. America wonders why it is that in this town, for some reason, you can't get stuff done in an organized timetable; why everything always has to wait until the last minute. Well, we're now at the last minute, and the American people are not going to have any patience for a politically self-inflicted wound to our economy. Not right now.
所以美國人民在看著我們的一舉一動。顯然，他們的耐心已經消耗。這似曾相識。美國人民好奇為什么在市政里，總有一些原因，讓不能在規定的時間里完成任務；為什么事情總要等到最后一分鐘才去做。好吧，我們現在在緊要關頭，這種強加于我國經濟上的政治傷害，美國人民也不會有任何耐心了。
