文本选自:The New York Times(纽约时报)
作者:Unknown
原文标题:House Passes Debt Limit Bill in Bipartisan Vote to Avert Default
原文发布时间:1 Jun. 2023
House Passes Debt Limit Bill in Bipartisan Vote to Avert Default
The House on Wednesday overwhelmingly passed legislation negotiated by President Biden and Speaker Kevin McCarthy to suspend the debt ceiling and set federal spending limits, as a broad bipartisan coalition lined up to cast a critical vote to pull the nation back from the brink of economic catastrophe.
The bill would defer the federal debt limit for two years — allowing the government to borrow unlimited sums as necessary to pay its obligations — while imposing two years of spending caps and a string of policy changes that Republicans demanded in exchange for allowing the country to avoid a disastrous default. The 314-to-117 vote came days before the nation was set to exhaust its borrowing limit, and days after a marathon set of talks between White House negotiators and top House Republicans yielded a breakthrough agreement.
With both far-right and hard-left lawmakers in revolt over the deal, it fell to a bipartisan coalition powered by Democrats to push the bill over the finish line, throwing their support behind the compromise in an effort to break the fiscal stalemate that had gripped Washington for weeks. On the final vote, 149 Republicans and 165 Democrats backed the measure, while 71 Republicans and 46 Democrats opposed it. That was a blow to the Republican speaker, whose hard-fought victory on the measure was dampened by the fact that more Democrats ultimately voted for the bill than members of his own party.
一场拉锯战后,债务上限法案出炉
精听党背景导读
据彭博社、华尔街日报等多家外媒消息,美国总统拜登与众议院议长麦卡锡已“原则上”达成协议,将国家约 31.4 万亿美元的借贷限额提高两年,同时削减和限制部分政府支出。
一位知情人士透露,双方的谈判代表正在制定最终的法案文本,该协议是在拜登和麦卡锡通电话约 90 分钟后宣布的。具体协议内容将于明日发布,周三将提交参众两院进行表决。
而后麦卡锡、拜登陆续表态,美国白宫和共和党谈判代表已就债务上限问题达成原则协议。
文本选自:The New York Times(纽约时报)作者:Unknown原文标题:House Passes Debt Limit Bill in Bipartisan Vote to Avert Default原文发布时间:1 Jun. 2023关键词:美国 债务 违约
精听党带着问题听
1.“债务上限”用英语可以怎么表达?2. 如何理解段三中的“in an effort to”?3. 有多少名共和党人支持该法案?
精听党选段赏析
标题解读
House Passes Debt Limit Bill in Bipartisan Vote to Avert Default
众议院两党投票通过债务上限法案以避免违约
House n. 议院;议会;国会;
debt limit [金融] 债务限额;
bill n.(提交议会讨论的)议案,法案;1. approve/reject a bill 通过/否决一项议案;
bipartisan adj. 两党连立的;代表两党的;1. bipartisan system 两党制;
avert vt. 防止,避免;
default n. 不履行 (义务);违约;
段一
The House on Wednesday overwhelmingly passed legislation negotiated by President Biden and Speaker Kevin McCarthy to suspend the debt ceiling and set federal spending limits, as a broad bipartisan coalition lined up to cast a critical vote to pull the nation back from the brink of economic catastrophe.
overwhelmingly adv. 压倒性地,占绝对优势地;
negotiate vt. 谈判,协商;1. negotiated price 协商价格;
Speaker n.(议会或立法机构的)议长;
suspend vt. 延缓;暂缓;推迟;
debt ceiling 债务上限;
coalition n. 联盟;联合;
line up to 排队等候;
cast vt. 投票;
critical adj. 极重要的;关键的;至关紧要的;1. Your decision is critical to our future. 你的决定对我们的将来至关重要。
brink n. 边缘;
catastrophe n. 灾难,灾祸;
参考译文
周三,众议院以压倒性多数通过了由拜登总统和议长凯文·麦卡锡谈判达成的法案,暂停了债务上限,并设定了联邦支出上限。与此同时,一个广泛的两党联盟正准备投下关键一票,把美国从经济灾难的边缘拉回来。
段二
The bill would defer the federal debt limit for two years — allowing the government to borrow unlimited sums as necessary to pay its obligations — while imposing two years of spending caps and a string of policy changes that Republicans demanded in exchange for allowing the country to avoid a disastrous default. The 314-to-117 vote came days before the nation was set to exhaust its borrowing limit, and days after a marathon set of talks between White House negotiators and top House Republicans yielded a breakthrough agreement.
defer vt. 延期,推迟;
unlimited adj. 无限制的;无限量的;无条件的;
sum n. 金额,款项;
as necessary 根据需要;
obligation n. 义务;债务;承付款项;
impose vt. 推行,采用(规章制度);强制实行;
cap n.(可用或可借资金的)最高限额;
a string of 一系列,一串;
in exchange for 作为…的交换;1. in exchange for cash 以换取现金;
be set to 被定在;被设为;
exhaust vt. 耗尽;
marathon adj. 马拉松式的,漫长而累人的;
negotiator n. 谈判者;磋商者;交涉者;
yield vt. 产生(收益、效益等),产生(结果);
breakthrough n. 突破,重大进展;
参考译文
该法案将把联邦债务上限推迟两年——允许政府在必要时无限制地借款以偿还债务——同时实施两年的支出上限和一系列政策变化,以换取共和党人允许美国避免灾难性的违约。314票赞成、117票反对的投票结果是在美国即将用尽举债上限的几天前出炉的,几天前,白宫谈判代表和众议院共和党高层进行了一系列马拉松式的谈判,达成了一项突破性的协议。
段三
With both far-right and hard-left lawmakers in revolt over the deal, it fell to a bipartisan coalition powered by Democrats to push the bill over the finish line, throwing their support behind the compromise in an effort to break the fiscal stalemate that had gripped Washington for weeks. On the final vote, 149 Republicans and 165 Democrats backed the measure, while 71 Republicans and 46 Democrats opposed it. That was a blow to the Republican speaker, whose hard-fought victory on the measure was dampened by the fact that more Democrats ultimately voted for the bill than members of his own party.
far-right adj. 极右派的;极端保守主义的;
in revolt 反抗;造反;
bipartisan coalition 两党联盟;
compromise n. 折中,妥协;妥协方案;
in an effort to 企图(努力想);试图要;
fiscal adj.(政府)财政的;
stalemate n. 僵局;陷于困境;
grip vt. 强烈地影响;
back vt. 帮助;支持;
oppose vt. 反对(计划、政策等);
blow n. 打击;挫折;
hard-fought adj. 激烈的;努力争取来的;
dampen vt. 使潮湿,弄湿;减弱,抑制;
参考译文
由于极右翼和极左翼议员都对该协议表示反对,最终由民主党推动的两党联盟将该法案推向了终点线,他们支持该妥协方案,以打破困扰华盛顿数周的财政僵局。在最终投票中,149名共和党人和165名民主党人支持这项措施,71名共和党人和46名民主党人反对。这对共和党议长来说是一个打击,他在该法案上来之不易的胜利受到了一个事实的影响,即最终投票支持该法案的民主党人多于他所在党派的成员。
精听党每日单词
House
/haʊs/ n. 议院;议会;国会;
debt limit
[金融] 债务限额;
bill
/bɪl/ n.(提交议会讨论的)议案,法案;
bipartisan
/ˌbaɪˈpɑːrtɪs(ə)n/ adj. 两党连立的;代表两党的;
avert
/əˈvɜːrt/ vt. 防止,避免;
default
/dɪˈfɔːltˌˈdiːfɔːlt/ n. 不履行 (义务);违约;
overwhelmingly
/ˌoʊvərˈwelmɪŋli/ adv. 压倒性地,占绝对优势地;
negotiate
/nɪˈɡoʊʃieɪt/ vt. 谈判,协商;
Speaker
/ˈspiːkər/ n.(议会或立法机构的)议长;
suspend
/səˈspend/ vt. 延缓;暂缓;推迟;
debt ceiling
债务上限;
coalition
/ˌkoʊəˈlɪʃ(ə)n/ n. 联盟;联合;
line up to
排队等候;
cast
/kæst/ vt. 投票;
critical
/ˈkrɪtɪk(ə)l/ adj. 极重要的;关键的;至关紧要的;
brink
/brɪŋk/ n. 边缘;
catastrophe
/kəˈtæstrəfi/ n. 灾难,灾祸;
defer
/dɪˈfɜːr/ vt. 延期,推迟;
unlimited
/ʌnˈlɪmɪtɪd/ adj. 无限制的;无限量的;无条件的;
sum
/sʌm; səm/ n. 金额,款项;
as necessary
根据需要;
obligation
/ˌɑːblɪˈɡeɪʃn/ n. 义务;债务;承付款项;
impose
/ɪmˈpoʊz/ vt. 推行,采用(规章制度);强制实行;
cap
/kæp/ n.(可用或可借资金的)最高限额;
a string of
一系列,一串;
in exchange for
作为…的交换;
be set to
被定在;被设为;
exhaust
/ɪɡˈzɔːst/ vt. 耗尽;
marathon
/ˈmærəθɑːn/ adj. 马拉松式的,漫长而累人的;
negotiator
/nɪˈɡoʊʃieɪtər/ n. 谈判者;磋商者;交涉者;
yield
/jiːld/ vt. 产生(收益、效益等),产生(结果);
breakthrough
/ˈbreɪkθruː/ n. 突破,重大进展;
far-right
/'fɑ:'rait/ adj. 极右派的;极端保守主义的;
in revolt
反抗;造反;
bipartisan coalition
两党联盟;
compromise
/ˈkɑːmprəmaɪz/ n. 折中,妥协;妥协方案;
in an effort to
企图(努力想);试图要;
fiscal
/ˈfɪsk(ə)l/ adj.(政府)财政的;
stalemate
/ˈsteɪlmeɪt/ n. 僵局;陷于困境;
grip
/ɡrɪp/ vt. 强烈地影响;
back
/bæk/ vt. 帮助;支持;
oppose
/əˈpoʊz/ vt. 反对(计划、政策等);
blow
/bloʊ/ n. 打击;挫折;
hard-fought
/ˌhɑːrd ˈfɔːt/ adj. 激烈的;努力争取来的;
dampen
/ˈdæmpən/ vt. 使潮湿,弄湿;减弱,抑制;
精听党文化拓展
尽管美国国会通过了债务上限法案,但并不意味着就解决了债务问题,可谓治标不治本。美国政府自20世纪80年代起大量举债。1985年,美国从净债权国变为净债务国,此后债务规模不断攀升。
平安证券首席经济学家钟正生告诉21世纪经济报道记者,疫情后美国联邦政府债务率亦较快上升。全球金融危机和新冠疫情中的大规模财政扩张,使得美国联邦政府的债务率从21世纪初的52%翻了一倍多,提升至2021年的120%。需要指出的是,本轮美国高通胀,成为美联储最头疼的事情,但在一定程度上缓释了美国联邦政府的债务压力。
未来的情况可能会更糟。根据美国国会预算办公室(CBO)的预测,未来十年美国政府债务负担(公共持有债务占GDP比重)可能会超过二战时期的历史峰值,然后到2051年再度翻倍。在钟正生看来,这会推高联邦政府和私人部门的借贷成本,减缓潜在产出增长,削弱市场对美元的信心。
目前来看,利息支出在美国联邦政府支出中的占比较低。美国联邦政府的主要支出包括三项:一是法定支出,包括社保、医疗保险、医疗补助、收入保障、退休金和其他;二是自主性支出,包括国防、国际和国内支出;三是利息支出,只占美国联邦政府支出很小一部分。2022年美国联邦政府支出62715亿美元,其中利息支出4751亿,仅占全部支出的7.6%,仅占GDP的1.9%。
但中长期来看,美国联邦政府债务负担可能大幅攀升,利息支出占比亦将大幅提高。钟正生表示,由于借债利率高企,新发债务的利息支出要大大高于以往,预计2026年开始美国联邦政府利息支出规模将会快速提升,并对美国联邦政府的现金流造成更大的挤压。根据2023年5月CBO的预测,2026年到2033年,美国公共持有债务利息支出将增长72%至1.44万亿,占GDP比重也将提升0.9个百分点至3.7%。
精听党每日美句
The world is the lack of perseverance, not strength.
世人缺乏的是毅力,而不是气力。