美国总统奥巴马每周电台演讲2015.09.06

Hello, everybody.  I hope most of you are gearing up for a long weekend with family and friends – maybe some barbeques, road trips, or fantasy drafts.  But I wanted to take a moment to talk to you about the real meaning of Labor Day – a day we set aside every year to honor the hardworking men and women who fought for so many of the rights that we take for granted today.
 
The eight-hour workday, 40-hour workweek, weekends.  Overtime and the minimum wage.  Safer workplaces.  Health insurance, Social Security, Medicare, and retirement plans.  All of those gains were fought for and won by the labor movement – folks who were working not just for a bigger paycheck for themselves, but for more security and prosperity for the folks working next to them as well.  That’s how we built the great American middle class. 
大家好。我想你们大多数人正在攒足了劲儿与家人和朋友们度过一个长周末—可能有些人烤肉、有的人观光或玩fantasy drafts。但是我想花几分钟和各位谈谈劳动节的真正意义—一个一年一度的，我们把其它事放下，向辛勤劳动为那么多我们今天觉得理所当然的权利而奋斗的男男女女表示敬意的一天。
八小时工作制、每周40小时，享受周末。超时工作加班费和最低工资制度。更加安全的工作场所。医保、社保、医疗救助和退休规划。所有这些权益都是劳工运动为之奋斗和收获的—这些人们不仅仅为了他们自己的工资增加而努力，而且也是为了他们的后继劳动者们更加有安全感和更加繁荣而努力。我们就是这样打造了伟大的美国中产阶级。
 
That’s the spirit we’ve been working to restore these past six and a half years.  On Friday, we found out that the economy created another 173,000 jobs in August.  Over the past five and a half years, our businesses have created 13.1 million new jobs in total – the longest streak of job creation on record.  The unemployment rate dropped to 5.1%, the lowest it’s been in seven years.  The American auto industry is on track to sell more cars and trucks this year than it has in more than a decade.  Sixteen million Americans have gained the security of health insurance.  Seventeen states and about 30 cities and counties have raised the minimum wage.  And we’ve proposed extending overtime protections to as many as five million Americans.  All of that is progress. 
这就是我们在过去的六七年里一直努力弘扬的精神。周五，我们得知我们的经济在八月份又创造了173,000个新就业岗位。在过去的五年半里，我们的企业已经创造了共1千3百一十万新就业岗位—创纪录的最长一端就业增长。失业率降到5.1%，这是七年来的最低。美国的汽车工业风头正劲，今年的轿车和卡车销量超过过去十年中的任何一年。一千六百万获得了医保带来的安全感。十七个州和大约30个城市和县城提高了最低工资。我们已经提议把加班费保护扩大到覆盖五百万美国人。所以这些都是进步。
 
This month, Congress has an opportunity to continue that progress.  As always, the deadline for Congress to pass a budget is the end of September.  Every year.  This is not new.  And if they don’t, they’ll shut down the government for the second time in two years.  At a time when the global economy faces headwinds and America’s economy is a relative bright spot in the world, a shutdown of our government would be wildly irresponsible.  It would be an unforced error that saps the momentum we’ve worked so hard to build.  Plain and simple, a shutdown would hurt working Americans.
本月，国会有一个机会继续这个进步。和以往一样，国会通过一项预算的截止日期是九月底。每年的九月底。这司空见惯了。如果他们不通过，他们就将在两年内第二次关闭政府了。在这个全球经济遭遇逆风和美国经济成为世界范围的相对亮点的时候，关闭我们的政府是极其不负责任的。这将是在没有什么逼迫的情况下犯的错误，对我们一直如此努力打造的经济增长势头釜底抽薪。简单直白地说，关闭政府将为害工薪美国人。
 
It doesn’t have to happen.  If Congress wants to support working Americans and strengthen our middle class, they can pass a budget that invests in, not makes cuts to, the middle class.  If they pass a budget with shortsighted sequester cuts that harm our military and our economy, I’ll veto it.  If they make smart investments in our military readiness, our infrastructure, our schools, public health, and research, I’ll sign that budget – and they know that.
 
So let’s get it done.  Our economy doesn’t need another round of threats and brinksmanship.  Nobody gets to play games with our economy – or the middle class I grew up in, and that you grew up in.  So tell Congress to pass a budget that reflects the values we honor on Labor Day.  Rewarding hard work.  Giving everybody a fair shot.  And working together to give all of our kids a better life.  Thanks everybody.  And enjoy your weekend.
这完全没有必要发生。如果国会打算支持工薪美国人和加强我们的中产阶级，他们就能通过一个投资于，而不是削减，中产阶级的预算。如果他们通过一个有鼠目寸光的不利于我们的军队和我们的经济的封顶的削减，我将予以否决。如果他们提出明智的投资于我们的军事准备、我们的基础设施、我们的学校、公共卫生和研究的预算，我将签署这个预算—他们对此心知肚明。
所以让我们促成它。我们的经济另一轮威胁和绝地反击。任何人不能拿我们的经济—或养育我和养育了你们的中产阶级当儿戏。所以告诉国会通过一个反映我们在劳动节推崇的价值的预算。尊重辛勤劳动。给每个人公平机会。共同努力给我们的孩子们更好的生活。
谢谢各位。周末快乐。