经济学人下载:美国债务真丢人

以国家名誉为赌注

This newspaper has a strong dislike of big government; we have long argued that the main way to right America’s finances is through spending cuts. But you cannot get there without any tax rises. In Britain, for instance, the coalition government aims to tame its deficit with a 3:1 ratio of cuts to hikes. America’s tax take is at its lowest level for decades: even Ronald Reagan raised taxes when he needed to do so.

本报十分不看好所谓的“大政府”；长期以来，我们都认为让美国财政步入正轨的主要途径是通过削减开支。但要做到这点，不提税是不可能的。比如在英国，联合政府目标是将赤字控制在削减开支和提高税收的比率为在3:1。美国的征税为数十年来的最低：即便是罗纳德·里根（美国前总统）在必要时也会提高税收。

And the closer you look, the more uNPRincipled the Republicans look. Earlier this year House Republicans produced a report noting that an 85%-15% split between spending cuts and tax rises was the average for successful fiscal consolidations, according to historical evidence. The White House is offering an 83%-17% split (hardly a huge distance) and a promise that none of the revenue increase will come from higher marginal rates, only from eliminating loopholes. If the Republicans were real tax reformers, they would seize this offer.

越靠近看越是发现共和党的毫无原则。今年早些时候，众议院的共和党人发表的一份报告指出，历史证明，一般而言，成功的财政整顿支出削减率和税收提高率分别为85%和15%。白宫提出将支出削减率和税收提高率分别控制在83%和17%（和共和党提出的比率实在是没有多大差别），并且承诺只会通过消除漏洞而非提高边际税率来增加财政收入。如果共和党人真心税改，他们将接受这份要约。

Both parties have in recent months been guilty of fiscal recklessness. Right now, though, the blame falls clearly on the Republicans. Independent voters should take note.

最近几个月，共和党和民主党皆因财政鲁莽而愧疚不已。然而很明显，现在共和党成为了众矢之的。独立选民们应该引起注意。