VOA慢速英语:Debt Limit Talks Show Deeper Debate on Government's Duties

Anyone who has ever borrowed money can relate to the debate over raising America's borrowing limit. People who have reached their limit can try to ask their bank to increase it, and go deeper into debt. Or they can cut their spending and try to get their finances under control. Or they can do both.
任何曾经借过钱的人都与提高美国的借款限额的辩论有关。已经到达借款上限的人可以尝试向银行请求增加限额，然后陷入更深的债务中。或者，他们可以削减开支，并尽量控制好自己的财政状况。或者他们也可以双管齐下。

Either way, they have to keep paying their bills. If they default on their debt, that only makes it harder and costlier to borrow in the future.
无论哪种方式，他们都必须继续支付他们的账单。如果他们拖欠债务，只会让他们将来借款更加困难，成本更高。

Congress set the government's current borrowing limit at more than fourteen trillion dollars.
国会目前将政府的借款限额定在超过14兆美元。

President Obama and congressional leaders held hours of sometimes tense meetings this week at the White House. Opposition Republican leaders agree on the need to raise the borrowing limit by August second or risk the nation's first default.
本周，奥巴马总统和国会领导人在白宫召开了几个小时的会议，会议气氛有时比较紧张。反对派共和党领导人赞同在8月2日之前提高债务限额的必要性，否则美国将第一次拖欠债务。

The argument is over how to cut deficits. Most Republicans oppose any kind of tax increase. Most Democrats in Congress oppose big cuts in government spending, especially programs for retirees and the poor.
争论的焦点是应该如何削减赤字。大多数共和党人否认任何形式的增税措施。国会大部分民主党人反对大幅削减政府支出，特别是退休人员和贫困人口的福利项目。

Jerry Webman is chief economist for OppenheimerFunds, an investment company.
Jerry Webman是欧本海默基金公司(OppenheimerFunds)首席经济学家。

JERRY WEBMAN: "The central issue is how the US is going to bring its federal budget back down to a sustainable deficit level. We’re growing our deficit at a rate that I think everybody admits needs to slow. So the controversy is how do you do that.”
Jerry Webman：“关键的问题是美国应该怎样使联邦预算恢复可持续的赤字水平。我们的赤字增长的水平非常快，我相信每个人都承认应该减缓这个速度。所以，有争议的就是应该怎样做到这一点。”

He says the current debate has deep roots in the Constitution.
他说，目前的辩论已经深深扎根于宪法。

JERRY WEBMAN: "The Constitution that was written by people who were very, very suspicious of executive authority and built into the Constitution lots of ways in which the three branches of government could check and balance each other."
Jerry Webman：“撰写宪法的人对执政者持怀疑态度，在宪法中规定了政府三大分支互相检查，互相平衡的许多方法。”

Those three branches represent the president, Congress and the courts.
这三个分支包括总统，国会和法庭。

Researchers at the Library of Congress say Congress passed the first debt-limit law in nineteen seventeen. That was to control the costs of America's entry into World War One.
美国国会图书馆的研究人员表示，国会于1917年通过了第一部关于债务限额的法律。这部法律是为了控制美国参加第一次世界大战的成本。

Jerry Webman says the United States is going through an important debate on what services Americans can expect from their government.
Jerry Webman说，美国将针对政府可以提供哪些服务经历重要的辩论。

JERRY WEBMAN:  “I think we may be looking at one of those almost generational changes in the role of the federal government in US society.”
Jerry Webman：“我想我们可能将看到几代人以来联邦政府在美国社会扮演的角色的重大改变。”

Lenders worried about the risk of not getting repaid usually demand higher interest rates. That has happened to heavily indebted countries such as Greece, Ireland and Portugal.
放债人担心不能获得更高的利率的风险。如希腊，爱尔兰和葡萄牙等背负沉重债务的国家已经发生了这种情况。

JERRY WEBMAN: "Usually it is the bond market that says, ‘Wait a minute we’re not going to accept any more debt until we feel more confident in your credit.'"
Jerry Webman：“通常债券市场会说，我们不会接受任何新的债务，直到我们对你的信誉更加有信心。”

Interest rates for the United States, however, have come down.
然而，美国的利率已经开始回落。

But on Thursday, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke warned lawmakers that lack of action to raise the borrowing limit would mean a lower credit rating. The central banker said that means the government could have to pay sharply higher interest rates. And that would only add to deficits in what he called a "self-inflicted wound."
但上周四，美联储主席本．伯南克警告议员们，不采取行动提高债务限额意味着信誉评级会降低。这位中央银行家称，这意味着政府将要支付更高的利率。在这次“自我疗伤”的过程中，这只会增加赤字。