国际英语新闻:President Obama to Release Deficit-Cutting Plan

As President Barack Obama prepares to announce a plan to slash U.S. government deficits by trillions of dollars, a powerful Republican lawmaker is already criticizing key components reportedly contained in the proposal. Efforts to get more federal revenue from the wealthy and large corporations is likely to be a focus of partisan debate between now and next year’s general election.

The president’s deficit reduction plan will be released Monday. News reports quote White House officials as saying Obama will propose spending restraints and revenue enhancements to slow the growth of the national debt in coming years.

The president has already stated his willingness to trim domestic spending and contain rising costs for programs that provide health care for retirees and the poor. He has also advocated ending tax breaks for favored corporate sectors, and raising taxes paid by America’s wealthiest citizens.

Speaking in North Carolina last week, Obama said the nation has decisions to make.

“Do you want to keep tax loopholes for oil companies, or do you want to renovate more schools and rebuild more roads and bridges so [that] construction workers have jobs again? Do you want to keep tax breaks for multi-millionaires and billionaires, or do you want to cut taxes for small business owners and middle class families?”

The president’s plan reportedly contains a so-called “millionaires tax.”  Many of America’s richest earn investment income that is taxed at a lower rate than most wages and salaries. Legendary investor Warren Buffet, one of the world’s richest men, has pointed out that he pays a lower tax rate on billions of dollars of investment income each year than his salaried personal secretary.

Obama has repeatedly stated that everyone must “pay their fair share” of taxes to improve America’s finances and fund badly-needed infrastructure projects and other programs.

But Republicans oppose any tax hikes, particularly during a time of economic weakness. Paul Ryan, chairman of the Budget Committee in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives, said “If you tax something more, you get less of it. If you tax job-creators more, you get less job creation. If you tax investment more, you get less investment.”