美国两党对联邦预算依然存在巨大分歧

In Washington, Democrats and Republicans appear no closer to bridging sharp disagreements on reducing America’s trillion-dollar federal deficit and slowing the nation’s ballooning national debt. For now, legislators of both parties are holding firm to partisan budget proposals for current-year federal spending, which ends in September.

在华盛顿，美国国会民主党议员和共和党议员在降低美国几万亿美元的赤字并缓解本国不断高升的国债问题上，看来并没接近于弥合两者之间所存在的巨大分歧。到目前为止，两党的立法人员仍然坚持这一年度的联邦经费预算提案的本党立场。这项预算所涉及时段到今年9月底为止。

Last week, Congress averted a government shutdown by enacting a stop-gap spending measure that funds federal agencies for a two-week period. The rationale was to give legislators and the Obama administration a brief window to negotiate a budget deal for the remainder of the fiscal year.

上星期，国会通过了填补缺口的经费开支措施，避免了在这两星期期间关闭政府部门。这项开支措施的理由是给予立法人员和奥巴马政府这一小段时间，通过谈判达成这一财政年度所剩余时间的预算协议。

But with the clock ticking towards another potential funding expiration, signs of compromise and progress remain elusive. Republicans in the House of Representatives have already passed a funding bill that would slash current spending levels by more than $60 billion. The bill is expected to die in the Senate, where Democrats hold a majority.

虽然随着时光流失，经费开支限期终点又一次迫近，但是还是没有达成妥协、取得进展的迹象。众议院的共和党议员已经通过了一项经费议案，该议案会把目前的开支水平降低六百多亿美元。这一议案预计将在参议院遭到否决，民主党在参议院居多数地位。

Appearing on CBS’ Face the Nation program, Democratic Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts blasted the Republican budget blueprint as reckless and damaging.

民主党参议员、麻萨诸塞州的克里在哥伦比亚广播公司的“面对全国”节目上露面时，指责共和党人的预算计划是不顾一切、并有破坏作用的。

"I do not believe what we have from the House is a serious economic plan," he said. "I think it is a very dangerous plan. It cuts teachers, it cuts education, it cuts research, it cuts energy research - all the things we need to do to make America number one again and to move into the global marketplace, their [Republican] budget sets us back."

克里说：“我难以相信来自众议院的议案是严肃认真的经济计划。我认为这是一项非常危险的计划。它减少教师人数、削减教育经费、削减研究资金、削减能源研究经费，而这一切都是我们为了让美国再次跃居世界首位并打入全球市场所必须做的事情，然而共和党人的预算却让我们向后倒退。”

Democrats have proposed more modest budget cuts, leaving the two parties tens of billions dollars apart in proposed funding levels. The Senate’s top Republican, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky also appeared on Face the Nation.

民主党议员提出了比较温和的预算削减措施，使得这两党的所提议的开支水平相差几百亿美元。参议院共和党领袖、肯塔基州的参议员麦康奈尔也在“面对全国”节目上露面。

"What is reckless is the $1.6-trillion deficit we are running this year," he said. "What is reckless is the $3 trillion we have added to our national debt. Our national debt is not the size of our economy. We begin to look a lot like Greece [in danger of defaulting on debt]."

麦康奈尔说：“今年我们的赤字达一万六千亿美元，这才是不计后果。我们把国债增加了三万亿美元，这是不计后果的行为。我们的国债与我们的经济规模不成比例。我们开始看来与深陷债务的希腊差不多了。”