美国债务磋商因税收问题受阻

President Barack Obama Sunday is meeting again with U.S. congressional leaders in search of an elusive deal to slash the federal deficit and avoid default on America’s $14.3 trillion national debt. Negotiations reconvene one day after the top Republican lawmaker suggested an ambitious effort to trim future indebtedness by more than $4 trillion may be unworkable.

奥巴马总统星期天将再次与美国国会领导人会晤，寻求达成一项复杂的协议，以削减联邦赤字，避免美国14.3万亿美元的国债无法偿还的问题。此次再度磋商的前一天，共和党籍众议院议长提出一项雄心勃勃的努力措施，这些措施旨在把未来的债务削减4万多亿美元，再度磋商很可能无果而终。

Late Saturday, House Speaker John Boehner confirmed what seemed obvious to many observers: negotiations over America’s runaway debt burden are at an impasse. At issue: whether a long-term deficit reduction deal should include additional revenue, or rely on federal spending cuts alone.

刚刚过去的星期六，美国众议院议长贝纳证实了很多观察人士看来早已不新鲜的消息，那就是就美国失控的债务负担进行的磋商已经陷入僵局。僵局争执的关键点在于：一个长期的减少赤字的方案是否应当包括政府获得额外的收入，还是仅仅依靠减少联邦开支来解决问题。

Boehner noted the White House’s insistence that tax hikes be included in a final package - a position rejected by Republicans. Given the disagreement, the speaker suggested aiming for a more modest deal based on spending cuts already identified in negotiations to date. Those spending cuts would form the basis for raising the federal borrowing limit, which the Obama administration says must be done by August 2 if the U.S. government is to remain solvent.

贝纳指出，白宫一再坚持最终的一揽子方案要包括增税的内容，这是共和党人所拒绝的。考虑到目前存在的分歧，贝纳议长建议朝着一项更加温和适度的协议进行努力，达成这项中庸的协议将基于在目前为止进行的磋商中已经确定的削减开支的共识。那些削减的开支将构成提高联邦举债上限的基础，而提高举债上限正是奥巴马政府表示，要想让美国政府保持还债的能力，就必须在8月2日前完成的事情。

But administration officials insist a so-called “grand bargain” is still possible. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner appeared on CBS’ Face the Nation television program.

但是奥巴马政府官员坚称达成所谓的“大交易”仍然是可能的。美国财政部长盖特纳在哥伦比亚广播公司“面对全国”节目中说：

“There has to be a deal. Failure is not an option,” he said.

“必须达成一项协议。失败不是选项。”

President Obama’s Chief of Staff, Bill Daley, says the bigger the deal, the better off the nation will be.

奥巴马总统的白宫办公厅主任比尔·戴利表示，这项协议越大，对国家就越有利。

“Four trillion dollars is the number that will make a serious dent on our deficit. It will send a statement to the world that the U.S. has gotten hold of their [its] fiscal problems," said Daley. "And it will give confidence to the American people that we can move forward to bring economic soundness.”

他说：“四万亿美元是一个足以让我们的赤字得到大幅削减的数字。这会向世界表明，美国已经控制住了自己的财政问题。这也会给美国人民以信心，那就是我们能够向前推进经济的稳固发展。”