美国可能达成两党债务方案协议

Also appearing on Fox News Sunday was Republican Senator Jon Kyl of Arizona, who also expressed satisfaction with an end result that forces the U.S. government to rein in spending.

星期天同样出现在福克斯新闻台节目中的还有来自亚利桑那州的联邦参议员约翰·凯尔，他也对达成一项迫使美国政府严格控制开支的最终解决方案感到满意。

“Three months ago, the president [[Barack Obama]] insisted on a ‘clean’ debt ceiling extension [[greater borrowing authority without conditions]]," ,” said Kyl. Clearly, we will have a significant amount of spending reductions in this proposal.”

他说：“三个月前，奥巴马总统坚持要无条件地提高借债上限。很明显，现在我们的这个协议将使政府进行大量的开支削减。”

But can this reported agreement, if finalized, or any agreement pass both houses of a politically-divided and polarized Congress? Senator Durbin.

但是这个报导中的协议，一旦最终完成制定，或者任何一项其它协议，能否在充满政治分歧，两极分化的国会两院都获得通过呢？

“I do not know the answer to that,” said Durbin.

对此德宾参议员说：“我不知道这个问题的答案。”

The House of Representatives may pose the greatest challenge to raising the debt ceiling. Last week, the Republican-controlled House defeated a first-draft debt proposal put forth by Speaker John Boehner. If Republicans are willing to rebel against bills written by their own speaker, a bipartisan accord could prove even more challenging to pass. The House Republican charged with lining up party votes, Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy, is non-committal.

国会众议院可能对提高债务上限构成最大的挑战。上个星期，共和党控制下的众议院没有通过一项由议长贝纳推动的债务法案的最初版本，如果共和党人连担任议长的本党人士提出的法案都予以反对，那么一个两党协商后的协议要想获得通过，可能会更具挑战性。对于众议院共和党人被指以党派划线投票的问题，众议院多数党党鞭凯文·麦卡锡不置可否。

“We will first have to look at the details. But [negotiations are] moving in the right direction,” said McCarthy.

他说：“我们得先审视协议的具体内容。但是磋商的确在朝着正确的方向前进。”

Even if an accord is finalized, passed, and signed into law by President Barack Obama, it remains to be seen whether the U.S. government will retain its top-tier credit rating. A downgrade could lead to higher interest rates, pummeling a weak U.S. economy and making debt servicing even more expensive.

即使一项法案完成起草，获得通过，最终由奥巴马总统签署成为法律，美国政府能否保持最高等级的信用评级信用评级仍然有待观察。信用评级被下调可能导致更高的利率，从而打击美国疲软的经济，并使得借债成本更加高昂。