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。”

Daley spoke on ABC’s This Week program. The administration has long maintained it would consider painful spending cuts to federal programs long-championed by Democrats, as well as reforms to so-called entitlement programs that provide income and medical insurance for retirees, if Republicans would agree to end tax breaks for the wealthy and certain corporate interests.

戴利是在美国广播公司的“本周”节目中说这番话的。奥巴马政府长期以来一直主张，如果共和党人同意结束针对富人和一些公司利益的减税政策，就将考虑对民主党人长期捍卫的一些联邦项目进行痛苦的开支削减，并对所谓的福利权益项目进行改革。这些权益项目是指向退休人员提供收入和医疗保险的项目。

Republicans reject any tax hikes unless overall tax rates are reduced, thereby making tax changes revenue-neutral. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell appeared on Fox News Sunday.

共和党人表示，除非降低整体税率，否则将拒绝任何增税措施，这也就是意味着税收政策的变化将不会给政府带来额外的收入。参议院少数党领袖麦康奈尔星期天在福克斯新闻台的节目中说：

“Everything they [administration officials] have told me and the speaker [John Boehner] is that, to get a big package, it would require big tax increases in the middle of an economic situation that is extraordinarily difficult with 9.2-percent unemployment," he said. "We [Republicans] think that is a terrible idea. It is a job-killer.”

“行政当局官员告诉我和贝纳议长的所有内容就是，达成一项大的一揽子计划，这项计划将在眼下失业率保持在百分之9点2，经济环境非常困难的情况下，要求大幅增税。我们共和党人认为，这是一个可怕的想法。这会扼杀工作机会。”

As a general principle, few, if any, economists advocate higher taxes as a cure for economic weakness. But there is disagreement among economists on whether government spending should be slashed to trim the deficit at a time of low private sector demand for goods and services. On one point there is no disagreement: America’s debt burden is unsustainable and, if left unchecked, will bankrupt the nation.

作为一个总的原则，几乎没有经济学家认为增税是解决经济疲软的途径。但是经济学家当中对政府在私人部门对商品和服务需求低迷不振的时候，是否应当削减政府开支以减少赤字的做法，存在不同意见。但是有一点是不存在争议的，那就是美国的债务负担是不可持续的，如果不加以遏制，整个国家将会破产。

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