奧巴馬將與國會議員商討預算問題

U.S. President Barack Obama is due to meet at the White House Friday with top Republican and Democratic lawmakers to discuss a last-ditch effort to avoid across-the-board budget cuts scheduled to take effect before the day is over.

美國總統奧巴馬星期五將在白宮會見共和黨和民主黨的國會領導人，商討如何在最後一刻做出努力，避免在今天限期之後全面削減開支計劃自動生效。

The meeting is largely viewed as symbolic, after dueling bills to avoid the cuts were defeated in the Senate Thursday, making $85 billion in automatic spending cuts appear inevitable once the Friday deadline passes.

美國國會參議院星期四否決了旨在避免開支削減的相互競爭的法案，一旦星期五的最後期限過後，850億美元的開支自動削減計劃看來已經勢在必行，因此奧巴馬與議員們的這次會晤多半被認爲屬於象徵性質。

President Obama has said the effects of the cuts on federal agencies - most notably defense, infrastructure spending, public schools and preschool care - will not be felt immediately, but instead will have what he calls a "tumble downward" effect. That means, the longer the cuts remain in place, the worse the damage they will cause.

奧巴馬總統曾經表示，削減聯邦各機構開支的影響不會立即被感受到，但將產生他稱作的 "逐漸下滑 "的效應。那就是開支削減持續的時間越長，造成的損害就越大。最受到關注的是國防、基礎設施經費、公立學校和學前教育等領域。

Defense employees are expected to be forced to take unpaid time off work, while funding for big infrastructure projects will eventually halt.

預計國防部員工將被迫接受無薪休假，同時對大型基礎設施項目最終也將停止提供資金。