美國債務磋商因稅收問題受阻
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.
奧巴馬總統星期天將再次與美國國會領導人會晤，尋求達成一項複雜的協議，以削減聯邦赤字，避免美國14.3萬億美元的國債無法償還的問題。此次再度磋商的前一天，共和黨籍衆議院議長提出一項雄心勃勃的努力措施，這些措施旨在把未來的債務削減4萬多億美元，再度磋商很可能無果而終。
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.
剛剛過去的星期六，美國衆議院議長貝納證實了很多觀察人士看來早已不新鮮的消息，那就是就美國失控的債務負擔進行的磋商已經陷入僵局。僵局爭執的關鍵點在於：一個長期的減少赤字的方案是否應當包括政府獲得額外的收入，還是僅僅依靠減少聯邦開支來解決問題。
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.
貝納指出，白宮一再堅持最終的一攬子方案要包括增稅的內容，這是共和黨人所拒絕的。考慮到目前存在的分歧，貝納議長建議朝着一項更加溫和適度的協議進行努力，達成這項中庸的協議將基於在目前爲止進行的磋商中已經確定的削減開支的共識。那些削減的開支將構成提高聯邦舉債上限的基礎，而提高舉債上限正是奧巴馬政府表示，要想讓美國政府保持還債的能力，就必須在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.
但是奧巴馬政府官員堅稱達成所謂的“大交易”仍然是可能的。美國財政部長蓋特納在哥倫比亞廣播公司“面對全國”節目中說：
“There has to be a deal. Failure is not an option,” he said.
“必須達成一項協議。失敗不是選項。”
President Obama’s Chief of Staff, Bill Daley, says the bigger the deal, the better off the nation will be.
奧巴馬總統的白宮辦公廳主任比爾·戴利表示，這項協議越大，對國家就越有利。
“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.”
他說：“四萬億美元是一個足以讓我們的赤字得到大幅削減的數字。這會向世界表明，美國已經控制住了自己的財政問題。這也會給美國人民以信心，那就是我們能夠向前推進經濟的穩固發展。”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.
戴利是在美國廣播公司的“本週”節目中說這番話的。奧巴馬政府長期以來一直主張，如果共和黨人同意結束針對富人和一些公司利益的減稅政策，就將考慮對民主黨人長期捍衛的一些聯邦項目進行痛苦的開支削減，並對所謂的福利權益項目進行改革。這些權益項目是指向退休人員提供收入和醫療保險的項目。
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.
共和黨人表示，除非降低整體稅率，否則將拒絕任何增稅措施，這也就是意味着稅收政策的變化將不會給政府帶來額外的收入。參議院少數黨領袖麥康奈爾星期天在福克斯新聞臺的節目中說：
“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.”
“行政當局官員告訴我和貝納議長的所有內容就是，達成一項大的一攬子計劃，這項計劃將在眼下失業率保持在百分之9點2，經濟環境非常困難的情況下，要求大幅增稅。我們共和黨人認爲，這是一個可怕的想法。這會扼殺工作機會。”
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.
作爲一個總的原則，幾乎沒有經濟學家認爲增稅是解決經濟疲軟的途徑。但是經濟學家當中對政府在私人部門對商品和服務需求低迷不振的時候，是否應當削減政府開支以減少赤字的做法，存在不同意見。但是有一點是不存在爭議的，那就是美國的債務負擔是不可持續的，如果不加以遏制，整個國家將會破產。
