双语新闻：美国人对未来四年没底

英语自学网

Debating Over Last Term, Candidates SayLittle of Next
        　　WASHINGTON — After three debates and four and a half hoursof nationally televised exchanges, Americans have learned thatPresident Obama has a smaller pension than his opponent andMitt Romney wants to get Big Bird’s beak out of the federaltrough, that Joseph R. Biden Jr. likes to smile and Paul D. Ryandrinks lots of water.
华盛顿——经过了三场辩论、四个半小时的全国电视直播，美国人民已经知道，奥巴马总统的退休金没他的对手多；米特·罗姆尼(Mitt Romney)想给吃联邦补助的“大鸟”（Big Bird, 美国公共广播公司儿童节目“芝麻街”里的人物——编注）断粮；小约瑟夫·R·拜登(Joseph R. Biden Jr.)喜欢笑；保罗·D·瑞安(Paul D. Ryan)很能喝水。
        　　But they have not learned as much about what the next four years might look like. With tens ofmillions of Americans tuning in to the debates, the four candidates for president and vice presidenthave spent most of their time on the biggest public stage of the campaign fighting more aboutwhat happened in the last term than what should happen in the next.
但是，美国人还是不知道，今后四年美国将何去何从。几千万美国人在看电视辩论， 两位总统候选人，两位副总统候选人，却站在此次竞选最大的公共辩论台上，用大部分时间争论上一届政府的所作所为，而非下一届政府应该怎么办。
        　　Mr. Obama and Vice President Biden defended their record but gave only a modest sense of theiragenda should they be re-elected, beyond arguing for staying the course because the other sidewould return to what they called the failed policies of the past. Mr. Romney and his running mate, Mr. Ryan, did offer a vision of sorts for replacing what they called failed policies of the present, butthey declined to give the kind of details that would help voters evaluate what it would mean forthem.
奥巴马和副总统拜登为自己的政绩进行了辩解，却对再次当选后的施政计划语焉不详，只是说要继续走既定路线，因为如果对方当选，就会重复过去失败的政策。罗姆尼及其竞选搭档瑞安确实描绘了某种前景，要取代他们自己所说的本届政府的失败政策，但是他们拒绝提供细节，以帮助选民判断这对于选民们意味着什么。
        　　As a result, voters are left to extrapolate from the signals sent during the debates what the futurewould hold under an Obama second term or a first term of a President Romney. Americans canmake interpretations from the values and concepts expressed, even if there are few tangible plansto consider.
结果，选民只能根据辩论上传出来的信号凭空猜测，如果奥巴马连任或者罗姆尼接任，未来将会怎样。尽管辩论中没有什么具体的计划供他们参考，但美国人可以根据候选人在辩论中表达的概念和价值观，做出解读。
        　　“The viewers know what these candidates believe,” said William A. Galston, a former adviser toPresident Bill Clinton and Vice President Al Gore who now works as a senior fellow at the BrookingsInstitution. “But they don’t know what these candidates would do.”
威廉姆·A·高尔斯顿(William A. Galston)说，“观众们知道这些候选人信奉什么，但他们不知道这些候选人将会做些什么。” 高尔斯顿曾是比尔·克林顿总统和阿尔·戈尔(Al Gore)副总统的顾问，现在是布鲁金斯学会(Brookings Institution)的高级研究员。
        　　In postdebate appearances on Wednesday, both the president and Mr. Romney seized on whatthey saw as their opponents’ deficiencies.
周三，总统和罗姆尼在辩论之后的公开场合露面时，都抓住他们认为对手存在的那些缺点不放。
        　　“The president still doesn’t have an agenda for a second term,” Mr. Romney told a rally ofsupporters in Chesapeake, Va. “Don’t you think that it’s time for him to finally put together a visionof what he’d do in the next four years?”
在弗吉尼亚州切萨皮克，罗姆尼在对一群支持者说，“总统还没有制定第二个任期的计划。你们不觉得这时候他应该拼出一个他在接下来四年内将做什么的计划了吗？”
        　　He added: “I just think the American people had expected that the president of the United Stateswould be able to describe what he’s going to do in the next four years, but he can’t.”
他补充道，“我只是觉得，美国人民希望美国总统有能力向他们描述，他在接下来的四年里要做什么，但是他却没这个能力。”
        　　At his own rally in Mount Vernon, Iowa, Mr. Obama said: “Governor Romney also took anotherstab at trying to sell us his $5 trillion tax cut that favors the wealthy. Once again he refused to tellus how he’s going to pay for it.”
在爱荷华州弗农山，奥巴马对自己的支持者说，“罗姆尼州长又一次试图推销他那个偏袒富人的5万亿美元（约合30万亿人民币）减税计划。但他又一次拒绝告诉我们，执行这样的减税，钱从哪儿来。”
            
            

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        　　“Usually when a politician tells you he’s going to wait until after the election to explain a plan toyou,” he said, “they don’t have a pleasant surprise in store for you.”
他说，“如果一个政客告诉你说， 要等选举结束了，再向你解释他的计划。那么，等着你的， 通常可不是什么惊喜。”
        　　Over the course of three debates, the two sides have provided clues. Mr. Obama and Mr. Biden, ineffect, asked voters to ratify the path they have already set. They promised to finish carrying outthe health care plan passed in the first term and to seek higher taxes on the wealthy to whittleaway at sky-high budget deficits. They vowed to continue clean energy initiatives and fight erosionof women’s rights. It has sounded like rear-guard actions preserving what they see as theiraccomplishments.
在三场辩论中，双方都提供了一些线索。奥巴马和拜登请选民赞同他们的既定路线。他们承诺，完成首个任期内通过的医保计划，并对富人征收更高税额，以消除巨大的预算赤字。他们还承诺继续推行清洁能源计划，并且保证捍卫女性权益。这听起来像是在竭力防卫，为的是保护他们所认为的自己的既有成就。
        　　There was little of the sweeping ambition envisioned four years ago. Mr. Obama made clear onTuesday that while he still wanted to rewrite the nation’s immigration laws, Republicans stood in theway. The words “climate change” were never uttered by a president who in 2008 vowed that hiswatch would be remembered as the time “the planet began to heal.” He spoke only once, inpassing, about building roads and bridges, once a key part of his jobs plan.
他们不再有四年前的凌云壮志 。周二，奥巴马清楚表示，他虽然仍想修改本国的移民法，但共和党却是拦路虎。在2008年，总统曾宣誓说，他任总统的时期，将作为“地球开始康复”之年被历史铭记。而今，他却绝口不提“气候变化”一词了。他只是偶然提到过一次要修路建桥，而这曾经是他就业计划的关键内容。
        　　The agenda outlined by Mr. Romney and Mr. Ryan would invariably reverse the nation’s direction, but voters were left to guess exactly how. Mr. Romney used the phrase “I know what it takes” seven times on Tuesday night to assert his ability to create jobs and fix the economy, in effectasking voters to trust him.
罗姆尼和瑞安的计划会不可避免地改变美国的发展方向，但是几场辩论之后，选民却只能猜测，究竟会怎样改变。周二晚上，罗姆尼七次说道“我知道需要做什么”，以证明他有能力提高就业率，并使经济重归正轨，实际上是在请选民相信他。
        　　He vowed to repeal and replace Mr. Obama’s health care law but did not say with what. Hepromised to repeal and replace Wall Street regulations but did not give specifics. He defended plansto lower tax rates by 20 percent but would not say what loopholes and deductions would beeliminated to offset lost revenue and keep the deficit from exploding.
他发誓要废除并取代奥巴马的医改法，但是却没有说用什么将其取代。他承诺废除并取代对华尔街的监管，却也没有说明具体做法。他为自己将税率降低20%的计划做辩解，却没有说要消除哪些税制漏洞和税务减免，以抵消因为减税所造成的收入损失，并防止赤字过度膨胀。
        　　The candidate with the most specific plans for the future was Mr. Ryan, who vigorously defendedhis proposals to revamp Medicare and Social Security even though Mr. Romney has distancedhimself from the details involved. Mr. Ryan defended the vagueness of Mr. Romney’s tax plan bysaying, “We want to work with Congress.”
在候选人中，对未来规划的最详细的是瑞安。他对他要修补医改和社保项目的提议，大力辩护。可是，对于此事的相关细节，罗姆尼却若即若离。罗姆尼的税收计划很模糊。瑞安也为此辩白道，“我们想要跟国会合作。”
        　　It is certainly true that describing many details upfront could complicate negotiations withlawmakers, as well as alienate voters whose ox might get gored in carrying out the hard choicesthat will confront the next president. At the same time, it could make it harder for the winner onNov. 6 to claim a mandate for action if voters do not buy into some of those hard choices.
当然，如果解释过多细节，会使同立法者的谈判变得复杂，也会得罪选民，因为下届总统可能会面临艰难选择，让选民不高兴。同时，如果选民不赞同某些艰难选择，这也会让11月6日的获胜者更难获得行政的权威。
        　　“The debates have been mostly confirmatory rather than policy changing,” said Tom Cronin, apolitical scientist at Colorado College. “We plainly have choices and their presidencies will assuredlybe different, and the vast majority of debate viewers have learned this. But that is different fromwinning a mandate for major policy changes.”
科罗拉多学院(Colorado College)的政治学家汤姆·克罗宁说，“在这些辩论中，候选人基本上是在为自己正名，而非为政治改革而辩论 。 我们是可以从他们当中做出选择，而他们谁做总统，也肯定会很不一样。大部分观看电视辩论的观众也知道这一点。但是，这并不等于赢得推行重大政策改革的授权。”