奧巴馬新年可能面臨新財政問題
Republicans are weighing a new fight with President Barack Obama over the need to lift America’s borrowing limit early next year, raising concerns that the fiscal truce established in last week’s bipartisan budget deal may be shortlived.
美國共和黨人正在權衡在明年初是否必須提高美國債務上限的問題上再度與巴拉克•奧巴馬(Barack Obama)總統作對，令外界擔憂上週兩黨達成預算協議後的“財政停火”可能持續不了太久。Paul Ryan, Republican chairman of the House budget committee, said yesterday that members of his party in Congress would meet in January to discuss what concessions they would seek from the White House in exchange for lifting the country’s debt ceiling.
共和黨人、衆議院預算委員會主席保羅•瑞安(Paul Ryan)昨日表示，國會中的共和黨議員將於明年1月開會，討論他們將迫使白宮做出何種讓步，以換取提高美國債務上限。“We don’t want nothing out of this debt limit. We’re going to decide what it is we’re going to accomplish out of this debt limit fight,” Mr Ryan told Fox News.
瑞安對福克斯新聞頻道(Fox News)表示：“我們不想白白提高這個債務上限。我們將決定，我們希望從這場圍繞債務上限的鬥爭實現什麼。”
The budget deal he crafted with Patty Murray, a Democratic senator, was passed overwhelmingly by the House of Representatives but faces its final hurdle in the Senate this week. The agreement is expected to clear the upper chamber, but opposition from a number of high-profile Republican senators has left some uncertainty about the outcome.
瑞安與民主黨參議員帕蒂•默裏(Patty Murray)草擬的預算協議已在衆議院(House of Representatives)高票通過，但本週在參議院面臨最後障礙。預計參議院能通過該協議，但多位知名共和黨參議員的反對給最終結果帶來了一些不確定性。“I feel we’ll have a good strong showing from the Democratic side, but we need bipartisan support to pass it,” Dick Durbin, a senior Democratic senator, told CBS.
資深民主黨參議員迪克•德賓(Dick Durbin)對美國哥倫比亞廣播公司(CBS)表示：“我覺得，民主黨一方將展現出有力的支持，但我們需要兩黨的支持才能通過該預算協議。”The deal dramatically reduces the threat of a government shutdown over the next two years and unwinds some of the budget cuts introduced in March under “sequestration”.
預算協議大幅降低了未來兩年政府停擺的威脅，並解除了一些根據“強制減支”方案在今年3月實行的預算削減措施。Many view the deal, if passed, as marking the end of three years of vicious fiscal battles but Mr Ryan’s comments suggest that tensions could flare up again soon.
許多人認爲，該協議如果能通過，將標誌着持續三年的惡性財政爭鬥告一段落，但瑞安的言論暗示，緊張氛圍可能很快再度加劇。Renewed uncertainty over the debt ceiling comes as Federal Reserve officials prepare to decide on Wednesday whether to begin tapering, or slowing, the pace of their asset purchases in support of the US recovery.
圍繞債務上限出現新的不確定性之際，美聯儲(Federal Reserve)官員準備在本週三決定是否開始放緩購債速度，資產購買的目的是支持美國經濟復甦。A strong jobs report for November increased the likelihood that the Fed might initiate a small reduction in the rate of bond buys, as did news of the budget agreement last week. But Mr Ryan’s comments might temper any enthusiasm among Fed officials about the fiscal environment on Capitol Hill.
強勁的11月就業報告，提高了美聯儲啓動小幅放緩購債速度的可能性，上週達成預算協議的消息也一樣。但瑞安的言論可能使美聯儲官員對國會山(Capitol Hill)的財政環境不抱樂觀態度。
