奧巴馬發表講話前夕黨派分歧擴大

Days before President Barack Obama is expected to unveil proposals to boost America’s sluggish economy and reduce stubbornly high unemployment, the White House is hearing conflicting messages from lawmakers and others as to what the president should put forth.

正當奧巴馬總統即將於幾天後就如何振興低迷的美國經濟和降低居高不下的失業率發表演講之際，白宮聽到議員和其他人對總統應該提出怎樣的計劃產生分歧。

Thursday’s address before a joint session of Congress is expected to set political battle lines for the remainder of the year and perhaps all the way to the 2012 general election.

預計奧巴馬總統星期四(9月8日)在國會發表的演講將設定今年餘下時間或者直到2012年總統大選時的政治鬥爭戰線。

Progressive members of Mr. Obama’s Democratic Party say the president should champion bold government action to revive a languishing economy. Congresswoman Maxine Waters of California spoke on NBC’s Meet the Press television program.

奧巴馬的民主黨內激進的成員說，總統應該採取大膽的政府行動以振興疲軟的經濟。來自加利福尼亞州的女衆議員瑪克辛·沃特斯在NBC全國廣播公司電視臺的“與媒體見面”節目中說：

“He must have a jobs program, must create jobs,” said Waters. "I am talking about a program of a trillion dollars or more. We have got to put Americans to work. I am very hopeful that the president is going to put a big program out there and fight very hard for it.”

“他必須提出一個就業計劃，必須創造就業。我的意思是一個數萬億美元的計劃。我們必須讓美國人民有工作。我滿懷希望總統將會提出並全力爭取推行一個大規模的計劃。”

Already rejecting such an approach are Republicans, who control the House of Representatives. Minnesota Congresswoman and Republican presidential hopeful Michele Bachmann blasted Mr. Obama’s economic policies on CBS’ Face the Nation program.

目前控制衆議院的共和黨已阻止了類似的提案。明尼蘇達州的女衆議員、爭取共和黨總統候選人提名的有力競爭者米歇爾·巴克曼在CBS電視臺的“面對全國”節目中指責奧巴馬的經濟政策。

“His solutions have all been government-focused and very temporary gimmick fixes,” said Bachmann. "It is destabilizing if you do not have permanent fixes. I want to see permanency in the [U.S.] tax code.”

巴克曼說：“他的方案全都是專注於政府的，是非常臨時的花招。如果沒有永久性的修復方案，就會造成不穩定。對於美國的問題，我想要看到永久性的賦稅方案。”That view was echoed by Republican Senator Jim DeMint of South Carolina, who spoke on ABC’s This Week program. DeMint said actions, not words, are sorely needed to boost confidence in the private sector and encourage businesses to hire workers.

這種觀點得到了南卡羅來納州的共和黨國會參議員吉姆·德敏特的認同。他在ABC美國廣播公司電視臺的“本週”節目中說，我們非常需要行動而不是空談，以提升對私人部門的信心和鼓勵企業僱傭員工。

“I, frankly, am very tired of speeches,” said DeMint. "I do not want to be disrespectful of the president, but what I want to see is something in writing. I do not think the president is going to come out with things that are really going to create jobs. I am afraid it is just pandering to his [political] base.”

德敏特說：“坦白地說，我非常厭倦聽演講。我不是想不尊重總統，我是想看到書面的東西。我認爲總統將要提出的計劃並不能真正創造就業。我擔心這個計劃只是迎合他的政治需要。”

President Obama has only hinted at the measures he will propose Thursday. Last week, reporters repeatedly pressed White House spokesman Jay Carney for details, without success.

奧巴馬總統對於星期四將要提出的措施只做了一些暗示。上星期，記者們一再向白宮發言人卡尼追問相關細節，但他沒有透露。

“Economists will be able to look at this series of proposals and say that, based on history, based on what we know, that it would add to economic growth and it would cause an increase in job creation,” said Carney.

卡尼說：“經濟學家將會看到這一系列計劃，然後說，根據歷史，根據我們的知識，這些計劃能夠促進經濟增長和創造更多就業。”

For months, U.S. joblessness has been stuck at the nine-percent range. Since World War II, no U.S. president has been re-elected with an unemployment rate that high. Constraining the federal government’s ability to stimulate the economy are trillion-dollar deficits and chronic political gridlock in Washington.

美國的失業率幾個月來一直處於9%的水平。自二戰以來，還沒有哪位美國總統在失業率如此之高的情況下連任成功。數萬億美元的財政赤字和華盛頓的長期政治僵局制約了聯邦政府刺激經濟的能力。