美參院否決衆院赤字債務提案

The Democratic Party-controlled U.S. Senate has blocked a plan passed by the Republican-controlled House of Representatives to cut the country's budget and raise its debt ceiling. The vote Friday puts the emphasis on talks between the White House and top lawmakers to find a deal to raise the debt ceiling before a deadline on August 2.

民主黨控制的美國參議院否決了共和黨控制的衆議院通過的削減預算和提高債限的提案。

A simple majority was needed to table, or kill, further consideration of the bill. The vote was 51 to 46.

參議院需要簡單多數來擱置、或否決衆議院提出的這項法案。參議院的投票結果爲51票對46票。

Just one hour of comments were allowed before the vote took place.

在投票開始前只進行了一個小時的討論。

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, who had called the House bill one of the worst he has ever seen, said it was now urgent to look for a feasible solution.

參議院多數黨領袖哈里·裏德曾將衆議院的這項法案稱爲他所見過的最差的法案之一。他說，現在迫切需要尋求一個可行的解決方案。

"There is simply no more time to waste debating and voting on measures that have no hopes of becoming law. We have no more time to waste playing partisan games," said Reid. "As the saying goes, indecision becomes decision with time. Our time is running out before this gridlock, this refusal by the other side to move even an inch toward compromise becomes a decision to default on our debt."

裏德說：“實在是沒有更多的時間來對那些沒有希望成爲法律的方案進行爭論和表決。我們沒有更多時間來浪費在玩黨派遊戲上。正如一句老話所講的，隨着時間的推移未決定的終會決定。我們的時間就快沒了，在這種僵局、在這一提案被另一方否決後我們向妥協方案邁進一英寸之前，債務違約或將成爲現實。”

In the short time they had to speak, Republicans on the Senate floor all backed the "Cut, Cap and Balance Act." It would have raised the debt limit by $2.4 trillion on the condition that Congress send a constitutional balanced budget amendment to the states for ratification and approve trillions in long-term spending cuts.

由於不得不在短時間內作出決定，參議院的共和黨人都支持這項“削減、限制與平衡法案。”該法案將聯邦政府借債上限提高了2.4萬億美元，條件是國會批准一項預算平衡憲法修正案，以認可和批准長期內削減數萬億美元的支出。The Senate minority leader, Kentucky Republican Mitch McConnell, accused Democrats of being in a state of denial.

參議院少數黨領袖、肯塔基州共和黨參議員米奇·麥康奈爾指責民主黨人否決了這項法案。

"Too many Democrats refuse to admit that Washington has a spending problem. That is why Republicans have insisted that we focus on spending in this debate," McConnell said. "The reason we have got a $14 trillion debt is because no matter how much money Washington has it always spends more."

麥康奈爾說：“太多民主黨人拒絕承認華盛頓在支出方面存在問題。那就是爲什麼共和黨人堅持我們在這場辯論中要專注於支出問題。我們之所以有14萬億美元的債務，是因爲華盛頓不管有多少錢，它支出的總是更多。”

The comments highlighted the sharp divisions between the two parties, as negotiations to find a deal stumble along.

麥康奈爾的評論突顯了兩黨的尖銳分歧，有關協議的談判步履蹣跚。

Democrats said the law proposed by the House would have turned a recession into a depression. They said it would cut, cap and kill social spending programs and defend tax havens. They accused former Republican President George W. Bush of creating the deficit problem by paying for the Iraq war with tax cuts. They also warned against any deal that would only favor wealthy Americans.

民主黨人說，衆議院的這項法案會使經濟衰退惡化成蕭條。他們表示，這項法案將削減、限制和槍斃社會支出項目，同時保護避稅天堂。他們指責共和黨籍前總統喬治·沃克·布什因爲減稅和支付伊拉克戰爭費用而造成赤字問題。他們還警告不要出臺任何只有利於富人階層的法案。

Republicans accused Democratic senators of lacking leadership since they said they have not proposed their own plan. They took offense that the act had been blocked with a dismissal vote, rather than a full debate and work on amendments. They accused Democratic President Barack Obama of pretending to be a fiscal moderate in recent days, but coming short of that ideal in his actions.

共和黨人則指責民主黨參議員缺乏領導能力，他們說，民主黨人沒有提出自己的方案。令共和黨人感到氣憤的是，衆議院的這項法案直接被否決票阻止，而沒有經過全面的討論和作出修改。他們指責民主黨籍總統奧馬最近幾天在財政問題上假裝中間派，但他的實際行動卻不是這樣。

Senior aides to lawmakers said both sides are now searching for what they called a magic formula to avoid a debt default, with the White House at the center of efforts to find a compromise.

議員們的高級助理說，兩黨議員現在正尋求他們所說的魔法公式以避免債務違約，白宮是找出妥協方案的核心力量。