Weekly Address: It’s Time for Congress To Pass a Responsible Budget (September 19, 2015)

奧巴馬每周電視演講：奧巴馬敦促國會及時通過新年度的預算

Hi, everybody.  It’s hard to believe, but it was seven years ago this week that one of Wall Street’s biggest investment banks went bankrupt, triggering a meltdown on Wall Street and the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.  And in the months that followed, millions of Americans lost their jobs, their homes, and the savings they’d worked so hard to build.

大家好。往事不堪回首，正是七年前的這個時候，華爾街最大的投資銀行之一宣布破產，引發了整個華爾街的崩潰和自大蕭條以來最嚴重的經濟危機。在隨后的時間里，數百萬美國人失去工作、失去家園、失去了辛辛苦苦積攢下來的積蓄。

Today’s a different story.  Over the past five and a half years, our businesses have created more than 13 million new jobs.  The unemployment rate is lower than it’s been in over seven years.  Manufacturing is growing.  Housing is bouncing back.  We’ve reduced our deficits by two-thirds.  And 16 million more Americans now know the security of health insurance.

今天，一切都大不一樣了。過去的五年半時間里，我們的企業共創造了1300多萬個就業崗位。失業率也降低到七年來的最低水平。制造業開始增長，房地產業也觸底反彈；我們的財政赤字也減少了2/3；1600多萬美國人獲得醫療保險帶來的保障。

This is your progress.  It’s because of your hard work and sacrifice that America has come back from crisis faster than almost every other advanced nation on Earth.  We remain the safest, strongest bet in the world.

這是大家的成就。因為有了大家的辛勤付出和犧牲，美國從危機中復蘇的速度比世界上其它任何發達國家都快。我們依然是全世界最安全、最強大的國家。

Of course, you might not know all that if you only listened to the bluster of political season, when it’s in the interest of some politicians to paint America as dark and depressing as possible.  But I don’t see it that way.  I’ve met too many Americans who prove, day in and day out, that this is a place where anything is possible.  Yes, we have a lot of work to do to rebuild a middle class that’s had the odds stacked against it now for decades.  That’s the thing about America – our work is never finished.  We always strive to be better – to perfect ourselves.

當然，如果你只聽大選季的政治宣傳，你可能無法了解實情，那些政客為了某些政治利益，把美國描繪的要多黑暗就有多黑暗。但我不這么認為。我遇到了太多的美國人，他們堅強勇敢、早出晚歸，是因為這是一片充滿機遇的土地。是的，我們在重新打造一個堅強的中產階層，幾十年來，這件事上我們積壓了太多的問題。這是美國永遠的任務，我們的工作永遠不會結束。我們會一直為更美好的生活、更完美的自己而奮斗。

We just have to make the right choices.  And if Republicans want to help, they can choose, right now, to pass a budget that helps us grow our economy even faster, create jobs even faster, lift people’s incomes and prospects even faster.  But they’ve only got until the end of the month to do it – or they’ll shut down our government for the second time in two years.

我們要做的就是做出正確的選擇。如果共和黨人愿意幫忙，他們現在就可以做出選擇，通過預算方案，幫助我們的經濟實現更快增長，更快創造更多就業崗位，更快提升人民收入，增強人們對美好未來的期待。但他們擁有的時間僅僅是這個月剩下的這幾天了，否則，他們就會讓政府在兩年內再次關門。

Democrats are ready to sit down and negotiate with Republicans right now. But it should be over legitimate issues like how much do we invest in education, job training, and infrastructure – not unrelated ideological issues like Planned Parenthood.  We need to set our sights higher than that.  We need to reverse harmful cuts to middle-class economic priorities, close loopholes that benefit only a fortunate few at the top, and invest more in the things that help our entire economy grow.

民主黨人已經做好準備跟共和黨人坐下來好好商談。但交流的范疇應該限定在法定議題以內，例如我們在教育、職業培訓、基礎設施建設等領域投入多少資金，而不是一些像計劃生育一類的無關痛癢的意識形態議題。我們需要把眼光放的更高遠一點。我們需要扭轉危害中產階級發展壯大的局面，不再削減重點經濟領域的預算，消除那些只為少數頂層富裕人士有利的漏洞，在實現整個經濟增長有利的領域加大投資。

There’s nothing principled about the idea of another government shutdown.  There’s nothing patriotic about denying the progress you’ve worked so hard to make.  America is great right now – not because of our government, or our wealth, or our power, but because of everyone who works hard every day to move this country forward.  Now Congress needs to work as hard as you do.

讓政府第二次關門并沒有什么原則性的問題。否認你們辛勤付出取得的發展成就也跟愛國與否無關。美國現在之所以偉大，不是因為我們的政府、財富或者是我們的軍力，而是因為我們每個人每天都在辛勤付出，推動這個國家向前發展。現在，國會也應該向大家學習，努力工作。

Thanks, and have a great weekend.

謝謝大家！祝周末愉快！

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