The White House vigorously denied on August 3rd any plans to raise taxes on middle-income Americans to pay for health care reform or combat the massive federal budget deficit. The denials come one day after two top members of President Barack Obama’s economic team declined to rule out tax hikes.
8月3日，白宫明确否定了任何为支付医疗保障体系改革或对付高额的联邦预算赤字而提高征 收美国中产阶级税款的计划。在白宫作出公开声明的前一天，总统奥巴马经济顾问小组的两名高 级成员称不完全排除提高征税的可能性。
Shielding the middle class from higher taxes was one of the candidate Obama’s most-repeated refrains last year:
保护中产阶级,不提高征税额是奥巴马在竞选总统时经常挂在 嘴边的宣传口号。
“Let me be absolutely clear: If you are a family making less than $ 250,000 a year, you will not see your taxes go up，，，he said.
他称:“我现在十分清楚地告诉大家:如果你家的家庭年收入少 于25万美元，那么国家就不会提高你需缴纳的税额。”
But in separate appearances on US television on August 2nd, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and top Obama economic advisor Larry Summers refused to rule out future tax increases~ including some that might target the middle class. Summers said，“It is never a good idea to absolutely rule things out.”
但是就在8月2日，财政部部长迪莫西?基斯尼和奥巴马的高级 经济顾问拉里?萨默斯分别出现在电视台上。他们都没有排除以后 将提高税额的可能性一包括向中产阶级多征税的可能性。萨默斯 称:“排除任何可能性都不是好主意。”
A day later, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs spent more than half of a 45-minute press briefing denying any change in the administration’s thinking on taxes.
一天后，白宫新闻秘书罗伯特?吉布斯用了大半场45分钟的发 布会来否认奥巴马政府对税收意见的任何改变。
“Let me be precise: The president’s clear commitment is not to raise taxes on those making less than $ 250,000 a year,” he said.
吉布斯称现在我确切地告诉大家:总统对收入少于25万美元 的家庭给出了不提髙税额的明确承诺。”
Again and again, Gibbs was asked whether a “clear commitment，，constitutes an absolute presidential pledge not to raise taxes on middle-income earners.
吉布斯也被一遍又一遍地询问“明确承诺”到底是不是意味着维 持中等收入家庭原税收额是总统的诺言，绝对不会改变。
“The president made a commitment during the campaign. He is clear about that commitment. He is going to keep it. I do not know how much more clear about the commitment I can be，，’ said Gibbs.
吉布斯称:“总统在竞选中作出了承诺。他很清楚这个承诺是什 么。他会信守诺言的。我说到这个程度已经足够清楚的了。”
Throughout 2008，s presidential race, Republicans maintained that Barack Obama’s ambitious agenda to restructure America’s economy would require massive tax increases or incur unsustainable debt that would bankrupt the nation. Months after enacting an $ 800 billion stimulus package, Congress is now struggling to craft a health care reform bill that will not add to America’s record federal budget deficit of more than $ 1 trillion.
在2008年的总统竞选中，共和党人坚持认为奥巴马雄心勃勃的 重构美国经济的日程表肯定会引发大幅扩征税款，否则会招致巨额 债务，最终让整个国家倒闭。在制定了一个8000亿美元的刺激计划 后,国会现在正在努力制定一个医疗保障改革法案，以保证它不会 再给美国的联邦预算赤字增加1万亿美元的债务。
Press Secretary Gibbs said President Obama’s first goal is to see the US economy emerge from the deepest and longest recession of the post-World War II era. He reminded reporters that the Obama record to date is one of tax cuts.
新闻秘书吉布斯表示奥巴马总统的第一目标就是看到美国经济从二战时期后所经历的最严 重、最漫长的经济衰退当中复苏。他提醒记者们奥巴马的税务记录上只有一次减税记录。
“Within the very first month of the president talking office，95 percent of Americans received a tax cut. That is everybody in the middle class，，，he said.
他说.?“奥巴马总统上任的第一个月内，就给95%的美国人臧税。95%ffl当于包括所有的中产阶级。”
Recent public opinion polls show a dip in President Obama’s approval ratings, attributed to concerns about health care reform and the slow pace of economic recovery. But the days between late July and early August brought a flourish of upbeat economic news in housing, employment and economic growth.
最近的民意测验显示奥巴马的支持率下降了，原因是人们担心医保改革，经济复苏速度太慢。 但是就在7月底8月初，房产、就业率和经济增长方面传来了显著提高的消息。
The trend continued August 3rd, with an index showing the smallest contraction in US manufacturing in 18 months. Based on July’s performance, some economists say the August reading could show a modest expansion of America’s battered manufacturing sector.
8月3日当天，经济依然保持着恢复趋势。这是美国制造业18个月以来缩水幅度最小的一次。基 于7月的形势分析,经济学家称8月份美国大受打击的制造业应该能稍有回暖。
Troubled US automaker Ford reported its first sales increase in nearly two years last month. The sales boost came at the start of a US government-funded billion dollar program that subsidizes the trade-in of old, fuel-guzzling vehicles for newer, more efficient ones.
困难缠身的美国汽车制造商福特报告其6月份的销售额在两年内头一次有了增长。政府拿 出了 10亿美元补助以老式费油汽车换新型节油车的活动，这项活动一开始，福特的销售额就有 了猛涨。
An estimated quarter-of-a-million Americans have used the program to buy new cars. The Obama administration is urging Congress to approve an additional $ 2 billion to keep the program running for an additional month.
据估计，大约有45万美国人巳经通过这个活动买到了新车。奥巴马政府正在敦促国会批准增 加20亿美元以保证这项活动再持续一个月。