美国可能达成两党债务方案协议

The U.S. Senate has blocked a Democratic proposal to raise the federal borrowing limit and avoid a potential default on America’s $14.3 trillion national debt. With both Republican and Democratic plans now defeated, focus shifts to last-ditch negotiations between congressional leaders and the White House. Lawmakers are expressing cautious optimism that a bipartisan deal may soon be at hand.

美国议员们对即将达成一项削减政府开支，而避免美国14.3万亿美元国债出现可能违约的两党协议表示了审慎的乐观。有报导说，在星期二提高联邦借债上限的限期之前，一项框架协议浮出水面，否则美国政府将无钱可花。

Appearing on U.S. television, the Senate’s top Republican, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, said he and the White House are “very close” to an agreement that could attract bipartisan congressional support.

参议院少数党领袖、共和党参议员麦康奈尔在电视上说，他和白宫非常接近于达成一项可以得到国会两党支持的协议。

The news was welcomed by Democratic Senator Richard Durbin of Illinois. “I have a much more positive feeling than I did 24 hours ago,” said Durbin. Durbin spoke on the Fox News Sunday television program.

这个消息受到来自伊利诺伊州的民主党联邦参议员理查德·德宾的欢迎。他说：“和24小时之前相比，我现在的感觉要积极正面得多。”德宾参议员是在福克斯新闻台星期天的节目中做出上述表示的。

After months of partisan gridlock, the agreement being hammered out reportedly calls for trillions of dollars in spending cuts in two stages, and includes a legislative enforcement mechanism to ensure the cuts materialize. Those elements would satisfy several long-standing Republican demands.

在经过两党数月的僵局之后，这项据报导呼之欲出的协议要求分两阶段削减数万亿美元的开支，其中还包括建立一个立法部门的执行机制，来确保实现开支削减。这些要素将满足共和党方面一些长期的要求。

After an initial round of cuts, a bipartisan congressional committee would identify further spending reductions and, it is hoped, prevent a repeat of the legislative gridlock that has consumed Washington for months. The agreement would reportedly assure the U.S. government’s solvency through the end of next year - a key Democratic demand.

在最初一轮的削减之后，国会一个由两党组成的委员会将确定进一步的开支削减数额，人们希望这个委员会将会防止再次出现导致华盛顿目前所陷入的数月之久的僵局。据报这项协议将确保美国政府到明年年底之前的偿付能力，而这是民主党方面的一项关键要求。

“We are not returning to this before Christmas. We are going to do this in a way so that the economy is not in suspense and doubt about our future,” said Durbin.

德宾参议员又说：“我们在圣诞节前不需要再处理这个问题了。我们要用这种方式来处理这个问题，这样经济就不会处于悬而未决的状态，外界不会对我们的未来感到怀疑忧虑。”Also appearing on Fox News Sunday was Republican Senator Jon Kyl of Arizona, who also expressed satisfaction with an end result that forces the U.S. government to rein in spending.

星期天同样出现在福克斯新闻台节目中的还有来自亚利桑那州的联邦参议员约翰·凯尔，他也对达成一项迫使美国政府严格控制开支的最终解决方案感到满意。

“Three months ago, the president [[Barack Obama]] insisted on a ‘clean’ debt ceiling extension [[greater borrowing authority without conditions]]," ,” said Kyl. Clearly, we will have a significant amount of spending reductions in this proposal.”

他说：“三个月前，奥巴马总统坚持要无条件地提高借债上限。很明显，现在我们的这个协议将使政府进行大量的开支削减。”

But can this reported agreement, if finalized, or any agreement pass both houses of a politically-divided and polarized Congress? Senator Durbin.

但是这个报导中的协议，一旦最终完成制定，或者任何一项其它协议，能否在充满政治分歧，两极分化的国会两院都获得通过呢？

“I do not know the answer to that,” said Durbin.

对此德宾参议员说：“我不知道这个问题的答案。”

The House of Representatives may pose the greatest challenge to raising the debt ceiling. Last week, the Republican-controlled House defeated a first-draft debt proposal put forth by Speaker John Boehner. If Republicans are willing to rebel against bills written by their own speaker, a bipartisan accord could prove even more challenging to pass. The House Republican charged with lining up party votes, Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy, is non-committal.

国会众议院可能对提高债务上限构成最大的挑战。上个星期，共和党控制下的众议院没有通过一项由议长贝纳推动的债务法案的最初版本，如果共和党人连担任议长的本党人士提出的法案都予以反对，那么一个两党协商后的协议要想获得通过，可能会更具挑战性。对于众议院共和党人被指以党派划线投票的问题，众议院多数党党鞭凯文·麦卡锡不置可否。

“We will first have to look at the details. But [negotiations are] moving in the right direction,” said McCarthy.

他说：“我们得先审视协议的具体内容。但是磋商的确在朝着正确的方向前进。”

Even if an accord is finalized, passed, and signed into law by President Barack Obama, it remains to be seen whether the U.S. government will retain its top-tier credit rating. A downgrade could lead to higher interest rates, pummeling a weak U.S. economy and making debt servicing even more expensive.

即使一项法案完成起草，获得通过，最终由奥巴马总统签署成为法律，美国政府能否保持最高等级的信用评级信用评级仍然有待观察。信用评级被下调可能导致更高的利率，从而打击美国疲软的经济，并使得借债成本更加高昂。