Weekly Address

                                                                  The White House

                                                                  February 2, 2013  

Hi, everybody.

In the coming weeks, we face some important decisions about how to pay down our debt in a way that grows our economy and creates good jobs – decisions that will make a real difference in the strength and pace of our recovery.

大家好！

在最近的几周，我们面临很多重要的决定。这些决定是关于怎样在增长经济和创造就业基础上来削减我们的债务，并且这些决定也会在经济复苏中扮演强劲角色。

We began this year with economists and business leaders saying that we are poised to grow in2013.  And there are real signs of progress:  Home prices are starting to climb again.  Car sales are at a five-year high.  Manufacturing is roaring back.  Our businesses created 2.2 million jobs last year.  And we just learned that our economy created more jobs over the last few months than economists originally thought.

今年伊始，我们同经济学家和商业领袖都认为2013经济会稳步上升。确实有上升的迹象：房价开始上升，汽车销售量创五年新高，制造业迅猛复苏。我们的商业经济去年创造了两百二十万的就业。并且我们刚刚获悉我们的经济在过去的几个月里创造比经济学家们原本预期的更多的就业机会。

But this week, we also received the first estimate of America’s economic growth over the last few months.  And it reminded us that bad decisions in Washington can get in the way of our economic progress.

但是本周我们同样收到了第一份关于美国过去几个月里的经济增长评估分析。这份评估分析提醒我们，华盛顿方面错误的决定回阻碍经济的增长。

We all agree that it’s critical to cut unnecessary spending.  But we can’t just cut our way to prosperity.  It hasn’t worked in the past, and it won’t work today.  It could slow down our recovery.  It could weaken our economy.  And it could cost us jobs – now, and in the future.

我们都同意削减不必要开支的重要性，但是我们不能切断通往繁荣的途径。这不仅在过去不起作用，现在同样如此。它会延缓经济的复苏，会削弱经济实力，还会在当下甚至未来牺牲更多的就业机会。

What we need instead is a balanced approach; an approach that says let’s cut what we can’t afford but let’s make the investments we can’t afford to live without.  Investments in educationand infrastructure, research and development – the things that will help America compete for the best jobs and new industries.

相反，我们所需要的是一个相对平衡的方法。这种方法要去我们削减那些无法承担的，同时也必须投资那些我们赖以生存的项目。例如在教育设施、研究、发展上的投资，这些项目都会帮助美国竞争到更好的工作岗位和新的工业发展。

Already, Republicans and Democrats have worked together to reduce our deficits by $2.5 trillion. That’s a good start.  But to get the rest of the way, we need a balanced set of reforms.

共和党和民主党已经努力削减了2.5万亿美元的财政赤字，这是一个好的开始。但是剩下的工作中，我们更需要一套平衡的改革措施。

For example, we need to lower the cost of health care in programs like Medicare that are the biggest drivers of our deficit, without just passing the burden off to seniors.  And these reforms must go hand-in-hand with eliminating excess spending in our tax code, so that the wealthiest individuals and biggest corporations can’t take advantage of loopholes and deductions that aren’t available to most Americans.

举例来讲，我们需要降低在国家医疗体制中健康保护方面的花费，而不单单是帮助年长者承担费用，因为这项开始是导致我们赤字的最大原因。并且那些改革措施必须在牢牢遵守税法基础上，削减过度开支。这样那些大亨和财团便不能利用钻空子、打折扣的方法来做对大多数美国人不利的事情。

2013 can be a year of solid growth, more jobs, and higher wages.  But that will only happen if we put a stop to self-inflicted wounds in Washington.  Everyone in Washington needs to focus not on politics but on what’s right for the country; on what’s right for you and your families.  That’s howwe’ll get our economy growing faster.  That’s how we’ll strengthen our middle class.  And that’s how we’ll build a country that rewards the effort and determination of every single American.

2013年将会是经济稳固增长，就业机会猛增，收入不断增加的一年。但是只有在华盛顿的我们不再刚愎自用，这些才能够成真。每一位华盛顿的政要不能仅仅集中精力在政治上，而应该更多的关注哪些是对这个国家，对你的家庭，对你的个人有利的事情上。只有这样我们才能壮大中产阶级，只有这样我们才能建立一个使勤勤恳恳的每一个美国人都受益的国家。

Thanks.  And have a great weekend.

非常感谢，祝愿各位周末愉快！