US Senators Spar Over Key Tax Cut

搜索关注在线英语听力室公众号：tingroom，领取免费英语资料大礼包。

　　Position reversal

　　It is a rare reversal of partisan⁴ and ideological⁵ positions: Democrats fighting to sustain a tax cut and Republicans raising objections.

　　Last year, it was Republicans who insisted that lower tax rates enacted⁶ under former President George W. Bush be extended for all income levels, and Democrats who said the top tax rate paid by the richest Americans should rise.  In the end, all Bush-era tax cuts were extended, without any corresponding tax hikes or spending cuts to offset⁷ the fiscal⁸ impact.

　　At issue today are taxes collected to fund the federal program that provides income to retirees, known as Social Security.  For 2011, those taxes were reduced by about a third to give Americans bigger paychecks and, it was hoped, stimulate⁹ economic growth.

　　Economic impact

　　Unless Congress acts, full Social Security taxes will be collected once again in 2012.  Democratic Senator Kent Conrad of North Dakota says that would be disastrous¹⁰ for America’s fragile economic recovery.

　　"What the country needs right now is additional lift for the economy," he said. "We still have one-in-six Americans either unemployed¹¹ or underemployed.  We should not have a tax increase on the middle class.  That just makes no sense."

　　Conrad spoke¹² on the U.S. television program Fox News Sunday.

　　Last week, Senate Republicans defeated a Democratic proposal to pay for a Social Security tax cut extension by tax hike on millionaires.  Senate Democrats defeated a Republican proposal for a similar tax cut offset by federal spending reductions.

　　Also appearing on Fox was Republican Senator Tom Coburn of Oklahoma, who argued that fixing the massive federal deficit¹³ requires fiscal discipline.

　　"The question the American people ought to ask is, 'Where is the backbone¹⁴ in Washington to actually pay for these extensions?'  All we see coming out of Washington is a promise about collecting revenue in the future to pay for expenditures¹⁵ today.  We ought to pay for that by decreasing spending now in other low-priority areas," he said.

　　Tax cuts for the wealthy

　　Democrats argue the Republican position shows they are only interested in preserving tax cuts for the wealthy.  Republicans fire back that Democrats are fundamentally unwilling¹⁶ to reduce the size and scope of government in the U.S. economy.

　　President Barack Obama has suggested Congress remain in session until the Social Security tax cut is extended, even if that means keeping the legislature open through the upcoming Christmas holiday period.  Kent Conrad announced on Fox that the Senate’s top Democrat¹, Majority Leader Harry¹⁷ Reid, is working on a compromise proposal to be unveiled this week.

分享到：