豆知识 2011-11-20&11-26 美国政府破产的故事 (1/3)

（单词翻译）

 These last few years, I’ve had to get a lot more careful about how I spend my paycheck. Everyone has. Like I’m eating out less often, holding back on expenses I don’t really need, and saving for my kid’s college. I’m getting more responsible, taking control of how I spend. But one thing I can’t control is that every month a big chunk¹ of my paycheck goes off to our government. It’s not the most fun part of my budget, but I believe in paying taxes. Not just because it’s the law, but because it’s how I invest in a better future that I can’t afford to build on my own. You know, that future that we all want, and nearly every candidate promises us: great schools, a healthy environment, clean energy, good jobs. But a funny thing happens to our money on its way to that better future. It seems to disappear. And by the time we get around to investing in that future, all I hear is, “sorry, not this year, we’re broke.” In fact, we’re so broke, they say, that we have no choice but to side backwards², cutting things that made this country great, like schools and the EPA, maybe even social security and Medicare.