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美国国家公共电台 NPR VIDEO: As Elections Loom, Workers In Trump Country Reckon With Tariffs Fallout

时间:2018-11-09 00:54:55

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VIDEO: As Elections Loom1, Workers In Trump2 Country Reckon With Tariffs3 Fallout

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

We are one week away from the midterm elections. There are going to be a lot of congressional races with different candidates, though President Trump has been telling voters this is really about him.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: A vote for Marsha is really a vote for me and everything that we stand for.

A vote for Morrisey is a vote for me.

And a vote for Cindy is a vote for me.

A vote for Steve is a vote for me.

Remember this - a vote for David is a vote for me and our agenda to make America great again.

GREENE: Of course, it's really not only about him because at the end of the day, politics is personal. And that's what we're calling our series this week. Some of the big decisions and national movements of the past two years have had real effects on lives, and today we're visiting a place that was impacted in a big way by President Trump's policies on tariffs.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

TRUMP: We will have a 25 percent tariff4 on foreign steel.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

PETER NAVARRO: We're going to be rolling in steel.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

TRUMP: Steel is steel. You don't have steel, you don't have a country.

We want our workers to be protected.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

DAVID BURRITT: We want a level playing field. And when we get this right, it will be great for the United States of America.

GREENE: Welcome to Poplar Bluff6, Mo. This is a town of 17,000 or so people, many of them happy to show a stranger around. There is an aging downtown. There a few miles of fast-food restaurants and chain stores. And there are several factories, including this one, Mid5 Continent Nail, the largest nail manufacturer in the United States. Although, these days, the company is feeling pretty small.

Is it hard to see all the machines not working?

CHRIS PRATT: It's devastating7 to the look down through here and see all these machines not running.

GREENE: I was standing8 on the factory floor with the operations manager, Chris Pratt. He is used to this place being a whole lot louder. A big area of the factory, maybe about the size of a basketball court, had machines that were just sitting there.

PRATT: This is one of our most efficient areas of the plant, and we basically have no orders for the product.

GREENE: And you've never had to look at something like this?

PRATT: No, no. In my 29 years, I would've never dreamed that this company would be in the state that it's in today.

GREENE: It's a pretty dismal9 state. The company has laid off more than a quarter of its 500 or so workers, and it's been on the verge10 of closing down entirely11. Mid Cont, as they call it here, was getting much of its raw steel from Mexico, and when Trump imposed steel tariffs on Mexico, that's when the trouble began. Trump's tariffs have helped other companies. Like, ones in the U.S. that produce raw steel have gotten a boost. But Mid Cont took a direct hit.

And so how do people feel about that?

PRATT: You're probably not going to find many people out there that are going to say, no, I didn't vote for President Trump. So to them, when he was saying, let's make America great, let's keep American jobs, they were all thinking, hey, he's going to help us. He's going to help us fight the battle against those imports, and he's going to keep our jobs. And in reality, right now we're fighting a battle against our own country.

GREENE: But not everyone feels that way. We spent time getting to know some of the employees at the factory, like Michelle Spurgeon, Jimmie Coffer and Phillip Bennett. They talked about what their jobs here mean to them. And these are their voices. Michelle came to this company for a fresh start.

MICHELLE STURGEON: My ex-husband and I went through a separation, and it was really hard on me. So I needed to move away to be able to get my life back in order.

GREENE: You like the job?

JIMMIE COFFER: I love it. I get to create every day. Make something new, help design something. Make our machines run a little better. I've been a mechanic, welder12, pipe bender. I've been holding wrenches13 for 20-plus years. I love it. I can build anything, fix anything.

PHILLIP BENNETT: This is my family. You can't work for a better place. You know, I went through a rough patch where I couldn't pay my bills. I actually went five days without electricity before I even said anything or asked 'cause I was ashamed. I was, like, $500 behind in my electric bill. And the company paid and got my electric turned back home for me. Wal-Mart never did that. Construction never did that.

GREENE: After everything that has happened to this factory, all three of them have strong emotions towards the president. Michelle supports him more than ever. She feels like she's making the sacrifice he called on her to make. So why would she turn against him?

STURGEON: No. It's hard right now. I mean, a lot of times when things are hard, they're going to get harder until they start getting better. That's just the fact of life. But I think his ultimate goal is to bring everything here so that way we're not having to ship overseas. I get it. I do understand.

BENNETT: I mean, we've been fighting and fighting and fighting, and it's like he didn't care. Pretty sure I wouldn't vote for him again.

COFFER: I just like his style. I just like the way he does things. He's blunt. He's not going to sugarcoat anything. I'm the same way. You know, I tell people, you don't like looking at me, don't look at me. Period. I'm not going to change.

GREENE: And this is a big part of Trump's appeal. We heard people talk about how when they're rooting for the president they're really rooting for themselves.

ALEX COLLINS: Him being just as human as us, the fact that he failed how many times before he finally succeeded? You know? And I guess one of those tries finally worked out for him and he worked his way up.

GREENE: That is the voice of Alex Collins. He's 24 years old, and he works the overnight shift at the nail factory. He and his fiancee, Paige Spencer (ph), they're living a life you just know so many Americans relate to. They're almost never together.

On a Tuesday night recently, they were cuddled on the couch together watching TV. This is the only hour of the day when they get to hang out. Then it's out the door. Paige drives Alex to work.

PAIGE SPENCER: I love you.

COLLINS: I love you.

SPENCER: Have a good night, baby.

COLLINS: Be safe getting home.

SPENCER: I will.

COLLINS: See you.

GREENE: Then it's on to her personal routine.

SPENCER: Drop him off. Say, bye, love you. And I come home, sit down and watch TV, have a couple beers. Depending on how the house looks, I'll start cleaning or doing laundry. And then I usually am in bed anytime between, like, 10:30 and 1:00 a.m.

GREENE: At 5 a.m. for Paige, it's off to work at the restaurant. She leaves Alex a list of chores, their honey-do list. He walks in the door around 7:00 a.m., and he gets to work on it.

COLLINS: The honey-do list. And then once I get through all that, it's just time to wind down. I mean, watch a little TV, mess around on my phone. Come right around noon, 1 o'clock, it's time for bed. I lay down, set my alarms. God, I wish I slept more.

GREENE: When he wakes up, he gets that magical hour with Paige, and then the cycle starts again. As for politics, Alex and Paige don't always agree. She voted for Bernie Sanders last time. Alex went for Donald Trump. He has always leaned conservative, partly because of his faith. He's been a foster child, homeless, he fought a heroin14 addiction15. And, in a way, religion found him.

COLLINS: I didn't really believe in it too much up until the sixth or seventh foster home I ended up in. One of my foster brothers actually stopped me one night. He asked me some questions, you know, what I thought about God. And he worked with me from there on and eventually got me to the point where, you know, I was going to church every Sunday.

GREENE: But his vote for Trump wasn't about religion or party. Again, it was about this deep personal belief that Trump could make everything right for him, this young man, making $10.25 an hour and trying to build a life with his partner. Two years later, he is starting to feel some doubts.

COLLINS: I kind of question myself a little bit on that decision that I made on voting for him. I mean, I'm not really seeing the results yet. Things started getting a little bit more expensive. I mean, I'm surprised how much milk went up. That was a big one for me. God, I love milk. I like chocolate milk. I drink it all the time. And prices on things started going up. And it's like, why is that happening?

GREENE: In fact, milk prices have largely gone down in Missouri since Trump became president. But if Alex is paying more at his store and he uses that as a measure of this president, it goes to show the kind of expectations he has.

COLLINS: You know, this man was supposed to be able to fix everything, make everything get better. Make prices go down, you know, quantity go up, quality go up. And we're not really seeing the results from that.

GREENE: And the tariff decision that hit your workplace, did that affect what you think of him?

COLLINS: Yeah. It kind of did. Whatever his reasoning for trying it then the timing16 was bad. I feel like it ended up doing more damage to the economy and to America as a whole than it did for anything. I mean, 200 people lost their jobs. That's a big blow to a small town like this.

GREENE: You sound like you're open-minded, like you're giving him these two more years to kind of see what happens.

COLLINS: I mean, if he can show results and make things happen then he'll have my support again. But until then I mean, it's yet to be seen.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

GREENE: A small Missouri town where Donald Trump is absolutely getting his wish. This political moment is very much about him, one way or another.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

So David, given how important Missouri is in the midterms, what does the president's support there mean for people who are actually on the ballot17 this fall?

GREENE: I mean, he's looming18 large everywhere, Steve. I think we're all hearing that as we travel the country. There's voters out there who are paying attention to specific local issues, but they bring up the president so quickly. And I think candidates know that. There's this tight Senate race in Missouri.

You've got Democratic Senator Claire McCaskill really vulnerable, fighting for her job. And I want you to just listen to this ad because it highlights her support from the National Border Patrol Council, which is a labor20 union.

(SOUNDBITE OF AD)

UNIDENTIFIED NARRATOR: We endorse21 President Trump and Claire McCaskill because of their records on border security. Take it from us. No senator is tougher on securing the border than Claire McCaskill.

CLAIRE MCCASKILL: I'm Claire McCaskill, and I approve this message.

GREENE: A Democrat19, Steve, trying to appeal to voters by saying, look, my record on border security is strong just like President Trump's is. I mean, that's one of the political realities here with the president so much in focus.

INSKEEP: So where does your series take us next, David?

GREENE: Well, we're going to Texas tomorrow. You know, the president's role in the larger culture war in our country, we're going to hear about that and how that war has drawn22 in residents of this small community in Texas in incredibly personal ways.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: The issue with the kneeling is that it's disrespectful to those men and women who serve. First of all, disrespectful to your country. 'Cause you live in the greatest country on the face of the earth.

GREENE: That's a voice of a Texas pastor23 there who also happens to be a football coach, and we're going to hear from him tomorrow.

INSKEEP: Looking forward to that. Thanks.


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点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 loom T8pzd     
n.织布机,织机;v.隐现,(危险、忧虑等)迫近
参考例句:
  • The old woman was weaving on her loom.那位老太太正在织布机上织布。
  • The shuttle flies back and forth on the loom.织布机上梭子来回飞动。
2 trump LU1zK     
n.王牌,法宝;v.打出王牌,吹喇叭
参考例句:
  • He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
  • The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手,作为他的王牌。
3 tariffs a7eb9a3f31e3d6290c240675a80156ec     
关税制度; 关税( tariff的名词复数 ); 关税表; (旅馆或饭店等的)收费表; 量刑标准
参考例句:
  • British industry was sheltered from foreign competition by protective tariffs. 保护性关税使英国工业免受国际竞争影响。
  • The new tariffs have put a stranglehold on trade. 新的关税制对开展贸易极为不利。
4 tariff mqwwG     
n.关税,税率;(旅馆、饭店等)价目表,收费表
参考例句:
  • There is a very high tariff on jewelry.宝石类的关税率很高。
  • The government is going to lower the tariff on importing cars.政府打算降低进口汽车的关税。
5 mid doTzSB     
adj.中央的,中间的
参考例句:
  • Our mid-term exam is pending.我们就要期中考试了。
  • He switched over to teaching in mid-career.他在而立之年转入教学工作。
6 bluff ftZzB     
v.虚张声势,用假象骗人;n.虚张声势,欺骗
参考例句:
  • His threats are merely bluff.他的威胁仅仅是虚张声势。
  • John is a deep card.No one can bluff him easily.约翰是个机灵鬼。谁也不容易欺骗他。
7 devastating muOzlG     
adj.毁灭性的,令人震惊的,强有力的
参考例句:
  • It is the most devastating storm in 20 years.这是20年来破坏性最大的风暴。
  • Affairs do have a devastating effect on marriages.婚外情确实会对婚姻造成毁灭性的影响。
8 standing 2hCzgo     
n.持续,地位;adj.永久的,不动的,直立的,不流动的
参考例句:
  • After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
  • They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。
9 dismal wtwxa     
adj.阴沉的,凄凉的,令人忧郁的,差劲的
参考例句:
  • That is a rather dismal melody.那是一支相当忧郁的歌曲。
  • My prospects of returning to a suitable job are dismal.我重新找到一个合适的工作岗位的希望很渺茫。
10 verge gUtzQ     
n.边,边缘;v.接近,濒临
参考例句:
  • The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
  • She was on the verge of bursting into tears.她快要哭出来了。
11 entirely entirely     
ad.全部地,完整地;完全地,彻底地
参考例句:
  • The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
  • His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。
12 welder 8e0zb0     
n电焊工
参考例句:
  • He left school at 15 to become an apprentice to a welder.他15岁离开了中学成为一个焊接工人的学徒。
  • Welder done at least once a month when the dust handling.焊机时每月至少做一次除尘处理。
13 wrenches 238611407049b765eb73fb72376ef016     
n.一拧( wrench的名词复数 );(身体关节的)扭伤;扳手;(尤指离别的)悲痛v.(猛力地)扭( wrench的第三人称单数 );扭伤;使感到痛苦;使悲痛
参考例句:
  • NEVER use wrenches or other persuaders to operate the valve. 禁止使用扳手或其它强制性工具来操作阀门。 来自互联网
  • Thus, torque wrenches should be used for tightening DISS connections. 因此,应该使用转矩扳手来上紧DISS接头。 来自互联网
14 heroin IrSzHX     
n.海洛因
参考例句:
  • Customs have made their biggest ever seizure of heroin.海关查获了有史以来最大的一批海洛因。
  • Heroin has been smuggled out by sea.海洛因已从海上偷运出境。
15 addiction JyEzS     
n.上瘾入迷,嗜好
参考例句:
  • He stole money from his parents to feed his addiction.他从父母那儿偷钱以满足自己的嗜好。
  • Areas of drug dealing are hellholes of addiction,poverty and murder.贩卖毒品的地区往往是吸毒上瘾、贫困和发生谋杀的地方。
16 timing rgUzGC     
n.时间安排,时间选择
参考例句:
  • The timing of the meeting is not convenient.会议的时间安排不合适。
  • The timing of our statement is very opportune.我们发表声明选择的时机很恰当。
17 ballot jujzB     
n.(不记名)投票,投票总数,投票权;vi.投票
参考例句:
  • The members have demanded a ballot.会员们要求投票表决。
  • The union said they will ballot members on whether to strike.工会称他们将要求会员投票表决是否罢工。
18 looming 1060bc05c0969cf209c57545a22ee156     
n.上现蜃景(光通过低层大气发生异常折射形成的一种海市蜃楼)v.隐约出现,阴森地逼近( loom的现在分词 );隐约出现,阴森地逼近
参考例句:
  • The foothills were looming ahead through the haze. 丘陵地带透过薄雾朦胧地出现在眼前。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Then they looked up. Looming above them was Mount Proteome. 接着他们往上看,在其上隐约看到的是蛋白质组山。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 回顾与展望
19 democrat Xmkzf     
n.民主主义者,民主人士;民主党党员
参考例句:
  • The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
  • About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后,他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。
20 labor P9Tzs     
n.劳动,努力,工作,劳工;分娩;vi.劳动,努力,苦干;vt.详细分析;麻烦
参考例句:
  • We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
  • He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后,他已经疲惫不堪了。
21 endorse rpxxK     
vt.(支票、汇票等)背书,背署;批注;同意
参考例句:
  • No one is foolish enough to endorse it.没有哪个人会傻得赞成它。
  • I fully endorse your opinions on this subject.我完全拥护你对此课题的主张。
22 drawn MuXzIi     
v.拖,拉,拔出;adj.憔悴的,紧张的
参考例句:
  • All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
  • Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。
23 pastor h3Ozz     
n.牧师,牧人
参考例句:
  • He was the son of a poor pastor.他是一个穷牧师的儿子。
  • We have no pastor at present:the church is run by five deacons.我们目前没有牧师:教会的事是由五位执事管理的。

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