英闻天下——270 Obama Pledges to Reignite Economy

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　　He urged Congress to tie the minimum wage to the cost of living.

 

　　But the President insists that nothing he proposes will raise the country's deficit¹.

 

　　"Let me repeat - nothing I'm proposing tonight should increase our deficit by a single dime². It's not a bigger government we need, but a smarter government that sets priorities and invests in broad-based growth."

 

　　President Obama does admit that rising medicare costs are driving the country's long term debt.

 

　　"We can't ask senior citizens and working families to shoulder the entire burden of deficit reduction while asking nothing more from the wealthiest and the most powerful."

 

　　Obama proposed reducing taxpayers³' subsidies⁴ to prescription⁵ drug companies while asking wealthier seniors to pay more.

 

　　The President also called for efforts to reduce gun violence and urged bipartisan immigration reform.

 

　　Republicans are calling Obama's proposals at the State of the Union address as being overly reliant on government.

 

　　Florida Senator Marco Rubio.

 

　　"His solution to virtually every problem we face is for Washington to tax more, borrow more and spend more. This idea - that our problems were caused by a government that was too small - it's just not true. In fact, a major cause of our recent downturn was a housing crisis created by reckless government policies."

 

　　In a separate tea party response, Kentucky Senator Rand Paul said both parties are to blame for the rise of the deficit.

 

　　"Both parties have been guilty of spending too much, of protecting their sacred cows, of back room deals, in which everyone up here wins but every tax payer loses."

 

　　Foreign policy wise, President Obama announced that 34-thousand troops, which is about half of the U.S. force in Afghanistan - will withdraw by early 2014.

 

　　Afghan troops will fill the "vacuum" caused by the withdrawal⁶ of U.S. troops over the next 12 months.

 

　　However, Zahir Sadat, Afghan parliament member, said as long as the country's military has the logistical and technical support he felt confident that the military could take control of the country's security.

 

　　But he warned the US administration that they should avoid repeating mistakes of the past.

 

　　"If they leave Afghanistan like they left in 1990s then it will be a very serious issue and I think Afghanistan will again face major problems strategically and it will be out of control for any administration."

 

　　Obama's speech on Tuesday also comes less than a day after North Korea carried out its third underground nuclear test.

 

　　To that end, Obama said the U.S. would strengthen its missile defense⁷ and help the world respond to the threat posed by North Korea.

 

　　For CRI, I'm Shen Chengcheng.

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