A few months ago, I received a letter from a woman named Brenda Breece. I wanted to share her story because it speaks to what a lot of families are going through – and it offers a good example of the kind of responsibility that’s needed in Washington right now.
幾個月前，我收到了一封來自布倫達(dá)·布蕾絲女士的信。我想與大家分享她的故事，因為很多家庭正在經(jīng)歷與她一樣的境遇 —— 而且她也為我們樹立了一個負(fù)責(zé)任的榜樣，而這正是華盛頓當(dāng)前所應(yīng)具備的。
Brenda is a mom and a special-ed teacher from Missouri. Her husband, David, was employed at the local Chrysler plant for nearly four decades. They’ve worked hard their whole lives. But like a lot of folks, they’ve taken some hits over the past few years. When the Chrysler plant closed, David had to take early retirement. His pension helps, but it’s half of what he earned before. Meanwhile, because of budget cuts, Brenda has had to buy school supplies for her students out of her own pocket – because it’s her job and she cares about those kids.
布倫達(dá)來自密蘇里州，是一位母親，同時也是一位特殊教育老師。她的丈夫，戴維，就職于當(dāng)?shù)氐目巳R斯勒工廠將近40年了。他們一輩子都努力工作。但就像很多人一樣，過去幾年他們受到了一些打擊。由于克萊斯勒工廠倒閉，戴維不得不提前退休。雖然有養(yǎng)老金，但卻不到以前工資的一半。同時，由于預(yù)算削減，布倫達(dá)不得不為她的學(xué)生自掏腰包購買學(xué)校用品——因為她認(rèn)為這是她的工作，而她非常關(guān)愛這些孩子們。
Money has been tight, but they are doing the best they can. And like so many families, they are sacrificing what they don’t need so they can afford what really matters. This is what Brenda told me. “I feel my family is frugal, we go to the movies — once a month, but usually we just wait for them to come out on TV — I watch the food budget. We combine trips into town and use coupons, and we trim each other’s hair when we need a haircut.”
錢相當(dāng)緊張，但他們卻竭盡所能維持著。像他們一樣的眾多家庭，并不是必須要為此做出犧牲，但他們這么做，是為了擔(dān)負(fù)起那些真正重要的東西。布倫達(dá)是這么告訴我的：“我覺得我家非常節(jié)儉了，以前我們一個月去看場電影，但現(xiàn)在我們經(jīng)常等待它們在電視上播出 — 我時刻關(guān)注食物預(yù)算。 我們拼車進(jìn)城，用優(yōu)惠券買東西，甚至當(dāng)我們需要理發(fā)的時候我們都相互修剪一下了事?！?/p>
So Brenda and her husband know what they can do without. But they also know what investments are too important to sacrifice. Their daughter, Rachel, is a sophomore in college with a 4.0 grade point average. The tuition is a big expense. But it’s worth it, because it will give her the chance to achieve her dreams. In fact, Brenda is looking for a second job to ensure, as she told me, “the money is there to help Rachel with her future.”
布倫達(dá)和她丈夫很清楚不這樣他們就做不到。但他們也知道什么樣的投入是重要到不得不做出犧牲的。他們的女兒，瑞秋，是大二學(xué)生，平均成績4.0。學(xué)費是一份很大的開支。但這是值得的，因為這將給她實現(xiàn)她夢想的機(jī)會。其實，布倫達(dá)正在尋求一份兼職來確保收入，就像她告訴我的：“這些錢將幫助瑞秋實現(xiàn)未來?！?/p>
Families across this country understand what it takes to manage a budget. They understand what it takes to make ends meet without forgoing important investments like education. Well, it’s time Washington acted as responsibly as our families do. And on Monday, I’m proposing a new budget that will help us live within our means while investing in our future.
全國各地的家庭都能理解如何管理家庭預(yù)算。他們都知道如何在不放棄對教育之類的重要投入基礎(chǔ)上實現(xiàn)收支平衡。因此，現(xiàn)在，華盛頓也應(yīng)該像我們的家庭一樣負(fù)起責(zé)任來了。下周一，我將提議一份新的預(yù)算計劃，這將幫助我們量入為出，同時也為我們的未來進(jìn)行投資。
My budget freezes annual domestic spending for the next five years – even on programs I care deeply about – which will reduce the deficit by more than $400 billion over the next decade. This freeze will bring this type of spending to its lowest level as a share of the economy since Dwight Eisenhower was president. We’ve stripped down the budget by getting rid of waste. For example, we’re getting rid of thousands of government-owned buildings that sit empty because they aren’t needed. I’ve also proposed freezing salaries for hardworking government employees, because everyone has to do their part. And I’m going to make sure politics doesn’t add to our deficit, by vetoing any bill that contains earmarks.
我的預(yù)算計劃凍結(jié)了未來五年的年度國內(nèi)支出——其中還包括一些我深切關(guān)注的項目——這將在未來十年削減4000多億美元的赤字。這項凍結(jié)計劃將該項支出在經(jīng)濟(jì)中所占比例降低到自德懷特·艾森豪威爾任總統(tǒng)以來的最低水平。我們已經(jīng)通過減少浪費降低了預(yù)算。例如，我們處理掉了數(shù)千棟政府所有的空置房，因為他們不需要這么多。我還提議凍結(jié)勤勞的政府雇員的薪水，因為每個人都應(yīng)該做出自己的貢獻(xiàn)。同時我還將確保不因政治因素增加我們的赤字，即否決任何含有專項撥款的法案。
And yet, just as the Breece family is making difficult sacrifices while still investing in the future – by helping their daughter pay her tuition – my budget does the same. I’m proposing that we invest in what will do the most to grow the economy in the years to come. This means job-creating investments in roads, high-speed speed trains, and broadband. This means cutting-edge research that holds the promise of creating countless jobs and whole new industries, like clean energy and biotechnology. And it means improving our schools and making college more affordable – to give every young person the chance to fulfill his or her potential, and receive the job training they need to succeed. Because it would be a mistake to balance the budget by sacrificing our children’s education.
然而，就像布蕾絲她家做著艱難的犧牲也要為未來投資一樣——給他們的女兒支付學(xué)費——我的預(yù)算計劃也是這樣。我提議對在將來影響經(jīng)濟(jì)增長最重要的方面進(jìn)行投資。這就意味著對公路，高速鐵路以及寬帶等創(chuàng)造就業(yè)的投資。意味著對前沿科研的投資，這些擁有在未來創(chuàng)造無數(shù)就業(yè)崗位乃至全新產(chǎn)業(yè)的希望，例如清潔能源和生物科技。這也意味著改進(jìn)學(xué)校，并讓大學(xué)學(xué)費更承受的起——給每一個年輕人發(fā)揮他或她的潛力的機(jī)會，一個獲得職業(yè)教育實現(xiàn)成功的機(jī)會。因為為了平衡預(yù)算卻犧牲孩子們的教育是錯誤的。
So, after a decade of rising deficits, this budget asks Washington to live within its means, while at the same time investing in our future. It cuts what we can’t afford to pay for what we cannot do without. That’s what families do in hard times. And that’s what our country has to do too.
因此，在十多年赤字不斷增長之后，這份預(yù)算計劃要求華盛頓量入為出，同時還要為我們的未來投資。這份計劃削減了那些我們不堪承受的支出來投入到我們不能不投入的方面。這是一個家庭在困難時期所做的。同樣這也是我們國家需要做的。
Thank you.
謝謝大家。
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