奥巴马每周电视演讲2013年9月28日:避免政府关门,扩大可支付医疗保健的使用(中英lrc)
Obama's Weekly Address WEEKLY ADDRESS: Averting a Government Shutdown and Expanding Access to Affordable Healthcare
每周演讲:避免政府关门,扩大可支付医疗保健的使用
Hi, everybody. This Tuesday is an important day for families, businesses, and our economy.
大家好!本周二,对家庭、企业和美国经济来说,是一个重要的日子。
It’s the day a big part of the Affordable Care Act kicks in, and tens of millions of Americans will finally have the same chance to buy quality, affordable health care as everyone else.
这是大部分《可支付医疗保健法案》开始付诸实施的日子,数千万美国人将最终获得像其他人那样购买优质、可支付医疗保健的同样机会。
It’s also the day that a group of far-right Republicans in Congress might choose to shut down the government and potentially damage the economy just because they don’t like this law.
同样是这一天,一群极端保守的国会共和党人,可能会选择关闭政府,从而可能损害美国经济,究其原因,仅仅是因为他们不喜欢《可支付医疗保健法案》。
I’ll get to that in a second. But first – here’s what the Affordable Care Act means for you.
我稍后会谈到它,但首先,我谈谈《可支付医疗保健法案》对你意味着什么。
If you’re one of the vast majority of Americans who already have health care, you already have new benefits you didn’t before, like free mammograms and contraceptive care with no copay, and discounts on prescription medicine for seniors. You’ve already got new protections in place too, like no more lifetime limits on your care, no more discriminating against children with preexisting conditions like asthma, or being able to stay on your parents’ plan until you turn 26.
如果你是已拥有医疗保健的绝大多数美国人中的一员,你已经拥有了以前不曾有过的新福利,像免费乳房X光检查和无需病人付费的避孕保健,以及面向老年人的处方药折扣。另外,你还获得了新的保护,比如对你的保健不再有寿命限制、不再歧视已有哮喘等疾病既存状况的儿童,或者能够留在父母的保险计划中直到你年满26岁。
That’s all in place and available to Americans with health insurance right now.
对于拥有健康保险的美国人,这都安排好了,可以马上享受。
If you don’t have health insurance, or if you buy it on the individual market, then starting this Tuesday, October 1st, you can visit HealthCare.gov to find what’s called the health insurance marketplace in your state.
如果你还没有医疗保险,或者你在个人市场购买医疗保险,那从十月一日本周二开始,你可以访问网站HealthCare.gov,看看在你所在州什么被称为医疗保险市场。
This is a website where you can compare insurance plans, side-by-side, the same way you’d shop for a TV or a plane ticket. You’ll see new choices and new competition. Many of you will see cheaper prices, and many of you will be eligible for tax credits that bring down your costs even more. Nearly 6 in 10 uninsured Americans will be able to get coverage for $100 or less.
在这个网站,你可以并排比较各种保险计划,就像购买电视机或飞机票那样。你将看到新的选择和新的竞争对手。你们中的许多人将得到更便宜的价格,你们中的许多人将有资格获得税收减免,这会让你付出的费用更低。在10名没有保险的美国人中,几乎有6个人可以花100美元或更少的钱获得保险。
If you’re one of the up to half of Americans with a preexisting condition, these new plans mean your insurer can no longer charge you more than anyone else. They can’t charge women more than men for the same coverage. And they take effect January 1st.
如果你是有既存状况的多达半数美国人中的一员,这些新计划意味着保险公司不能再额外多收你费用。对相同的保险,他们收取女性的费用不能高于男性。这些从一月一日开始生效。
So get covered at HealthCare.gov. And spread the word. These marketplaces will be open for business on Tuesday, no matter what. The Affordable Care Act is one of the most important things we’ve done as a country in decades to strengthen economic security for the middle class and all who strive to join the middle class. And it is going to work.
所以,去网站HealthCare.gov获得保险吧!让周围的人们都知道这件事情吧!不论发生什么事情,周二,这些市场都将对企业开放。《可支付医疗保健法案》是数十年来,我们作为一个国家为中产阶级和所有努力加入中产阶级的人们,增强经济保障的最重要举措之一。这一法案即将生效。
That’s also one of the reasons it’s so disturbing that Republicans in Congress are threatening to shut down the government – or worse – if I don’t agree to gut this law.
这也是令人十分担心的理由之一,国会共和党人正威胁,如果我不同意改变这一法案的核心部分,他们将关闭政府,甚至推出更严重的举措。
Congress has two responsibilities right now: pass a budget on time, and pay our bills on time.
目前,国会承担着两项责任:按时通过预算,按时支付我们的账单。
If Congress doesn’t pass a budget by Monday – the end of the fiscal year – the government shuts down, along with many vital services the American people depend on. On Friday, the Senate passed a bill to keep the government open. But Republicans in the House have been more concerned with appeasing an extreme faction of their party than working to pass a budget that creates new jobs or strengthens the middle class. And in the next couple days, these Republicans will have to decide whether to join the Senate and keep the government open, or create a crisis that will hurt people for the sole purpose of advancing their ideological agenda.
如果到了周一本财年结束时,国会还没有通过预算,美国政府将关闭,同时关闭的,还有美国人民依赖的许多重要服务。周五,参议院通过了保持政府正常运转的议案。但众议院共和党人更在意取悦其党内的极端派系,而不是齐心协力通过一个创造新工作或增强中产阶级的预算。未来几天,这些共和党人将要决定,是加入参议院的努力,保持政府正常运转,还是仅仅为了推进其意识形态议程而制造损害人民的危机。
Past government shutdowns have disrupted the economy. This shutdown would, too. At a moment when our economy has steadily gained traction, and our deficits have been falling faster than at any time in 60 years, a shutdown would be a purely self-inflicted wound. And that’s why many Republican Senators and Republican governors have urged Republicans in the House of Representatives to knock it off, pass a budget, and move on.
过去的政府关闭扰乱了经济。这次政府关闭也会如此。我们的经济已稳步获得动力,我们的赤字在以60年来最快的速度下降,在此时刻,政府关闭纯属自找烦恼。正是出于这一理由,许多共和党参议员和共和党州长们已敦促众议院共和党人停止阻挠通过预算,采取行动解决问题。
This brings me to the second responsibility Congress has. Once they vote to keep the government open, they must also vote within the next couple weeks to allow the Treasury to pay the bills for the money that Congress has already spent. Failure to meet this responsibility would be far more dangerous than a government shutdown – it would be an economic shutdown, with impacts not just here, but around the world.
这把我带到了国会承担的第二个责任。国会议员们一旦表决同意保持政府正常运转,他们还必须在未来数周内,表决同意允许财政部支付国会已支出的经费。如果不能履行这一责任,其后果较政府关闭更为危险,这将是经济上的关闭,影响将不仅限于美国,必将波及全球。
Unfortunately some Republicans have suggested that unless I agree to an even longer list of demands – not just gutting the health care law, but things like cutting taxes for millionaires or rolling back rules on big banks and polluters– they’ll push the button, throwing America into default for the first time in history and risk throwing us back into recession.
不幸的是,一些共和党人建议,除非我满足他们提出的更多要求,不只是改变医疗保健法案的核心内容,还有为百万富翁減稅,或撤消对大银行和排污者的监管措施,他们将按下按钮,把美国推入历史上的首次违约,还有可能让我们再次陷入衰退。
I will work with anyone who wants to have a serious conservation about our economic future. But I will not negotiate over Congress’ responsibility to pay the bills it has already racked up. I don’t know how to be more clear about this: no one gets to threaten the full faith and credit of the United States of America just to extract ideological concessions. No one gets to hurt our economy and millions of innocent people just because there are a couple laws you don’t like. It hasn’t been done in the past, and we’re not going to start doing it now. The American people have worked too hard to recover from crisis to see extremists in their Congress cause another one. And every day this goes on is another day that we can’t continue the work of rebuilding the great American middle class. Congress needs to pass a budget in time, pay its bills on time, and refocus on the everyday concerns of the people who sent them there.
我将与希望就我们的经济未来展开严肃对话的任何人进行合作。但我不会就国会支付其已经积压下来的账单的责任进行讨价还价。我不知道如何在这一点上表现得更加明确:没有人可以只是为了获取意识形态的妥协而威胁对美利坚合众国的充分信任和支持。没有人可以只是因为有几个法律你不喜欢而伤害我们的经济和无数的无辜民众。以前我们从来没有这样做过,现在,我们也不会去这样做。 美国人民如此努力付出从危机中恢复过来,不应该看到他们的国会中的极端主义分子再制造另一个危机。这种状况持续下去每一天,我们就有一天无法重建伟大的美国中产阶级。国会需要及时通过预算,按时支付其账单,重新关注选民的日常关切。
That’s what I’m focused on. That’s what I’ll keep fighting for.
这就是我所关注的。这就是我所为之所奋斗的。
Thank you.
谢谢大家!
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