The political wrangling in Washington about federal budgets is likely to get more intense as the stakes rise from billions of dollars to trillions. Some of the focus is changing from a squabble over government spending for one year, to a bigger battle over the soaring debt accumulated over many years. Some of the bickering is over the "debt limit," an issue that is generally not well understood.
　　华盛顿关于联邦预算的政治争吵看来将愈演愈烈，涉及的预算金额已从数十亿美元上升到数万亿美元。争论的焦点也从本年度的政府开支扩展到了多年累积起来的政府债务。其中颇为引人注目的一个问题就是所谓的“债务限额”。
　　U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner says the stakes in the fight over the debt limit are very high.
　　美国财政部长盖特纳认为，有关债务限额的纷争所引起的风险非常高。
　　"The consequences would be catastrophic to the United States. Default by the United States would precipitate a crisis worse than the one we just went through," said Geithner. "I think it would make the crisis we just went through look modest in comparison."
　　盖特纳说：“其后果对于美国来说可能是灾难性的。美国政府如果违约，势必引起一场比我们刚刚经历的这场金融危机更加严重的危机。跟美国违约引起的危机相比，最近这场危机将是小巫见大巫。”
　　Geithner’s point is that if Congress does not take action to raise the debt limit, current spending commitments and the need to refinance the government’s earlier loans might force Washington to miss payments on existing U.S. debt. That could cause major economic problems because investors might drastically raise interest rates which would raise costs and compound the problem.
　　盖特纳财长的意思是：假如国会不采取行动提高债务上限，不增加当前的开支额度，不允许借新债还旧债，那么华盛顿就将被迫拖延偿还现存的欠债。那将造成重大的经济问题，因为投资者会因此而大幅提高利率，增加美国的借贷成本，使问题进一步恶化。
　　"[Default] would be a reckless and irresponsible act of this country. I find it inconceivable that Congress would not act to increase the limit," added Geithner.
　　盖特纳说：“违约等于这个国家在采取一种不计后果和不负责任的行动。我难以想象国会在提高债务限额问题上会无动于衷。”
　　For many years, Washington has been spending more than it takes in from taxes and other sources of revenue. That leaves a deficit in the annual budget. The government has to borrow money to cover the shortfall. All these annual deficits add up to the total debt.
　　多少年来，华盛顿一直都是入不敷出，实际支出总是大于税收和其他收入，结果年复一年预算赤字不断膨胀，政府只好通过借债来弥补财政漏洞。就这样，联邦债务一年接一年地扶摇直上。
　　Under U.S. law, the Treasury Department cannot borrow more money by issuing bonds unless Congress gives its approval by increasing the legal limit on borrowing. The current debt limit is more than $14 trillion, a sum nearly equivalent to all the goods and services produced in the United States in a year.
　　根据美国法律，除非国会批准提高法定的借贷限额，财政部不能通过发行债券来筹借更多的资金。目前的国债上限是14多万亿美元，差不多相当于美国一年的国内生产总值。
　　The government is expected to hit its debt limit next month.
　　预计美国政府的负债总额将在下个月达到上限。
　　There has been a debt limit law of some kind in the United States for nearly a century. During that time, the limit has been lowered on a few occasions, and raised more than 60 times.
　　美国的政府债务限额法已经有一百来年的历史了。在这期间，债务限额偶尔被降低过几次，但却被先后提高过60多次。
　　As the limit approaches Republicans are pressuring President Barack Obama and his Democratic Party allies in Congress to cut spending on social programs and keep taxes low. The Democrats want to deal with the debt by raising taxes on wealthy Americans and cutting military programs.
　　现在，随着国债总额再次接近债务上限，共和党人正向奥巴马总统及其在国会的民主党盟友施加压力，要求削减社会福利项目，并保持较低的税收。民主党人则要求通过增加对富裕美国人的税收和削减军事项目来解决债务问题。