This is the VOA Special English Economics Report.
这里是美国之音慢速英语经济报道。
Continuing debt problems in Greece and Portugal. The banking crisis in Ireland. A trillion-dollar deficit in the United States. These are all reasons why high levels of public debt are a big worry around the world.
希腊和葡萄牙持续的债务问题，爱尔兰的银行危机，美国的万亿美元赤字。以上列举的这些都是高额公共债务成为全球最大担忧的原因。
Countries that keep spending a lot more than they earn may not be able to repay their debts. That risk of default can make it harder and costlier for them to borrow more money. Heavy debt can also affect a country's competitiveness.
财政支出远超收入的国家可能无法偿付其债务。这种可能无法履约的风险使该国借款更加困难，借款成本也更高。沉重的债务负担还会影响一个国家的竞争力。
Voter anger at government spending and taxes helped lead to the big Republican gains in America's elections this month.
选民对政府开支和税收的怒火，导演了本月美国中期选举共和党的大胜。
President Obama says for the economy to improve, the government must cut spending and reduce its deficit. In February, he formed the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform. The two chairmen are Erskine Bowles, a Democrat, and Alan Simpson, a Republican.
奥巴马表示，为了改善经济，政府必须削减开支，降低财政赤字。2月，奥巴马设立了国家财政责任及改革委员会（National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform），两位主席分别是民主党议员厄斯金·鲍尔斯（Erskine Bowles）和共和党议员艾伦·辛普森（Alan Simpson）。
Last week, the chairmen presented their own ideas for how to cut the federal deficit to about two percent of the economy by twenty fifteen. The administration estimates this year's deficit at about ten and a half percent.
上周，两位主席就如何在2015年前将财政赤字削减至经济总量的2%左右提出了自己的观点。美国政府预计本年度赤字将达到10.5%左右。
The two chairmen say their proposals would cut the deficit by almost four trillion dollars over the next ten years. One hundred billion would come from the military. Other proposals would cut the federal workforce by ten percent and freeze civilian pay.
两位主席表示，他们的提议将在未来10年内将赤字削减4万亿美元，其中1000亿削减来自军方，其他一些提议将削减10%的政府职员人数，并冻结民用支出。
The chairmen propose to simplify the tax laws and reduce tax rates. But they also propose to cut some popular tax breaks. One target is deductions for interest paid on home mortgage loans over five hundred thousand dollars.
这两位主席提议简化税法，并降低税率。但他们还提出，取消一些深得人心的减税计划。其中一项就是停止对50万美元以上的住房抵押贷款的利息减免。
Another proposal would add two years to the full retirement age for Social Security -- raising it to sixty-nine by about twenty seventy-five.
另一个提议是将社会保障计划的退休年龄提高两岁——到2075年左右提高到69岁。
The commission includes current and former lawmakers from both parties. The group is supposed to reach a compromise acceptable to at least fourteen of the eighteen members by December first.
该委员会包括来自两党的现任和前任议员。委员会可能将在12月1日前达成一项被18位成员中至少14位接受的折中方案。
Other groups are offering their own debt reduction plans. Former senator Pete Domenici and former Clinton administration official Alice Rivlin led a task force that presented its plan on Wednesday.
其他机构也提出了各自的债务削减计划。前议员皮特· 多梅尼奇（Pete Domenici）和前克林顿政府官员爱丽丝·里夫林（Alice Rivlin）领导的一个小组周三递交了他们的计划。
That plan aims to save six trillion dollars over ten years.It would freeze federal spending for several years, change the tax laws -- and create a national sales tax.
该计划旨在十年内节省6万亿美元开支。该计划将在若干年内冻结联邦支出，并修改税法，在全国范围内征收销售税。