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1月16日英语资讯:Time to get tough
你对奥巴马有什么看法?回复即可得到积分鼓励。
HOW far away it seems, that bitingly cold, crystal-clear morning when almost 2m people filled the Mall from Capitol Hill to the Washington Monument to hear the new president talk of the victory of hope over fear, of unity of purpose over conflict and discord. Recalling the dark days of the war of independence, he pledged, like George Washington, that in the face of common danger Americans under his leadership would come forth to meet it. One year on, how well has he done?
Not too badly, by our reckoning (see article). In his first 12 months in office Mr Obama has overseen the stabilising of the economy, is on the point of bringing affordable health care to virtually every American citizen, has ended the era of torture, is robustly prosecuting the war in Afghanistan while gradually disengaging from Iraq; and perhaps more precious than any of these, he has cleared away much of the cloud of hatred and fear through which so much of the world saw the United States during George Bush’s presidency.
More generally, Mr Obama has run a competent, disciplined yet heterodox administration, with few of the snafus that characterised Bill Clinton’s first year. Just as important have been the roads not taken. Mr Obama has resisted the temptation to give in to the populists in his own party and saddle Wall Street with regulations that would choke it. He has eschewed punitive taxation on the entrepreneurs who animate the economy; and he has even, with the notable exception of a boneheaded tariff on cheap Chinese tyres, turned a deaf ear to the siren-song of the protectionists. In short, what’s not to like?
《经济学人》网站1月14日发表评论文章,总结了奥巴马执政一周年的成败得失,并指出奥巴马目前的执政手腕过于软弱。以下为文章详细内容。
在入主白宫的第一年,奥巴马谨慎的监管着美国经济以保证其运行平稳;即将达成每个美国人都能享受得起的医保措施;从伊拉克战场撤军后,美军又坚定的向阿富汗战场开进;而且他还改善了乔治·布什当政时美国给全世界人民留下的可鄙形象。
然而奥巴马就像是在走钢丝一样,他总是小心翼翼的想要博得所有人的欢心,并总是喜欢把棘手的事情拖到明天解决。与他在就职典礼上信誓旦旦的宣言正好相反,他的执政手腕过于软弱。
医改困局:在美国,奥巴马在向公众解释医改方案得失上前后不一的语径令公众感到大失所望。诚然,医改方案为上亿缺少医保和陷入失业恐慌中的美国人带来了希望。但医改方案非常昂贵,而奥巴马在医保成本的控制上又显得优柔寡断。这也是为什么如此大面积的医疗改革却收效甚微的原因。
奥巴马的支持率正在下滑,2009年11月中期选举时他几乎丧失了参议院的多数选票。一些批评者认为奥巴马不应该只盯着医改,而应该更多的关注失业问题。但是医改是奥巴马阵营的核心纲领,也是美国必须解决的一个问题。
赤字问题:到2015年,美国政府的赤字规模将达到12万亿,比奥巴马刚上任时的赤字规模要高出一倍多。奥巴马今年必须向外界展示出他解决赤字问题的决心,然而时至今日,奥巴马甚至连一份表决心的计划书都没有制定出来。
外交政策:在处理美国与其他国家的关系时,奥巴马也不愿板起面孔。奥巴马向阿富汗的增兵计划看起来更多的是顺应选票,而非战情需要。撤军计划的悬而未决也令前线士兵的士气倍受打击。
奥巴马去年的“全球亲善之旅”并未收到预期的效果。以色列拒绝了奥巴马提出的定居点冻结计划;访问中国时,中国拒绝与奥巴马在人权问题上纠缠;向俄罗斯投去的橄榄枝却溅不起一点水花;与伊朗展开接洽是值得的,但目前还未收到任何成效。在奥巴马频频向美国的敌人示好的同时,也严重挫伤了美国忠诚盟友们(如日本、英国和一些东欧国家)的感情。
有人担心奥巴马将总是扮演“好好先生”,而不是最高指挥官的角色。而事实上他在选战中一直到表现出敢打敢冲的气势,并总是对棘手的问题迎难而上。奥巴马现在要强硬起来还为时不晚。在国情咨文讲话中对预算问题态度严厉,对伊朗实行制裁而不是迎合,迫使国会通过气候变化法案,这些都有助于改善他目前的软弱形象。 |
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