Remarks of President Barack Obama

Weekly Address

The White House

January 31, 2015

Hi, everybody.  At a moment when our economy is growing, our businesses are creating jobs at the fastest pace since the 1990s, and wages are starting to rise again, we have to make some choices about the kind of country we want to be.

大家好。在我们的经济增长的时刻，我们的企业增长以自1990年以来最快的步伐创造就业岗位，工资正在开始重新提高，我们必须一些关于我们国家的未来的决策。

Will we accept an economy where only a few of us do spectacularly well?  Or will we build an economy where everyone who works hard has a chance to get ahead?

我们是要接受一个只有少数人特别富的经济？还是要打造一个每个人只有勤奋工作就有机会致富的经济？

That was the focus of my State of the Union Address – middle-class economics.  The idea that this country does best when everyone gets their fair shot, everyone does their fair share, and everyone plays by the same set of rules.

这是我的国情咨文演讲的焦点--中产阶级经济学。一个这样的理念：每个人获得公平的机会，每个人尽其职责，每个人在同样的规则下竞争，这个国家就达到鼎盛。

This week, I will send a budget to Congress that’s built on those values.

本周，我将提交国会一份基于这些价值的预算。

We’ll help working families’ paychecks go farther by treating things like paid leave and child care like the economic priorities that they are.  We’ll offer Americans of every age the chance to upgrade their skills so they can earn higher wages, with plans like making two years of community college free for every responsible student.  And we’ll keep building the world’s most attractive economy for high-wage jobs, with new investments in research, infrastructure, manufacturing, and expanded access to faster internet and new markets.

我们将通过处理诸如带薪病假和儿保、他们应得的经济优先等帮助工薪家庭收入增加。我们将用让每个负责任的学生免费获得两年制社区大学教育机会的计划给各个年龄段的美国人机会提升他们的技能以获得更高的工资。我们将以投资于研究、基础设施、制造业、和扩大更加快速的网络和新市场的途径来继续打造一个世界上最能吸引高工资工作岗位的经济。

We can afford to make these investments.  Since I took office, we’ve cut our deficits by about two-thirds – the fastest sustained deficit reduction since just after the end of World War II.  We just have to be smarter about how we pay for our priorities, and that’s what my budget does.  It proposes getting rid of special interest loopholes in our tax code, and using those savings to cut taxes for middle-class families and reward businesses that invest in America.  It refuses to play politics with our homeland security, and funds our national security priorities at home and abroad.  And it undoes the arbitrary, across-the-board budget cuts known as “the sequester” for our domestic priorities, and matches those investments dollar-for-dollar in resources our troops need to get the job done.

我们可以承担这项投资的负担。自我就任以来，我们已经把赤字削减了三分之二--自二战刚刚结束以来最快的持续赤字削减。我们仅仅是要更加明智地投资于这些优先，这就是我的预算的内容。它提议摆脱对特殊利益群体有利的税法漏洞，用节省下来的钱为中产阶级家庭减税和鼓励在美国投资的企业。它反对把我们的国土安全和投资于国内国外的安全优先当政治游戏。它为我们的国内事务摒弃了专断的全面的称为“自动封顶”的预算削减，满足实打实的投资于我们的军队完成任务所需要的资源的需要。

Now, I know that there are Republicans in Congress who disagree with my approach.  And like I said in my State of the Union Address, if they have ideas that will help middle-class families feel some economic security, I’m all in to work with them.  But I will keep doing everything I can to help more working families make ends meet and get ahead.  Not just because we want everyone to share in America’s success – but because we want everyone to contribute to America’s success.

现在，我知道国会有些共和党人不赞同我的途径。正如我在我的国情咨文演讲里提到的，如果他们有什么设想帮助中产阶级家庭获得一些经济安全感，我将全身心地和他们合作。但是我将继续尽一切可能帮助更多工薪家庭收支平衡。不仅仅是因为我们希望每个人都分享美国的成功--而且还因为我们希望每个人都为美国的成功做出贡献。

That’s the way the middle class thrived in the last century – and that’s how it will thrive again.

这就是为什么中产阶级在上个世纪繁荣--这就是他们将如何再次繁荣。

Thanks, and have a great weekend.

谢谢，周末快乐。