美國-威斯康辛州堅持削減財政，抗議擴大

源鏈接：http://www.reuters.com/article/2 ... USTRE71H3UZ20110219
希望別亂到AZ這邊來……

Wisconsin persists on cuts, protests swell威斯康辛州堅持削減財政，抗議擴大

(Reuters) - Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker vowed to press ahead with curbs on the union bargaining rights of public workers to balance the budget even as protests swelled to an estimated 40,000 people on Friday.
（路透）即使預計周五會有四萬名示威者，威斯康辛州長Scott Walker仍然發誓推動限制政府員工工會的集體談判權，平衡財政預算。

Speaking at a press conference on the fifth consecutive day of protests against the proposed cuts, Walker said the state is broke and cannot pay its bills unless the plan is approved.
削減財政支出的示威活動已經是第五天了。州長Walker在一個記者招待會上說，除非該計劃得到通過，國家將破產并無法支付賬單。

"I told the voters what I would do to get Wisconsin working again," Walker, a Republican, said of his election in 2010. "We are going to do what it takes to get this budget on track."
“我曾經告訴選民，我會努力讓威斯康辛州重新運轉起來?！惫埠忘h人Walker提到他在2010大選曾經這么說過?！拔覀儗⒈M一切可能讓這份預算通過?！?/p>

Republicans have majorities in both the Wisconsin Senate and the state Assembly. In a bid to scuttle the proposal, Senate Democrats fled the state on Thursday and Friday to deprive the Senate of the needed quorum for a vote.
共和黨在威斯康辛州議會和參議院都占多數。為了逃避投票，參議院民主黨人逃離了威斯康辛州，使得周四和周五的表決達不到法定人數而無法進行。

Democrats apparently left the state because they were concerned that they would be compelled to return to the Capitol by police if they stayed in Wisconsin.
明顯由于擔心他們如果留下會被警察強迫到國會投票，民主黨人離開了威斯康辛州。

The Republicans have a quorum in the state Assembly and could pass the plan there over the weekend.
不過，共和黨人在眾議院仍然能夠達到最低法定人數，然后在周末通過該計劃。

Police estimated 35,000 protesters -- many carrying signs and some wearing the cheese hats favored by fans of the Super Bowl champion Green Bay Packers -- converged on the Capitol building in Madison on Friday, said Carla Vigue, a spokeswoman with the Wisconsin Department of Administration.
威斯康辛行政部門的女發言人卡拉維格說，警察估計周五將會有三萬五千名抗議者——很多都會攜帶標語，一些會身穿受超級碗冠軍綠灣包裝工球迷喜愛的起司帽子——在麥迪遜的國會門前聚集。

Vigue said another 5,000 demonstrators were packed inside the building itself.
同時，維格還說另外5000名示威者會在建筑里面。

The protests have so far been peaceful and Capitol police said there were no incidents or arrests on Friday.
至今為止抗議活動還是和平的。國會警察說，周五尚未有沖突和逮捕發生。

But the potential for confrontation emerged when the conservative Tea Party movement, which supports deep budget cuts, announced that it would hold a rally supporting the Republicans at the Capitol on Saturday.
不過茶黨宣布支持削減預算，并將在周六舉行集會支持共和黨人。這將可能導致沖突發生。

Drew Ryun, the president of American Majority Action, one of the conservative groups planning Saturday's demonstration, said organizers were "meeting fire with fire."
Drew Ryun是一個計劃周六舉行示威的“美國多數行動組織”的主席。他說組織者將會用火來對付火。

"We have buses coming in from all over the state," Ryun said. "We see this as the opening salvo of the 2012 election season. The Tea Party movement facing off against the unions. And we like the odds."
“我們有公車將全州的人帶來，”Ryun說，“我們將把這個作為2012選舉的序幕。茶黨運動將會對工會關閉，而我們喜歡爭斗?！?/p>

Wisconsin is the flashpoint for a national struggle over efforts to roll back pay and union rights of state and local government workers. If the majority Republicans in Wisconsin prevail, other states could be emboldened to take on powerful public employee unions.
在這場政府削減開支和公務員工會運動的爭斗中，威斯康辛是一個爆發點。如果威斯康辛的共和黨多數派勝利了，那其他州將會鼓起勇氣對強力的政府公務員工會采取措施。

The Milwaukee Public School system, which serves 85,000 students in the state's largest city, canceled all classes on Friday after nearly 630 unionized teachers called in sick.
由于將近630名老師請病假，有85000名學生密爾沃基公立學校系統取消了周五的所有課程。

"Every day the crowds are bigger," said Jay Heck, the executive of Common Cause Wisconsin, a non-partisan advocacy group based in Madison, said of the union protests.
“每天聚集的人群越來越大。”Jay Heck，‘威斯康辛共同事業’，一個麥迪遜的無黨派宣傳小組的執行者說。

President Barack Obama sided with the demonstrators on Thursday, calling the governor's proposal an "assault on unions." U.S. House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner criticized Obama and said he backed fellow Republican Walker.
奧巴馬總統在周四表示支持示威者，說州長的建議是”對工會的攻擊。“美國眾議院發言人John Boehner批評了奧巴馬的話并且說他支持共和黨州長Walker。

Walker's administration puts the deficit for the remainder of the current fiscal year at $137 million and for the next two fiscal years under its biannual budget at $3.3 billion.
Walker的管理將把今年余下的赤字控制在1.37億美元以下，并將未來兩年的預算控制在33億美元。

Republicans want state workers to increase contributions to pensions to 5.8 percent of salary, and double contributions to health insurance premiums to 12.6 percent.
共和黨人希望州公務員工資的養老金比例提升到5.8%，并且健康保險費提高兩倍，到12.6%。

They also want to limit collective bargaining to the issue of wages, and cap increases to the rate of inflation, with a voter referendum needed for bigger increases.
他們還想限制工會集體談判工資的權利，將工資漲幅限制在通貨膨脹率以下。如果公務員工資要提升的更高需要一個全民公決。

Walker said the alternative is to layoff more than 10,000 workers.
Walker說替代方法是裁員一萬多人。

Walker was to unveil his state budget proposal for the next two fiscal years on February 22, but on Friday his office said that speech would be put off until March 1.
Walker本來要在2月22日推出他未來兩個財年的州預算案，不過周五他的辦公室宣布將推遲到3月1日。

U.S. state and local governments are struggling to balance budgets after the recession decimated their finances. Some states such as Wisconsin, Texas, Arizona and Ohio are relying mainly on cuts in spending to balance the books. Others such as Minnesota and Illinois are raising taxes.
美國各州和地方政府在經濟危機沒錢后都在努力削減財政預算。如威斯康辛、德克薩斯、亞利桑那、俄亥俄州都主要依靠削減開支來平衡賬目。而其他如明尼蘇達、伊利諾伊等州都提高了稅率。

PS：這次教育系統貌似遭殃的不少，據說那邊大學的助教啥的也去抗議了。

再PS：剛才聽收音機說一些抗議分子進入了某些州議員的家中，議員和家人人生安全受到威脅。節目中在說這是暴徒的行為。削減開支是米國想要恢復經濟必須做的，不過指望只看得見眼前利益的普通大眾了解實在是不容易。

來自：龍的天空
原文：http://www.lkong.net/thread-367718-1-1.html