奥巴马每周电视讲话:总统呼吁为中产阶级提供机会
Ladies and gentlemen, this is Joe Biden, I'm filling in for President Obama, while he addresses the NATO summit in Wales.
女士们、先生们，我是拜登，奥巴马总统在威尔士的北约峰会上讲话时我来替他进行本周的演讲。
When the President and I took office in January of 2009, this nation was in the midst of the greatest economic crisis since the great depression.
2009年1月，在总统和我主政之初，全国正深陷自大萧条以来最严重的经济危机之中。
Our economy had plummeted at a rate of 8% in a single quarter-part of the fastest economic decline any time in the last half century.
近一个季度的时间经济就下滑8%，这是过去半个世纪以来少有的经济下滑速度。
Millions of families were falling underwater on their homes and threatened with foreclosure.
数百万家庭深陷危机之中，还不起贷款房屋面临被收回的危险。
The iconic American automobile industry was under siege.
美国标志性的汽车产业也面临崩溃。
But yesterday's jobs report was another reminder of how far we've come.
昨晚公布的就业发展报告显示，我们取得了巨大的成就。
We've had 54 straight months of job creation.
在过去54个月里就业持续增长，
And that's the longest streak of uninterrupted job growth in the United States' history.
这是美国历史上就业持续增长时间最长的一次。
We've gone from losing 9 million jobs during the financial crisis to creating 10 million jobs.
我们从金融危机时的900万人失业到今天创造出1000万个就业岗位。
We've reduced the unemployment rate from 10% in October of 2009 to 6.1% today.
我们将失业率从2009年1月的10%降低到今天的6.1%。
And for the first time since the 1990s, American manufacturing is steadily adding jobs-over 700,000 since 2010.
美国的制造业也自上个世纪90年代以来首次增加就业机会，自2010年以来为70多万人提供了就业岗位。
And surveys of both American and foreign business leaders confirm that America once again is viewed as the best place in the world to build and invest.
调查报告显示，无论是美国国内还是国外的商界领袖都坚信，美国已经再次成为全球最具吸引力的投资置业目的地。
That's all good news.
以上都是好消息。
But an awful lot of middle class Americans are still not feeling the effects of this recovery.
但糟糕的是，还有大量的中产阶级民众依然感受不到经济复苏带来的变化。
Since the year 2000, Gross Domestic Product-our GDP – has risen by 25%.
2000年以来，国内生产总值（GDP）增长了25%，
And productivity in America is up by 30%.
美国的生产力提升了30%。
But middle class wages during that same time period have gone up by only fourteen cents.
但中产阶级的工资在这一时期仅仅增长了14分钱。
Folks, it's long past time to cut the middle class back into the deal, so they can benefit from the economic growth they helped create.
朋友们，中产阶级在过去付出了巨大的牺牲，经济的复苏离不开他们的付出，他们理应享受到经济发展的成果。
Folks, there used to be a bargain in this country supported by Democrats and Republicans, business and labor.
朋友们，在这个国家，民主党和共和党，企业和员工之间通常会进行协商谈判。
The bargain was simple.
这种协商谈判很明确。
If an employee contributed to the growth and profitability of the company, they got to share in the profits and the benefits as well.
如果员工为企业发展贡献了力量，为企业创造了利润，那么他们就应该分享企业的利润，得到相应的福利待遇。
That's what built the middle class.
这正是中产阶级发展壮大的途径。
It's time to restore the bargain, to deal the middle class back in.
现在，为了让中产积极的发展重回正轨，又到了协商谈判的时候了。
Because, folks, when the middle class does well, everybody does well-the wealthy get wealthier and the poor have a way up.
因为大家都知道，中产阶级发展好了，每个人也就好了，富人的财富更丰厚，穷人的日子更好过。
You know, the middle class is not a number.
众所周知，中产阶级所代表的不仅仅是一个数字符号，
It's a value set.
而是意味着一个资产集合。
It means being able to own your home; raise your children in a safe neighborhood; send them to a good school where if they do well they can qualify to go to college and if they get accepted you'd be able to find a way to be able to send them to college.
作为中产阶级应该有自己的住房，社区安宁，有能力抚养并供孩子们上学接受良好教育，只要孩子们学习好你就有能力供养他们上大学。
And in the meantime, if your parents need help, being able to take care of them, and hope to put aside enough money so that your children will not have to take care of you.
同时，当你的父母有困难的时候，你能及时照料他们，并有足够的储蓄为自己的养老提供保障，不必让孩子们为你们操心。
That's the American dream.
这就是美国梦。
That's what this country was built on.
这也是这个国家的立国之本。
And that's what we're determined to restore.
也是我们矢志追求的重建经济社会的目标。
In order to do that, it's time to have a fair tax structure, one that values paychecks as much as unearned income and inherited wealth, to take some of the burden off of the middle class.
为了达到这一目标，我们应该改革税收体制，把非工资收入和继承遗产都作为个人所得进行征税，减轻中产阶级税收负担。
It's time to close tax loopholes so we can reduce the deficit, and invest in rebuilding America – our bridges, our ports, our highways, rails, providing good jobs.
我们应该堵住税收漏洞，降低财政赤字，加大投入重建桥梁、港头、高速公路、铁路等基础设施，创造高薪的就业岗位。
With corporate profits at near record highs, we should encourage corporations to invest more in research and development and the salaries of their employees.
当前企业的利润创出新高，我们应该鼓励企业在研发上加大投入，提高员工工资。
It's time for us to invest in educational opportunity to guarantee that we have the most highly skilled workforce in the world, for 6 out of every 10 jobs in the near term is going to require some education beyond high school.
我们应该加大教育领域投资，让国民接受良好教育，保证我们拥有全世界最优秀的劳动力队伍。当今社会，10份工作有6份需要高中以上的学习经历。
Folks, it's long past due to increase the minimum wage that will lift millions of hardworking families out of poverty target poverty and in the process produce a ripple effect that boosts wages for the middle class and spurs economic growth for the United States of America.
朋友们，提高最低工资标准已经提了很长时间了，走出这一步将让数百万工薪家庭摆脱贫困并带动连锁反应，不仅提高中产阶级的工资，也将刺激美国经济的增长。
Economists acknowledge that if we do these and other things, wages will go up and we'll increase the Gross Domestic Product of the United States.
经济学家们称，如果我们做好了诸如此类的事情，人们的工资将大幅上涨，美国的国内生产总值也将大幅增长。
My fellow Americans, we know how to do this.
亲爱的同胞们，我们都知道如何做到这些。
We've done it before.
我们以前曾做到过。
It's the way we used to do business and we can do it that way again.
这是我们曾经走过的路，让我们再走一遍。
All the middle class in this country want is a chance.
全美的中产阶级需要的就是这样的机会。
No guarantee, just a chance.
不是毫无意义的保证，而是切切实实的机会。
Americans want to work.
美国人民希望有工作。
And when given a fair shot, the American worker has never, ever, ever, let his country down.
当人们得到公平机会的时候，人民就不会，也永远不会让我们的国家倒下。
Folks, it's never a good bet to bet against the American people.
朋友们，拿美国人民的福祉做赌注永远都不是什么好想法。
Thanks for listening.
谢谢聆听。
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