Description: This is
a VOA Special English Economics Report.
See text below
Text:
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. 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. Voter anger at
government spending and taxes helped lead to the big
Republican gains in America's congressional
elections in November.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. In
November, 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. The two chairmen say their proposals
would cut the deficit by almost four trillion
dollars over the next ten years. One hundred billion
dollars would come from the military. Other
proposals would cut the federal workforce by ten
percent and freeze civilian pay.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.
Another proposal would add two years to the full
retirement age for Social Security -raising it to
sixty-nine by about twenty seventy-five. The
commission includes current and former lawmakers
from both parties. 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. 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.For VOA Special English I'm Alex
Villarreal. You can download all of our programs,
including transcripts, at voaspecialenglish.com. And
we're on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube at VOA
Learning English.
Hi. I
personally reviewed this video and found it appropriate for
the news section of English Global Group. This
is a Voice of America video which covers an interesting
topic in Special English. I would appreciate some feedback from both
students and teachers about this video. You can comment in
the window below using any of a number of different services
including Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, and Hotmail.
To post a comment:
• Click "Comment using..." in
the window below
• Click your favorite service: Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail
• Login to the service
• Click "Add a comment..."
• Post your comment in the window
Students: Please post a
comment stating what you found interesting about this video. You are
welcome to include links to your English study blogs and any
other materials you think might be useful for learning
English.
Teachers: Please post your
thoughts about this video. You are welcome to include links to
your sites, blogs, and any other materials you think might
be useful for learning English.
Hi. I
personally reviewed this video and found it appropriate for
the news section of English Global Group. This
is a Voice of America video which covers an interesting
topic in Special English. I would appreciate some feedback from both
students and teachers about this video. You can comment in
the window below using any of a number of different services
including Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, and Hotmail.
