Description: This is
a VOA Special English Economics Report.
See text below
Text:
In September, President Obama proposed new measures
to lift the economy. The central bank in its latest
report said there was continued growth in the past
several weeks, but with "widespread signs" of
slowing. Congressional elections are November
second. One new survey showed that forty-nine
percent of likely voters think Republicans should
control Congress. Other polls find that about sixty
percent of Americans think the country is going in
the wrong direction. President Obama gave a speech
near Cleveland, Ohio. He proposed a tax plan for
businesses that make capital improvements, like
buying new equipment. The president said: "And I'm
proposing that all American businesses should be
allowed to write off all the investment they do in
2011." He said this will help small businesses
upgrade their plants and equipment, and will
encourage large corporations to start putting their
profits to work.Mr. Obama also proposed to
permanently extend a tax credit for research and
development.And he offered a plan for "rebuilding
and modernizing" America's roads, rails and runways.
He said it would create jobs and improve
transportation. The plan would cost fifty billion
dollars, but he promised it would not add to the
budget deficit over time. The president spoke in
Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Both speeches were in the
Midwest, an area hit hard by the recession. He said
almost every Republican in Congress is saying no to
his ideas. But retiring Senator George Voinovich of
Ohio told the Washington Post that he planned to
help push a bill through the Senate. That bill,
supported by the president, contains measures to
help small businesses. Still, there is disagreement
over the future of the tax cuts approved under
President George W. Bush. These are set to end this
December. President Obama wants to extend the tax
cuts only for families that earn less than two
hundred fifty thousand dollars a year. Republicans
oppose ending the tax cuts for higher earners. They
say it would hurt small businesses. Democrats argue
that few small businesses earn enough for their
taxes to go up. Congress passed a big stimulus bill
shortly after the president took office last year.
But there is little that his newest proposals could
do to help the economy before November. For VOA
Special English I'm Alex Villarreal. Follow us on
Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and iTunes at VOA
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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.
