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Barack Obama is paying the price for his high-flown rhetoric8 Y" q x) B0 a; X9 D
巴拉克•奥巴马在为他夸夸其谈的花言巧语付出代价。
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The other day Tom Daschle looked certain to become one of the most powerful people in the Obama administration-simultaneously head of the mammoth Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the White House’s health-care tsar. Mr Daschle was to be in charge of delivering what Hillary Clinton singularly failed to deliver in 1993-94-a comprehensive reform of America’s expensive but ramshackle health-care system.
0 D( I: N k) I2 c0 d$ L前一天，汤姆•达施勒(Tom Daschle)还十拿九稳地要跻身成为奥巴马政府中为数不多的位高权重的大员，届时，他将兼任卫生与公众服务部（Department of Health and Human Services, HHS）部长以及白宫卫生政策办公室主任，两个让人绞尽脑汁的活儿。上任后，达施勒将负责美国医疗卫生系统的全面改革，该体系尽管价格高昂，但却风雨飘摇，93到94年，希拉里•克林顿(Hillary Clinton)就有负众望，改革失败。
3 Y) t; Z; h' e) KMr Daschle’s career as a health reformer was killed this week by the revelation, on January 30th, that he had failed to pay $128,000 worth of taxes, mostly relating to a car and driver he had been given use of. At first the Luna Gold Washington establishment assumed that he would ride out the storm. Barack Obama declared his undying support. Mr Daschle pronounced himself “disappointed” by his behaviour. His former colleagues in the Senate competed to praise his public service (”My breast is clear and my support is strong”, declared Jay Rockefeller). Then on Tuesday morning Mr Daschle suddenly withdrew his name.
9 T5 W3 c& q5 z9 Y但1月30日媒体曝光他逃税达12.8万美元，其中多与其接受一辆轿车和司机有关，终于在本周结束了他医疗改革家生涯。起先，华盛顿大佬还认为在这场丑文风暴中，他能全身而退：巴拉克•奥巴马发表声明表示将全力支持达施勒。达施勒自己则表示，他为自己的行为”深感失望”。而他过去的参议院同事争先称誉其公共服务（”我头脑清醒地告诉你们，我坚决支持达施勒。”，这是杰伊•洛克菲勒的原话）。到了周二早上，达施勒却突然要求撤回提名。
2 | L2 L* H# P, \* g6 @Why the Tuesday surprise? Mr Daschle claims that he read an editorial in that morning’s New York Times that called for him to step aside, and decided that “I can’t pass health care if I’m too much of a distraction.” Others whispered that he would have been pushed if he had not decided to jump.1 T5 @2 o8 g: m$ `
为什么是星期二惊诧呢？达施勒自己的说法是那天早上他读到《纽约时报》上的一篇专栏1，作者要他滚蛋，于是，他决定”如果我本人太具争议，那么我将难担医疗卫生体系的改革重任。”但也有传言说，就算他不自行放弃，还是会被踢开。
1 N8 C9 ]% f5 VEarlier that very morning Nancy Killefer had withdrawn her candidacy to be the government’s first “chief performance officer” because she had failed to pay taxes on a domestic employee. A third nominee in a row with tax problems qualified as a “trend” under an unwritten journalistic law. It also raised issues of gender equality: could Mr Obama allow two men, Tim Geithner (now confirmed as treasury secretary) and Mr Daschle, to Luna Money get away with tax evasion while allowing a woman to take the rap?0 v1 I2 ^' ~& e2 `8 P/ U. i* E
当日早些时候，南希•基利弗（Nancy Killefer）也因为未给一名保姆纳税而放弃任首任白宫首席绩效官(chief performance officer)的提名。新闻界有一个潜规则，”三人一趋”，现在，连续三个提名人遭遇”纳税门”已经可以说是一个”趋势”了。同时，它又引起了男女平等问题：在逃税问题上既然奥巴马能对蒂姆•盖特纳（Tim Geithner）（现任财长）和达施勒这两个男人法外施仁，他怎么能让一介女流一力当之呢？
5 T9 u2 T- L" C, `2 e4 V# bMr Daschle’s disappearance underlines one of the Obama administration’s biggest problems: the difficulty of managing the gap between the rhetoric of political campaigns and the reality of governing. All presidential candidates promise to reform Washington. Bill Clinton promised to create “the most ethical administration in history”. George Bush promised to put an end to the capital’s rancid partisan divisions. But Mr Obama raised the mantra of change to new rhetorical heights.7 f8 m1 G+ @, L! [% c) v; }' f
达施勒走了，但这件事却突显了奥巴马政府最大的问题之一：竞选时的旦旦信誓和执政之间难以逾越的鸿沟。所有的总统候选人都允诺要政府改革。比尔•克林顿(Bill Clinton)保证要建立一个”史上最有德的政府”，乔治•布什(George Bush)说要结束首都惹人生厌的党派分歧。但奥巴马竟能把变革这种陈词滥调的语言文字上升到一个新的高度。 |
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发表于 2009-11-5 19:25
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