金融時報:“山巔的光明之城”

“山巔的光明之城”

在最近的奧巴馬醫(yī)改與債務(wù)上限問題上共和黨遭到挫敗，美國前國務(wù)卿和財長詹姆斯·貝克卻仍有理由樂觀。他說，歷史上，失敗的一黨總被說成是無力的、無助的、無希望的，但，經(jīng)過深刻的批評與自我批評而重獲成功的案例其實并不少。要想取勝，你必須給人以希望，就像當年里根的“山巔的光明之城”那樣。

測試中可能遇到的詞匯和知識：

James Baker 詹姆斯·貝克曾在里根和老布什政府擔任過國務(wù)卿、財長和白宮辦公廳主任，并領(lǐng)導(dǎo)了五次共和黨總統(tǒng)選戰(zhàn)。

obituary [?(?)'b?t???r?; -t??r?; -tj??r? 訃告

tilting at political windmills 像堂吉訶德一樣向風(fēng)車發(fā)起進攻

fissure ['f???] 分裂

gubernatorial [,g(j)u?b?n?'t??r??l] 州長的

animosity [,æn?'m?s?t?] 憎惡，敵意

maximalist ['mæks?m(?)l?st] 俄國最高綱領(lǐng)派，反對妥協(xié)派

a shining city on the hill 里根在1989年的離任告別演說中以此來比喻美國，即在任何惡劣的環(huán)境下都能屹立不倒，并給人以希望，這一說法被廣為引用。

a thousand points of light 1988 年老布什在接受總統(tǒng)候選提名時以此贊揚美國的志愿組織，后來以此為名成立基金會來支持志愿者活動。

To win again, the Republicans must be a party of hope （1008 words）

By James Baker, former US Secretary of State. Secretary of Treasury, and White House Chief of Staff

As obituaries are written about the demise of the Republican party, I am reminded of Mark Twain's line, “The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated.” As a Republican for 43 years, I admit to a certain bias. But I remain positive about my party's future.

That is not to say that the Grand Old Party did not administer self-inflicted wounds in its recent effort to defund the Affordable Care Act. My party has been hurt by this tilting at political windmills. But while President Barack Obama and the Democrats may have scored a political victory, its impact in the long term is unclear and they were also hurt by the fallout.

There was, however, one big loser: the American people. This misguided episode cost the federal government $24bn, cost the country a potential drop in gross domestic product, and cost the GOP an opportunity to focus on the extraordinary failure associated with the ACA rollout.

Most Americans blame Republicans for the fiasco. And the fight over reopening the government and raising the debt ceiling revealed fissures within the GOP leadership. Understandably, questions have arisen about the party's future. Will it split between Tea Partiers and its more mainstream factions? Will a third party rise from the aftermath of this schism? Is the Republican brand so tarnished that it cannot take control of the Senate in 2014 or the White House in 2016?

Having participated in presidential politics since 1976, one thing is clear to me. The party out of power is typically seen as impotent, helpless and hopeless. But just as inevitably, that same party always seems to rebound after serious soul searching.

Moreover, there has always been a wide range of interest groups in the party. For decades, we have had substantial fights between rightwing and more establishment Republicans. This infighting was particularly brutal in 1976, 1980 and 1988, and we went on to win two out of three presidential elections.

The party's diversity, however, is a strength, not a weakness. Today, Tea Partiers bring a passion that can be an important edge in elections. But mainstream Republicans remain indispensable. It may sound trite, but it is true: united we stand, divided we fall. I think most Republicans understand that.

So what does the GOP need to do now? In the short term, remember that tactics and strategy both matter. It was a fool's errand to tie the defunding of the ACA to a government shutdown and a debt-ceiling debate. Because Democrats control the White House and the Senate, the strategy was never going to work. To paraphrase Clayton Williams, a Republican who lost the 1990 Texas gubernatorial race after a series of gaffes: we shot ourselves in the foot and reloaded.

That does not mean that Republicans should stop criticising the ACA. It remains an example of big government at its worst: cumbersome, complicated and intrusive. The best – in fact, only – way to repeal the ACA is to control the White House, Senate and the House of Representatives. Democrats, after all, enacted the law when they controlled all three. So the focus should be on winning elections to control those levers of power.

Meanwhile, given the animosity between the parties, the timing may be difficult for a grand bargain. But eventually, Washington is going to have to make those hard choices, and the sooner it starts, the quicker the US digs out of its fiscal mess. As future fiscal deadlines approach Republicans should push for reforms like those recently spelt out by Paul Ryan, House budget chairman, which address the entire federal budget. They should not derail that effort by once again embracing a maximalist position on defunding the ACA.

The president says he is open to a budget deal. Republicans should take him at his word and enter into good-faith negotiations. If he does not, then he will be ignoring what most presidents have done in the past – negotiate debt ceiling increases. He is the leader of the country, and so he cannot continue to just sit back and lecture us about the severity of the problems. Americans expect their president to lead. If he does not, he will pay a political price.

In the long term, there are several things Republicans should do. First and foremost, they should again become the party of hope, opportunity and optimism, and not anger and resentment. Americans responded when Ronald Reagan spoke about a shining city on the hill and when George HW Bush invoked “a thousand points of light”. Party faithful and independent voters alike responded to such optimism. They will again.

Republicans must also focus on smart, efficient and effective government. As appealing as “no government” may sound, it lacks practicality. A limited government, one that develops intelligent, cost-effective solutions, is the best approach to meeting our challenges.

Also, the GOP must recognise that the country's demographics are changing. Ignoring that phenomenon – or worse, fighting it – could be catastrophic. The party should reach out to Hispanics, Asians and other minorities as many of them support the Republican ideals of economic conservatism, personal freedom, hard work, religion and family values.

Republicans also need to go where the voters are. Deal with urban issues rather than ignore them. Support national security but do not be the “party of war”. Promote economic conservatism but do not abandon social conservatives. We need a “big tent” to win elections.

Overnight is an eternity in politics so we have plenty of time to regain our mojo. We have done this before and we have emerged stronger. We will again, provided that we focus smartly on the realities of politics and policy alike, and do not embrace political strategies that are doomed to fail.

The writer led five presidential campaigns from 1976 to 1992

請根據(jù)你所讀到的文章內(nèi)容，完成以下自測題目：

1.Which of the following is correct, according to the article?

A.Mark Twain was a famous Republican.

B.The Obamacare has been defunded.

C.Nobody scores a political victory from this struggle.

D.The writer believes the strategy of GOP is problematic.

答案(1)

2.The writer endorses which of the following prediction?

A.A third party might emerge from the aftermath.

B.The GOP would split into Tea Party and a more mainstream faction.

C.The Republicans would hardly compete for the Senate and the Presidency later.

D.None of above.

答案(2)

3.How does the writer see the Tea Party?

A.They inject passion and diversity into the GOP.

B.They do not criticize big government hard enough.

C.They are indispensable in facing the country's changing demographics.

D.They look like the “party of war” for their advocacy for national security.

答案(3)

4.What, according to the writer, is a strategy that “doomed to fail”?

A.Reach out to Hispanic and Asian Americans.

B.Opposing Obamacare.

C.Not negotiating budget.

D.Promoting economic conservatism.

答案(4)

* * *

(1)答案：D.The writer believes the strategy of GOP is problematic.

解釋：文章中說共和黨人將債務(wù)上限與奧巴馬醫(yī)改捆綁起來的策略是“像堂吉訶德一樣向風(fēng)車發(fā)起進攻”，也就是無太大意義，反而傷害自己。在后面又強調(diào)說這種策略是a fool's errand. 民主黨獲得了最近的預(yù)算戰(zhàn)的勝利，因為奧巴馬醫(yī)改繼續(xù)執(zhí)行，而債務(wù)上限也得以提升，因此民主黨人獲得了勝利。他并未提到馬克·吐溫的政治觀點。

(2)答案：D.None of above.

解釋：ABC都不正確。作者以自己領(lǐng)導(dǎo)了5次總統(tǒng)選戰(zhàn)的經(jīng)歷說，有一件事是很清楚的，那就是失敗的一黨總被看成是不可救藥的，但是after serious soul searching，仍然可以重新取得成功。

(3)答案：A.They inject passion and diversity into the GOP.

解釋：由于茶黨支持者多是草根和中下層中產(chǎn)階級，他們對“大佬黨”的多樣性和贏取選票是有助益的。但是，他們在反對大政府的立場上太過強硬而不愿妥協(xié)的策略，不利于共和黨重掌參議院和白宮，而作者說，要想干掉奧巴馬醫(yī)改這樣的大政府計劃，必須要先贏得選舉。CD是文章最后作者對整個共和黨的批評和建議。

(4)答案：C.Not negotiating budget.

解釋：貝克說，ABD是共和黨要繼續(xù)做的，而預(yù)算問題是必須坦誠談判的。貝克尤其提到了保羅·瑞安的財政改革，認為同僚們應(yīng)當扎實做工作，而不是站定立場不妥協(xié)。