Obama's Weekly Address WEEKLY ADDRESS: Focusing on the Economic Priorities for the Middle Class Nationwide
奥巴马每周电视讲话:总统关注中产阶层的发展
Hi, everybody.
大家好。
This week, I spent a couple days in Minneapolis, talking with people about their lives-their concerns, their successes, and their hopes for the future.
本周，我在明尼波利斯呆了几天，与人们谈论他们的生活--他们的关注，他们的成功和他们对未来的希望。
I went because of a letter I received from a working mother named Rebekah, who shared with me the hardships her young family has faced since the financial crisis.
我去那里是因为我收到了一封来自一个名叫瑞贝卡的工薪母亲的来信，她在信中告诉我他们的年轻的家庭自金融危机以来的艰辛。
She and her husband Ben were just newlyweds expecting their first child, Jack, when the housing crash dried up his contracting business.
她和她的丈夫本新婚燕尔正在期盼他们的长子杰克降生时，正赶上房地产泡沫破灭，本签约的公司破产。
He took what jobs he could, and Rebekah took out student loans and retrained for a new career.
他做所有能做的工作，瑞贝卡偿还学生贷款，为了新的生涯重新培训自己。
They sacrificed-for their kids, and for each other. And five years later, they've paid off debt, bought their first home, and had their second son, Henry.
他们为了孩子们牺牲，为了对方牺牲。五年后，他们偿还了债务，买了手套住房，有了次子亨利。
In her letter to me, she wrote, We are a strong, tight-knit family who has made it through some very, very hard times.
在给我的信中，她写道，我们是一个坚强亲密无间的家庭，走过了一段非常非常艰难的日子。
And in many ways, that's America's story these past five years.
在很多方面，这是过去五年里美国的故事。
We are a strong, tight-knit family that's made it through some very tough times.
我们是一个坚强的亲密无间的大家庭，走过了一段非常艰难的日子。
Today, over the past 51 months, our businesses have created 9.4 million new jobs.
今天，在过去的51个月里，我们的企业创造了9百40万个新就业机会。
By measure after measure, our economy is doing better than it was five years ago.
一个又一个指标表明，我们比五年前好多了。
But as Rebekah also wrote in her letter, there are still too many middle-class families like hers who do everything right-who work hard and who sacrifice-but can't seem to get ahead.
但是正如在信中还写道的，还有很多他们一样的中产阶级家庭没有过错-他们努力工作付出牺牲-但是没有过得更好。
It feels like the odds are stacked against them.
好像他们的前方有障碍阻挠他们。
And with just a small change in our priorities, we could fix that.
我们对这些的关注还很少，我们必须改正这些。
The problem is, Republicans in Congress keep blocking or voting down almost every serious idea to strengthen the middle class.
问题是，国会的共和党人继续阻挠或投票反对几乎每一个加强中产阶级的认真的设想。
This year alone, they've said no to raising the minimum wage, no to fair pay, no to student loan reform, no to extending unemployment insurance.
仅仅今年，他们就反对提高最低工资，反对公平分配，反对学生贷款改革，反对扩大失业保险。
And rather than invest in education that helps working families get ahead, they actually voted to give another massive tax cut to the wealthiest Americans.
他们不是投资于帮助工薪家庭搞得好的教育，而是投票赞同给最富裕的美国人