VOA常速英语听力:美国普通人应对预算危机

VOA常速英语听力:美国普通人应对预算危机

Average American Struggles to Control Spending

As the debate intensifies in Washington over raising the debt ceiling, some Americans admit that they too have trouble balancing their budgets.

"John, you weren't here but there was a huge tree we took down. Huge," said landscaper Kraig Leatherman. He says many Americans have no idea how close they are to financial collapse. He didn't. But this former insurance salesman learned from hard experience. When the recession hit, his sales commissions dried up, and his money ran out. "I have actually been through bankruptcy once and I have lost a house. Very, very painful events. Very stressful events. And as I looked back, I could have pointed the finger but as I look back I really looked at my lack of personal financial prudence as a reason for that really," he said.

Now, having traded an office job for work boots, he prunes pear trees, weeds flower beds and clears poison ivy with the help of a small crew he has hired for his fledgling business.

On a hot summer day in Glyndon, Maryland, the debt ceiling debate in Washington seems far away. But it's very much on Leatherman's mind. "The federal government serves as a horrible role model for the average family," he said.

That, says Leatherman, is because the government finances itself through debt and spends money it does not have, kind of like he did.

Rainfall brings Leatherman's work to a pause, so he sits down with us to describe how he brought his financial house back to order. "Each week I write down all my business expenditures and all my income coming in, and I do a cumulative total so I know where I am, because a business that does not know where it's been isn't going to really know how to get where it wants to go," he said.

Economists call that basic budgeting. It has saved Leatherman from financial insolvency - that and other tactics like bartering for new equipment. For these tools, he traded his hard labor. Little by little, he says he has pulled himself out of debt. And he is helping others, too, by employing them.

It has been a baptism he says, a new life. And when the day closes he feels calm, for the first time in years.

"When I put my head down on the pillow and I don't [have any] debt, it gives me a little ounce of strength for the next day. I can see my way toward prosperity and abundance," he said.

And Leatherman tells anyone who will listen, and even those who won't, you can get there, too.

随着华盛顿关于提高债务限额的辩论越来越激烈，一些美国人也承认，他们要平衡预算也有问题。

“John，你不在这里，但是我们刚刚卸下一棵很大的树，非常大。”庭园设计家Kraig Leatherman说。他说，许多美国人不知道自己已经很接近经济崩溃的边缘。而他没有。但是这位前保险推销员也是经历了残酷的境况才吸取教训的。经济衰退来临的时候，他的佣金几乎为零，储蓄也逐渐耗光。“实际上我曾经经历了破产，而且失去了房子。非常痛苦，非常有压力。每当回首往事的时候，我都非常后悔，但是每当我回忆的时候，我也明白，造成那种情况的原因就是我缺乏谨慎的个人理财方式。”

现在，他拥有一家刚刚起步的小公司，雇佣了少量员工帮他帮他从事砍树，锄草，清洁的工作。

在马里兰州Glyndon一个炎热的夏日，华盛顿的债务限额之争似乎离他们很遥远。但是Leatherman心头却挂念着这个问题。“联邦政府给普通的家庭树立了非常坏的榜样。”

他说，这是因为政府财政本身就是依靠债务的，通过支出自己没有的钱来维持，就像他过去一样。

降雨使Leatherman的工作停了下来，所以他可以坐下来向我们描述他是怎样使自己的经济状况恢复正常的。“我每周都写下所有的支出和所有的收入，然后再累积计算出总数，对我的状况有一个综合的了解。因为不了解自己现实状况的企业不可能真正明白自己将去向何处。”

经济学家称这是基本预算，这使得Leatherman免于经济破产——还有物物交换等其他工具。在这些策略的帮助下，他逐渐摆脱了债务。他还通过雇工帮助了其他人。

他说，这是一种考验，是一种全新的生活。当一天结束的时候，他感到非常平静，这在多年来还是第一次。

“当我的头靠在枕头上的时候，我会想到我没有债务，这让我对第二天充满了力量。我可以看到我自己正在走向繁荣和富裕。”

Leatherman告诉能够听到这篇报道的所有人，以及没有听到的人，你也能够做到的。

点击试听：VOA常速:美国普通人应对预算危机