(每日一读)高考英语考前突破 阅读理解 国际时事要闻 奥巴马欲绕过国会进行经济改革素材-23页

奥巴马欲绕过国会进行经济改革 美国总统奥巴马于当地时间28日晚、北京时间29日上午发表国情咨文演讲，表示如果美国国会阻挠了他对经济不平等的改革，将会采取行动绕过国会。奥巴马称，他的一些行动需要国会的通过，而他也愿意与国会通力合作。但是他和全体美国人不会无所作为，如果他有机会为更多的美国家庭扩大机会，即使绕过国会他也会这么做。 President Barack Obama will lay out his strategy for getting around a divided Congress starting with a wage hike for federal contract workers in a State of the Union speech on Tuesday that reflects scaled-back legislative ambitions after a tough year. Obama will say in his 9 p.m. EST (0200 GMT Wednesday) address that he will bypass fractious（倔强的） U.S. lawmakers and go it alone in some areas with a series of executive actions aimed at boosting the middle class, many that do not require congressional approval. Trying to breathe new life into his presidency and boost congressional Democrats facing re-election battles in November, Obama will tell Congress he is eager to work with lawmakers, "but America does not stand still - and neither will I." "So wherever and whenever I can take steps without legislation to expand opportunity for more American families, thats what Im going to do," Obama will say, according to speech excerpts（节选） released by the White House. The White House said Obama would announce that he is issuing an executive order to raise the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour for federal contract workers with new contracts. In his address, Obama will also call on Congress to pass a bill to increase the federal minimum wage for all workers to $10.10 an hour from $7.25 and index that to inflation. The executive order raising the level for federal contract workers, which applies to new contracts or existing contracts in which terms are being changed, will take effect at the beginning of next year, with janitors（看门人，守卫） and construction workers among the beneficiaries. Issuing the order allows the Democratic president to bypass Congress, where Republicans oppose a broad increase in the minimum wage. But liberals felt Obamas move did not go far enough, arguing that he should have extended the wage hike to existing federal contracts. "This action, while a step forward, suggests he may still be unwilling to take the fighting stance necessary to deliver the big wins over growing inequality that our country desperately needs," said Jim Dean, chairman of the liberal advocacy group Democracy for America. White House officials said Obama would also announce new executive actions on retirement security and job training to help middle-class workers expand economic opportunity. Obama will say he is offering a set of "concrete, practical proposals" to speed up economic growth and strengthen the middle class, which he says has lost jobs because of shifts in technology and global competition. "Today, after four years of economic growth, corporate profits and stock prices have rarely been higher, and those at the top have never done better. But average wages have barely budged. Inequality has deepened. Upward mobility has stalled," Obama will say, according to the excerpts. "The cold, hard fact is that even in the midst of recovery, too many Americans are working more than ever just to get by - let alone get ahead. And too many still arent working at all," Obama also said in the excerpts.