奥巴马每周电视讲话 2010年4月17日

President Obama Says We Must Move Forward on Wall Street Reform

 奥巴马总统称我们必须将金融改革推向前进

 

WASHINGTON – In his weekly address, President Barack Obama said that in the wake of the economic crisis Wall Street reform is too important an issue for inaction.  The plan moving through Congress will end bailouts, hold Wall Street accountable, and protect consumers, taxpayers 2 and the economy from the kind of abuses that helped bring about the economic crisis.  Every day without reform, those abuses, and the system which allowed them, remain in place.  It is time to move forward with real reforms for Wall Street.

 华盛顿消息——在本周的电视讲话中，奥巴马总统称经济危机以来，金融改革已经变得如此重要以至于不能继续忽视了。国会正在讨论的改革计划将终结紧急援助，让华尔街负起责任来，并保护我们的消费者和纳税人免受由于这些（金融界的）弊病引发的经济危机的损害。一天不改革，这些弊病以及允许其存在的制度就不会发生改变。是时候切实推进华尔街的改革了。

 

There were many causes of the turmoil 3 that ripped through our economy over the past two years.  But above all, this crisis was caused by failures in the financial industry.  What is clear is that this crisis could have been avoided if Wall Street firms were more accountable, if financial dealings were more transparent 4, and if consumers and shareholders 5 were given more information and authority to make decisions.

 有很多原因导致了过去两年我们经济上的混乱。但总的来说，危机来源于金融业的缺陷。很明显，只要华尔街的公司更有责任一点，金融交易更加透明一点，消费者和股东在决策上能够获得更多信息和更大的权利，这场危机本可避免。

 

But that did not happen.  And that’s because special interests have waged a relentless 7 campaign to thwart 8 even basic, common-sense rules – rules to prevent abuse and protect consumers.  In fact, the financial industry and its powerful lobby have opposed modest safeguards against the kinds of reckless risks and bad practices that led to this very crisis.

 但这些并没有发生。因为特殊利益集团对那些即使是基本的、常规的监管规定（包括防止（权利）滥用以及保护消费者的规定）进行了无情的阻挠。实际上，金融行业和他们强大的游说集团反对适度的保护条款，正是他们不计后果的冒险和恶劣的行径导致了这次的危机。

 

The consequences of this failure of responsibility – from Wall Street to Washington – are all around us: 8 million jobs lost, trillions in savings 9 erased 10, countless 11 dreams diminished or denied.  I believe we have to do everything we can to ensure that no crisis like this ever happens again.  That’s why I’m fighting so hard to pass a set of Wall Street reforms and consumer protections.  A plan for reform is currently moving through Congress.

 从华尔街到华盛顿，一系列的责任心缺失比比皆是：800多万人失业，数万亿的存款灰飞烟灭，无数的梦想破灭。我认为我们要尽一切努力来确保以后再也不发生这样的危机。这是我一直为一系列金融改革和消费者保护方案奋争的原因。而改革的方案现在正在国会讨论。

 

Here’s what this plan would do.  First, it would enact 12 the strongest consumer financial protections ever.  It would put consumers back in the driver’s seat by forcing big banks and credit card companies to provide clear, understandable information so that Americans can make financial decisions that work best for them.

 以下就是（这项改革）计划的内容。首先，（改革计划）将制定最为严格的消费者保护条例；让消费者回到主导位置，强制大银行和信用卡公司提供清晰易懂的信息，以方便人们在金融决策上趋利避害。

 

Next, these reforms would bring new transparency to financial dealings.  Part of what led to this crisis was firms like AIG and others making huge and risky 13 bets – using things like derivatives 14 – without accountability.  Warren Buffett himself once described derivatives bought and sold with little oversight 15 as “financial weapons of mass destruction.”  That’s why through reform we’d help ensure that these kinds of complicated financial transactions take place on an open market.  Because, ultimately, it is a marketplace that is open, free, and fair that will allow our economy to flourish.

 其次，改革将为金融交易带来新的透明性。这次危机的部分原因就是像AIG（美国国际集团）这样的公司用金融衍生品之类的东西进行不负责任的冒险豪赌。沃伦·巴菲特（Warren Buffett）曾将金融衍生品的买卖描述为“大破坏的金融武器”。这就是我们通过改革确保这些复杂的金融交易在开放的市场交易的原因。因为最终只有一个开放，自由，公平的市场才能让我们的经济欣欣向荣。

 

We would also close loopholes to stop the kind of recklessness and irresponsibility we’ve seen.  It’s these loopholes that allowed executives to take risks that not only endangered their companies, but also our entire economy.  And we’re going to put in place new rules so that big banks and financial institutions will pay for the bad decisions they make – not taxpayers.  Simply put, this means no more taxpayer 1 bailouts.  Never again will taxpayers be on the hook because a financial company is deemed “too big to fail.”

 我们将堵上这些漏洞，来终结我们已经见识的这些不计后果和不负责任的（冒险）。正是这些漏洞让（公司）管理层进行冒险，这不仅损害了他们的公司，也损害了我们的经济。我们将设立适当的规则让这些大银行和金融机构为自己错误的决策自行埋单，而不是让纳税人来埋单。简而言之，以后再也不会有用纳税人的钱进行的紧急援助了。纳税人再也不会陷入金融公司所谓的“太大而不能倒闭”的圈套了。

 

Finally, these reforms hold Wall Street accountable by giving shareholders new power in the financial system.  They’ll get a say on pay: a vote on the salaries and bonuses awarded to top executives.  And the SEC will ensure that shareholders have more power in corporate 16 elections, so that investors 17 and pension holders 6 have a stronger voice in determining what happens with their life savings.

 最后，通过赋予股东新权力的改革让华尔街负起责任来。股东在薪酬决策上具有发言权：对高管的薪水和奖金拥有表决权。证券交易委员会将确保股东在公司选举上有更多权力，以便投资者和养老金持有人对如何处置自己的毕生积蓄有更多发言权。

 

Now, unsurprisingly, these reforms have not exactly been welcomed by the people who profit from the status quo – as well their allies in Washington.  This is probably why the special interests have spent a lot of time and money lobbying to kill or weaken the bill.  Just the other day, in fact, the Leader of the Senate Republicans and the Chair of the Republican Senate campaign committee met with two dozen top Wall Street executives to talk about how to block progress on this issue.

 现在，毫无疑问，改革受到了维持现状的受益者以及他们在政府盟友的反对。这可能就是特殊利益集团花费大量时间和金钱游说议员来否决和削弱改革法案的原因。其实前不久，共和党参议院领导人也就是共和党参议院竞选委员会的主席会见了24位华尔街的高管，并讨论如何阻挠这项议题的推进。

 

Lo and behold 18, when he returned to Washington, the Senate Republican Leader came out against the common-sense reforms we’ve proposed.  In doing so, he made the cynical 19 and deceptive 20 assertion that reform would somehow enable future bailouts – when he knows that it would do just the opposite.  Every day we don’t act, the same system that led to bailouts remains 21 in place – with the exact same loopholes and the exact same liabilities.  And if we don’t change what led to the crisis, we’ll doom 22 ourselves to repeat it.  That’s the truth.  Opposing reform will leave taxpayers on the hook if a crisis like this ever happens again.

 你瞧，当他返回华盛顿，共和党的参议院领导人就站出来反对我们提出的常规改革方案。他一边这么做，还一边编造些欺世谎言说什么改革将在未来造成紧急援助，尽管他知道恰恰相反。我们一天不行动起来，会引发紧急援助的制度就一天不会改变——一模一样的漏洞，一模一样的负责累累。不改变导致危机的一切，我们将注定重蹈覆辙。事实就是这样。反对改革将使得在未来危机发生时让纳税人再一次陷入圈套。

 

So my hope is that we can put this kind of politics aside.  My hope is that Democrats 23 and Republicans can find common ground and move forward together.  But this is certain: one way or another, we will move forward.  This issue is too important.  The costs of inaction are too great.  We will hold Wall Street accountable.  We will protect and empower consumers in our financial system. That’s what reform is all about. That’s what we’re fighting for.  And that’s exactly what we’re going to achieve.

Thank you.

 所以我希望我们能将政见放到一边，我希望民主党人和共和党人能寻求到共同的立场一起将改革推向前进。无论如何，有一点是明确的，我们将向前推进。这项议题是如此重要，而懈怠的代价是如此的昂贵。我们要让华尔街负起责任来，我们要保护我们的消费者，赋予他们在金融体系中应有的权力。这是我们改革的目标，也是我们奋斗的目标，更是我们将要实现的目标。

谢谢！