Hello, Galesburg! Well, it’s good to be home in Illinois! It is good to be back. It’s good to be back. Thank you. Thank you so much, everybody. Thank you. Everybody, have a seat, have a seat. Well, it is good to be back. 盖尔斯堡，你们好！回到伊利诺伊州就像回家一样，真高兴又来到这里。谢谢大家，非常感谢。请坐，请坐。
I want to, first of all, thank Knox College -- I want to thank Knox College and your president, Teresa Amott, for having me here today. Give Teresa a big round of applause. I want to thank your Congresswoman, Cheri Bustos, who’s here. We've got Governor Quinn here. I'm told we've got your Lieutenant Governor, Sheila Simon, is here. There she is. Attorney General Lisa Madigan is here. 首先感谢诺克斯学院和校长特蕾莎·阿莫特邀请我来。请大家为特蕾莎热烈鼓掌。还要感谢今天在场的国会众议员切里·布斯托斯。奎因州长也来了。我听说副州长希拉·西蒙也在，那儿就是她。州检察长丽莎·马迪根也来了。
I see a bunch of my former colleagues, some folks who I haven't seen in years and I'm looking forward to saying hi to. One in particular I've got to mention, one of my favorites from the Illinois Senate -- John Sullivan is in the house. John was one of my earliest supporters when I was running for the U.S. Senate, and it came in really handy because he’s got, like, 10 brothers and sisters, and his wife has got 10 brothers and sisters -- so they’ve got this entire precinct just in their family. And they all look like John -- the brothers do -- so he doesn’t have to go to every event. 我看见不少昔日同事，有些人多年未见，我很想跟他们打个招呼。有一位我尤其要提，他是我在伊利诺伊州参议院时最喜欢的同事之一，约翰·沙利文。早年我竞选联邦参议员时，约翰就是支持者。这可帮了大忙：他有大约十个兄弟姐妹，妻子也有十个兄弟姐妹，他们一家人几乎就是一个选区。兄弟们还都长得像他，因此他不必每场活动都亲自去。
He can just send one of his brothers out. It is good to see him. 派个兄弟去就行了。很高兴见到他。
Dick Durbin couldn’t make it today, but he sends his best. And we love Dick. He’s doing a great job. And we’ve got one of my favorite neighbors, the Senator from Missouri, Claire McCaskill, in the house, because we’re going to Missouri later this afternoon. 迪克·德宾今天来不了，但托我向大家问好。我们都喜欢迪克，他做得很出色。密苏里州参议员克莱尔·麦卡斯基尔也在，她是我最喜欢的邻州同事之一，因为今天下午我们还要去密苏里州。
And all of you are here, and it’s great to see you. And I hope everybody is having a wonderful summer. The weather is perfect. Whoever was in charge of that, good job. 见到你们所有人真好。希望大家都在享受这个夏天。天气如此完美，负责安排天气的人干得漂亮。
So, eight years ago, I came here to deliver the commencement address for the class of 2005. Things were a little different back then. For example, I had no gray hair -- or a motorcade. Didn’t even have a prompter. In fact, there was a problem in terms of printing out the speech because the printer didn’t work here and we had to drive it in from somewhere. But it was my first big speech as your newest senator. 八年前，我来这里为2005届毕业生致辞。当时情况有些不同。比如，我还没有白发，也没有车队，连提词器都没有。事实上，学院的打印机坏了，演讲稿还得从别处开车送过来。但那是我作为你们的新任参议员发表的第一次重要演讲。
And on the way here I was telling Cheri and Claire about how important this area was, one of the areas that I spent the most time in outside of Chicago, and how much it represented what’s best in America and folks who were willing to work hard and do right by their families. And I came here to talk about what a changing economy was doing to the middle class -- and what we, as a country, needed to do to give every American a chance to get ahead in the 21st century. 来这里的路上，我告诉切里和克莱尔，这片地区对我有多重要。在芝加哥以外，我来这里的次数数一数二。这里体现了美国最美好的一面：人们努力工作，尽心照顾家人。当年我来到这里，谈的是经济变化如何影响中产阶级，以及我们国家该怎样让每个美国人在21世纪都有机会出人头地。
See, I had just spent a year traveling the state and listening to your stories -- of proud Maytag workers losing their jobs when the plant moved down to Mexico. A lot of folks here remember that. Of teachers whose salaries weren’t keeping up with the rising cost of groceries. Of young people who had the drive and the energy, but not the money to afford a college education. 那时，我刚花了一年走遍全州，倾听你们的故事：美泰克工厂迁往墨西哥后，自豪的工人失去工作，在座许多人还记得；教师的工资赶不上食品价格上涨；年轻人有志气、有干劲，却负担不起大学学费。
So these were stories of families who had worked hard, believed in the American Dream, but they felt like the odds were increasingly stacked against them. And they were right. Things had changed. 这些家庭努力工作，相信美国梦，却觉得成功的机会越来越少。他们的感觉是对的。时代已经变了。
In the period after World War II, a growing middle class was the engine of our prosperity. Whether you owned a company, or swept its floors, or worked anywhere in between, this country offered you a basic bargain -- a sense that your hard work would be rewarded with fair wages and decent benefits, the chance to buy a home, to save for retirement, and most of all, a chance to hand down a better life for your kids. 第二次世界大战后，不断壮大的中产阶级曾是美国繁荣的引擎。无论你是企业老板、清洁工，还是从事其中任何一种工作，这个国家都曾给你一项基本承诺：辛勤劳动会得到公平工资和体面福利，有机会买房、为退休存钱，更重要的是让孩子过上更好的生活。
But over time, that engine began to stall -- and a lot of folks here saw it -- that bargain began to fray. Technology made some jobs obsolete. Global competition sent a lot of jobs overseas. It became harder for unions to fight for the middle class. Washington doled out bigger tax cuts to the very wealthy and smaller minimum wage increases for the working poor. 可是后来，这部引擎开始失速，许多本地人亲眼看到了；这项承诺也逐渐破裂。技术让一些工作消失，全球竞争把许多岗位带到海外，工会也越来越难为中产阶级争取权益。华盛顿给富人更大幅度的减税，却只给低收入劳动者微薄的最低工资涨幅。
And so what happened was that the link between higher productivity and people’s wages and salaries was broken. It used to be that, as companies did better, as profits went higher, workers also got a better deal. And that started changing. So the income of the top 1 percent nearly quadrupled from 1979 to 2007, but the typical family’s incomes barely budged. 结果，生产率提高与工资增长之间的联系断裂了。过去公司经营越好、利润越高，员工也会得到更多；后来这种情况变了。1979年至2007年间，收入最高的1%人口的收入几乎增长了三倍，而普通家庭的收入却几乎没有变化。
And towards the end of those three decades, a housing bubble, credit cards, a churning financial sector was keeping the economy artificially juiced up, so sometimes it papered over some of these long-term trends. But by the time I took office in 2009 as your President, we all know the bubble had burst, and it cost millions of Americans their jobs, and their homes, and their savings. And I know a lot of folks in this area were hurt pretty bad. And the decades-long erosion that had been taking place -- the erosion of middle-class security -- was suddenly laid bare for everybody to see. 在那三十年的后期，房地产泡沫、信用卡借贷和活跃的金融业人为地支撑着经济，有时掩盖了这些长期趋势。可等到2009年我就任总统，泡沫已经破裂，数百万美国人失去工作、住房和积蓄。我知道本地许多人受到重创。持续数十年的中产阶级生活保障流失，突然毫无遮掩地呈现在所有人眼前。
Now, today, five years after the start of that Great Recession, America has fought its way back. We fought our way back. Together, we saved the auto industry; took on a broken health care system. We invested in new American technologies to reverse our addiction to foreign oil. We doubled wind and solar power. Together, we put in place tough new rules on the big banks, and protections to crack down on the worst practices of mortgage lenders and credit card companies. 如今，距离大衰退开始已过去五年，美国一路奋力走了回来。我们共同挽救汽车业，着手改革失灵的医疗体系；投资美国新技术，减少对外国石油的依赖；使风能和太阳能发电量翻倍。我们还共同制定严格的新规则约束大型银行，并采取保护措施，打击抵押贷款机构和信用卡公司的恶劣做法。
We changed a tax code too skewed in favor of the wealthiest at the expense of working families -- so we changed that, and we locked in tax cuts for 98 percent of Americans, and we asked those at the top to pay a little bit more. 我们改革了过于偏袒富人、让工薪家庭吃亏的税制，确定为98%的美国人减税，同时要求收入最高的人多承担一点。
So you add it all up, and over the past 40 months, our businesses have created 7.2 million new jobs. This year, we’re off to our strongest private sector job growth since 1999. 把这些成果加起来看：过去40个月，美国企业创造了720万个就业岗位。今年私营部门的就业增长有望达到1999年以来最强劲的水平。
And because we bet on this country, suddenly foreign companies are, too. Right now, more of Honda’s cars are made in America than anyplace else on Earth. Airbus, the European aircraft company, they’re building new planes in Alabama. And American companies like Ford are replacing outsourcing with insourcing -- they’re bringing jobs back home. 因为我们相信这个国家，外国企业也开始加大投资。如今，本田汽车在美国的产量超过世界上任何其他地方。欧洲飞机制造商空中客车在阿拉巴马州生产新飞机。福特等美国企业则从将工作外包转向把岗位带回国内。
We sell more products made in America to the rest of the world than ever before. We produce more natural gas than any country on Earth. We’re about to produce more of our own oil than we buy from abroad for the first time in nearly 20 years. The cost of health care is growing at its slowest rate in 50 years. And our deficits are falling at the fastest rate in 60 years. 我们向世界销售的美国制造产品比以往任何时候都多。我们的天然气产量居世界首位。近20年来，我们即将首次实现国内石油产量超过进口量。医疗费用的增长速度为50年来最低，财政赤字的下降速度为60年来最快。
So thanks to the grit and resilience and determination of the American people -- of folks like you -- we’ve been able to clear away the rubble from the financial crisis. We started to lay a new foundation for stronger, more durable economic growth. And it's happening in our own personal lives as well, right? A lot of us tightened our belts, shed debt, maybe cut up a couple of credit cards, refocused on those things that really matter. 正是因为美国人民、因为你们这样的民众有勇气、有韧劲、有决心，我们才清除了金融危机留下的废墟，开始为更强劲、更持久的经济增长打下新基础。个人生活也在发生变化，对吧？许多人勒紧腰带、减少债务，也许还剪掉几张信用卡，重新关注真正重要的事。
As a country, we’ve recovered faster and gone further than most other advanced nations in the world. With new American revolutions in energy and technology and manufacturing and health care, we're actually poised to reverse the forces that battered the middle class for so long, and start building an economy where everyone who works hard can get ahead. 作为一个国家，我们比世界上大多数其他发达国家恢复得更快、走得更远。能源、技术、制造业和医疗领域正在美国发生新的变革，我们确实有机会扭转那些长期冲击中产阶级的力量，建立一个让每个努力工作的人都能取得进步的经济。
But -- and here's the big “but” -- I’m here to tell you today that we're not there yet. We all know that. We're not there yet. We've got more work to do. Even though our businesses are creating new jobs and have broken record profits, nearly all the income gains of the past 10 years have continued to flow to the top 1 percent. The average CEO has gotten a raise of nearly 40 percent since 2009. The average American earns less than he or she did in 1999. And companies continue to hold back on hiring those who’ve been out of work for some time. 但这里有一个很大的“但是”：今天我要告诉大家，我们还没有做到。我们都知道，还没有做到。还有更多工作要做。虽然企业不断创造就业、利润屡创新高，过去十年收入增长所带来的好处几乎仍全部流向了最富有的1%。自2009年以来，首席执行官的平均薪酬上涨了近40%，普通美国人的收入却低于1999年的水平。企业仍不愿雇用长期失业的人。
Today, more students are earning their degree, but soaring costs saddle them with unsustainable debt. Health care costs are slowing down, but a lot of working families haven’t seen any of those savings yet. The stock market rebound helped a lot of families get back much of what they had lost in their 401(k)s, but millions of Americans still have no idea how they’re going to be able to retire. 如今，获得学位的学生更多了，但飙升的费用使他们背上难以承受的债务。医疗费用增速放缓，许多工薪家庭却还没有感受到节省带来的好处。股市回升帮助许多家庭收回了退休储蓄账户中损失的大部分资金，但仍有数百万美国人不知道将来如何退休。
So in many ways, the trends that I spoke about here in 2005 -- eight years ago -- the trend of a winner-take-all economy where a few are doing better and better and better, while everybody else just treads water -- those trends have been made worse by the recession. And that's a problem. 因此，许多方面都表明，我八年前在这里谈到的趋势——少数人越来越富、其他人却原地踏步的赢家通吃式经济——因衰退而变得更加严重。这是个问题。
This growing inequality not just of result, inequality of opportunity -- this growing inequality is not just morally wrong, it’s bad economics. Because when middle-class families have less to spend, guess what, businesses have fewer consumers. When wealth concentrates at the very top, it can inflate unstable bubbles that threaten the economy. When the rungs on the ladder of opportunity grow farther and farther apart, it undermines the very essence of America -- that idea that if you work hard you can make it here. 这种日益加剧的不平等，不仅是结果不平等，也是机会不平等；它不仅在道义上错误，在经济上也有害。中产家庭手头钱少了，企业的顾客也就少了。财富高度集中于顶层，会催生威胁经济的不稳定泡沫。机会阶梯上的台阶越隔越远，就会侵蚀美国最根本的理念：只要努力，你就能在这里成功。
And that’s why reversing these trends has to be Washington’s highest priority. It has to be Washington's highest priority. It’s certainly my highest priority. 因此，扭转这些趋势必须成为华盛顿的首要任务。它必须是华盛顿的首要任务，当然也是我的首要任务。
Unfortunately, over the past couple of years, in particular, Washington hasn’t just ignored this problem; too often, Washington has made things worse. 遗憾的是，尤其在过去几年，华盛顿不仅忽视了这个问题，还常常使它变得更糟。
And I have to say that -- because I'm looking around the room -- I've got some friends here not just who are Democrats, I've got some friends here who are Republicans -- and I worked with in the state legislature and they did great work. But right now, what we’ve got in Washington, we've seen a sizable group of Republican lawmakers suggest that they wouldn’t vote to pay the very bills that Congress rang up. And that fiasco harmed a fragile recovery in 2011 and we can't afford to repeat that. 我得说一句：环顾这里，我有民主党朋友，也有共和党朋友。我曾在州议会与他们共事，他们做得很出色。但如今在华盛顿，相当一部分共和党议员表示，不愿投票偿付国会自己承担的账单。2011年的那场闹剧伤害了脆弱的复苏，我们不能让它重演。
Then, rather than reduce our deficits with a scalpel -- by cutting out programs we don’t need, fixing ones that we do need that maybe are in need of reform, making government more efficient -- instead of doing that, we've got folks who’ve insisted on leaving in place a meat cleaver called the sequester that's cost jobs. It's harmed growth. It's hurt our military. It's gutted investments in education and science and medical research. 此外，我们本该像用手术刀那样削减赤字：取消不需要的项目，改革需要保留却有问题的项目，让政府更有效率。可是有人坚持留下名叫“自动减支”的大砍刀。它让人失业、阻碍增长、损害军队，并大幅削减教育、科学与医学研究投资。
Almost every credible economist will tell you it's been a huge drag on this recovery. And it means that we're underinvesting in the things that this country needs to make it a magnet for good jobs. 几乎所有可信的经济学家都会告诉你，这给经济复苏造成了巨大拖累，也意味着我们对那些能吸引优质就业的必要领域投资不足。
Then, over the last six months, this gridlock has gotten worse. I didn't think that was possible. The good news is a growing number of Republican senators are looking to join their Democratic counterparts and try to get things done in the Senate. So that's good news. For example, they worked together on an immigration bill that economists say will boost our economy by more than a trillion dollars, strengthen border security, make the system work. 过去六个月，政治僵局还变得更严重了，我本以为这已经不可能。好消息是，越来越多共和党参议员愿意与民主党同事合作，争取在参议院做成一些事。例如，他们共同拟定了一项移民法案。经济学家认为，它能推动经济增长超过一万亿美元，强化边境安全，并让移民制度正常运转。
But you've got a faction of Republicans in the House who won’t even give that bill a vote. And that same group gutted a farm bill that America’s farmers depend on, but also America's most vulnerable children depend on. And if you ask some of these folks, some of these folks mostly in the House, about their economic agenda how it is that they'll strengthen the middle class, they’ll shift the topic to “out-of-control government spending” -- despite the fact that we've cut the deficit by nearly half as a share of the economy since I took office. 可是众议院有一派共和党人连表决机会都不给它。同一批人还大幅削弱了农民以及美国最弱势儿童都依赖的农业法案。如果你问其中一些人，尤其是众议院的人，他们打算怎样发展经济、壮大中产阶级，他们就会转而谈论“失控的政府开支”，尽管自我上任以来，赤字占经济总量的比例已下降近一半。
Or they’ll talk about government assistance for the poor, despite the fact that they’ve already cut early education for vulnerable kids. They've already cut insurance for people who’ve lost their jobs through no fault of their own. Or they’ll bring up Obamacare -- this is tried and true -- despite the fact that our businesses have created nearly twice as many jobs in this recovery as businesses had at the same point in the last recovery when there was no Obamacare. 或者，他们会谈政府给穷人的援助，尽管他们已经削减了弱势儿童的早期教育，也削减了那些并非因自身过错而失业的人的保险。再不然，他们就搬出“奥巴马医改”这个老话题，尽管在这次复苏的同一阶段，美国企业创造的就业岗位，几乎是上一次没有医改时的两倍。
Audience Member: My daughter has insurance now! 听众：我女儿现在有医保了！
President Obama: I appreciate that. That’s what this is about. That’s what this is about. That’s what we've been fighting for. 奥巴马总统：谢谢你，这正是问题的关键。这就是我们一直争取的事。
But with this endless parade of distractions and political posturing and phony scandals, Washington has taken its eye off the ball. And I am here to say this needs to stop. This needs to stop. 但无休止的转移话题、政治作秀和虚假丑闻，让华盛顿忘了真正的目标。今天我要说，这种情况必须停止，必须停止。
This moment does not require short-term thinking. It does not require having the same old stale debates. Our focus has to be on the basic economic issues that matter most to you, the people we represent. That’s what we have to spend our time on and our energy on and our focus on. 此刻不需要短视的思维，也不需要重演陈旧的争论。我们必须聚焦于你们、我们所代表的人民最关心的基本经济问题。我们的时间、精力和注意力都应放在这些问题上。
And as Washington prepares to enter another budget debate, the stakes for our middle class and everybody who is fighting to get into the middle class could not be higher. The countries that are passive in the face of a global economy, those countries will lose the competition for good jobs. They will lose the competition for high living standards. That’s why America has to make the investments necessary to promote long-term growth and shared prosperity -- rebuilding our manufacturing base, educating our workforce, upgrading our transportation systems, upgrading our information networks. 当华盛顿准备展开又一轮预算辩论时，中产阶级以及每一个努力跻身中产阶级的人，面临的利害关系再大不过。面对全球经济而无所作为的国家，将输掉优质就业和高生活水平的竞争。因此，美国必须投入必要资源，促进长期增长和共同繁荣：重建制造业基础，培养劳动者，升级交通系统和信息网络。
That’s what we need to be talking about. That’s what Washington needs to be focused on. 这才是我们该讨论的事，是华盛顿该关注的事。
And that’s why, over the next several weeks, in towns across this country, I will be engaging the American people in this debate. I'll lay out my ideas for how we build on the cornerstones of what it means to be middle class in America, and what it takes to work your way into the middle class in America: Job security, with good wages and durable industries. A good education. A home to call your own. Affordable health care when you get sick. A secure retirement even if you’re not rich. Reducing poverty. 因此，未来几周我会到全国各地，与美国人民一起讨论。我会阐述自己的主张，说明如何巩固美国中产阶级生活的支柱，以及如何帮助人们通过努力进入中产阶级：有体面工资和稳定产业支撑的工作保障、良好的教育、属于自己的家、生病时负担得起的医疗，以及即使不富裕也能安稳退休。还有减少贫困。
Reducing inequality. Growing opportunity. That’s what we need. That’s what we need. That’s what we need right now. That’s what we need to be focused on. 减少不平等，扩大机会。这正是我们需要的，是眼下需要关注的。
Now, some of these ideas I’ve talked about before. Some of the ideas I offer will be new. Some will require Congress. Some I will pursue on my own. Some ideas will benefit folks right away. Some will take years to fully implement. But the key is to break through the tendency in Washington to just bounce from crisis to crisis. What we need is not a three-month plan, or even a three-year plan; we need a long-term American strategy, based on steady, persistent effort, to reverse the forces that have conspired against the middle class for decades. That has to be our project. 其中一些主张我以前讲过，有些则是新的。有些需要国会配合，有些我会自行推动。有些能让民众立刻受益，有些则要多年才能全面实施。关键是要打破华盛顿在一场场危机之间疲于应付的习惯。我们需要的不是三个月、甚至不是三年的计划，而是一项长期的美国战略，通过稳定而持久的努力，扭转几十年来不利于中产阶级的力量。这必须成为我们的共同事业。
Now, of course, we’ll keep pressing on other key priorities. I want to get this immigration bill done. We still need to work on reducing gun violence. We’ve got to continue to end the war in Afghanistan, rebalance our fight against al Qaeda. We need to combat climate change. We’ve got to standing up for civil rights. We’ve got to stand up for women’s rights. 当然，我们还会继续推进其他重要事务。我希望通过移民法案。我们仍须努力减少枪支暴力，继续结束阿富汗战争，调整打击“基地”组织的方式。我们需要应对气候变化，维护公民权利和妇女权利。
So all those issues are important, and we’ll be fighting on every one of those issues. But if we don’t have a growing, thriving middle class then we won’t have the resources to solve a lot of these problems. We won’t have the resolve, the optimism, the sense of unity that we need to solve many of these other issues. 这些议题都很重要，我们会为每一项而努力。但若没有不断成长、充满活力的中产阶级，我们就没有资源解决许多问题，也缺少解决问题所需的决心、乐观精神与团结感。
Now, in this effort, I will look to work with Republicans as well as Democrats wherever I can. And I sincerely believe that there are members of both parties who understand this moment, understand what’s at stake, and I will welcome ideas from anybody across the political spectrum. But I will not allow gridlock, or inaction, or willful indifference to get in our way. 在这项工作中，只要有可能，我愿与共和党人和民主党人合作。我真诚相信两党都有人理解这一时刻、明白利害所在。我欢迎政治立场各异的人提出意见。但我不会让政治僵局、无所作为或故意漠视挡住我们的路。
That means whatever executive authority I have to help the middle class, I’ll use it. Where I can’t act on my own and Congress isn’t cooperating, I’ll pick up the phone -- I’ll call CEOs; I’ll call philanthropists; I’ll call college presidents; I’ll call labor leaders. I’ll call anybody who can help -- and enlist them in our efforts. 这意味着，只要我拥有能够帮助中产阶级的行政权力，我就会使用。如果我无法单独行动，而国会又不配合，我就会拿起电话，联系企业首席执行官、慈善家、大学校长和工会领袖。我会联络所有能够帮忙的人，请他们加入我们的努力。
Because the choices that we, the people, make right now will determine whether or not every American has a fighting chance in the 21st century. And it will lay the foundation for our children’s future, our grandchildren’s future, for all Americans. So let me give you a quick preview of what I’ll be fighting for and why. The first cornerstone of a strong, growing middle class has to be, as I said before, an economy that generates more good jobs in durable, growing industries. That's how this area was built. That's how America prospered. 因为我们人民此刻作出的选择，将决定21世纪每个美国人是否都有争取成功的机会，也将为我们的孩子、孙辈和所有美国人的未来奠定基础。所以请允许我简要介绍我将争取什么，以及为什么。正如刚才所说，强大且不断壮大的中产阶级的第一根支柱，必须是一个能在稳定成长的行业创造更多优质岗位的经济。这片地区正是靠它建设起来的，美国也因此繁荣。
Because anybody who was willing to work, they could go out there and they could find themselves a job, and they could build a life for themselves and their family. 过去，任何愿意工作的人都能找到一份工作，为自己和家人建立生活。
Now, over the past four years, for the first time since the 1990s, the number of American manufacturing jobs has actually gone up instead of down. That's the good news. But we can do more. So I’m going to push new initiatives to help more manufacturers bring more jobs back to the United States. We’re going to continue to focus on strategies to make sure our tax code rewards companies that are not shipping jobs overseas, but creating jobs right here in the United States of America. 过去四年，美国制造业岗位数量出现上升，这是20世纪90年代以来的第一次。这是好消息，但我们还可以做得更多。我将推动新的举措，帮助更多制造商把岗位带回美国。我们将继续制定办法，确保税制奖励那些在美国创造岗位、而不是把工作送往海外的公司。
We want to make sure that -- we’re going to create strategies to make sure that good jobs in wind and solar and natural gas that are lowering costs and, at the same time, reducing dangerous carbon pollution happen right here in the United States. 我们还要制定战略，确保风能、太阳能和天然气领域那些既降低成本又减少危险碳污染的优质岗位，就设在美国本土。
And something that Cheri and I were talking about on the way over here -- I’m going to be pushing to open more manufacturing innovation institutes that turn regions left behind by global competition into global centers of cutting-edge jobs. So let’s tell the world that America is open for business. I know there’s an old site right here in Galesburg, over on Monmouth Boulevard -- let’s put some folks to work. 还有我刚才在路上与切里谈到的一件事：我会推动设立更多制造业创新研究所，把那些在全球竞争中掉队的地区转变为尖端产业的全球中心。让我们告诉世界：美国欢迎来做生意。我知道盖尔斯堡蒙茅斯大道旁有一处旧厂址，正好可以让人们在那里工作。
Tomorrow, I’ll also visit the Port of Jacksonville, Florida to offer new ideas for doing what America has always done best, which is building things. 明天我还要访问佛罗里达州杰克逊维尔港，提出新思路，继续做美国一向最擅长的事：建设。
Pat and I were talking before I came -- backstage -- Pat Quinn -- he was talking about how I came over the Don Moffitt Bridge. But we’ve got work to do all across the country. We’ve got ports that aren’t ready for the new supertankers that are going to begin passing through the new Panama Canal in two years’ time. If we don’t get that done, those tankers are going to go someplace else. We’ve got more than 100,000 bridges that are old enough to qualify for Medicare. 来这里之前，我在后台和帕特·奎因谈话。他提到我经过了唐·莫菲特桥。但全国各地都有建设任务。两年后，新巴拿马运河将迎来大型油轮，而我们一些港口还没有做好接纳准备。若不赶紧行动，那些船就会去别处。我们有十多万座桥梁，年纪大得都够资格享受老年医保了。
Businesses depend on our transportation systems, on our power grids, on our communications networks. And rebuilding them creates good-paying jobs right now that can’t be outsourced. 企业依赖交通、电网和通信网络。重建这些设施，眼下就能创造无法外包、报酬优厚的工作。
And by the way, this isn’t a Democratic idea. Republicans built a lot of stuff. This is the Land of Lincoln. Lincoln was all about building stuff -- first Republican President. And yet, as a share of our economy, we invest less in our infrastructure than we did two decades ago. And that’s inefficient at a time when it’s as cheap as it’s been since the 1950s to build things. It’s inexcusable at a time when so many of the workers who build stuff for a living are sitting at home waiting for a call. 顺便说一句，这不是民主党独有的主张。共和党人也建造过很多东西。这里是林肯的故乡，作为第一位共和党总统，林肯热衷建设。可是，基础设施投资占经济的比重比二十年前还低。如今的建设成本处于20世纪50年代以来最低水平，少投资是不明智的；许多以建设为生的工人还在家等待工作，此时少投资更说不过去。
The longer we put this off, the more expensive it will be and the less competitive we will be. Businesses of tomorrow will not locate near old roads and outdated ports. They’ll relocate to places with high-speed Internet, and high-tech schools, and systems that move air and auto traffic faster, and not to mention will get parents home quicker from work because we’ll be eliminating some of these traffic jams. And we can watch all of that happen in other countries, and start falling behind, or we can choose to make it happen right here, in the United States. 拖得越久，成本越高，我们的竞争力也越弱。未来的企业不会选址在老旧道路和落后港口旁。它们会前往拥有高速互联网、先进学校，以及能加快航空和公路运输的地方；交通更通畅还会让父母更早下班回家。我们可以眼看其他国家实现这一切，自己逐渐落后；也可以选择在美国做到。
In an age when jobs know no borders, companies are also going to seek out the countries that boast the most talented citizens, and they’ll reward folks who have the skills and the talents they need -- they’ll reward those folks with good pay. 在岗位跨越国界的时代，企业会寻找拥有最优秀人才的国家，并给具备所需技能和才干的人优厚薪酬。
The days when the wages for a worker with a high school degree could keep pace with the earnings of somebody who got some sort of higher education -- those days are over. Everybody here knows that. There are a whole bunch of folks here whose dads or grandpas worked at a plant, didn’t need a high school education. You could just go there. If you were willing to work hard, you might be able to get two jobs. And you could support your family, have a vacation, own your home. But technology and global competition, they’re not going away. Those old days aren’t coming back. 仅凭高中学历的工人就能获得与受过高等教育者相近工资的年代已经过去了。大家都知道这一点。这里许多人的父亲或祖父曾在工厂工作，不必接受高中教育就能进去。只要愿意努力，甚至能找到两份工作，养家、度假、买房。但技术进步和全球竞争不会消失，旧日光景也不会回来。
So we can either throw up our hands and resign ourselves to diminishing living standards, or we can do what America has always done, which is adapt, and pull together, and fight back, and win. That’s what we have to do. 我们可以摊开双手，听任生活水平下降；也可以像美国历来那样，适应变化、团结起来、奋起反击并赢得胜利。这才是我们必须做的。
And that brings me to the second cornerstone of a strong middle class -- and everybody here knows it -- an education that prepares our children and our workers for the global competition that they’re going to face. And if you think education is expensive, wait until you see how much ignorance costs in the 21st century. 这就引出了强大中产阶级的第二根支柱，大家都知道它是什么：让孩子和劳动者准备好应对全球竞争的教育。如果你认为教育昂贵，那就等着看看21世纪的无知会付出多大代价。
If we don’t make this investment, we’re going to put our kids, our workers, and our country at a competitive disadvantage for decades. So we have to begin in the earliest years. And that’s why I’m going to keep pushing to make high-quality preschool available for every 4-year-old in America. Not just because we know it works for our kids, but because it provides a vital support system for working parents. 如果不进行这项投资，我们的孩子、劳动者和国家在未来几十年都会处于竞争劣势。所以，必须从幼年开始。因此，我会继续推动让美国每个四岁儿童都能接受优质学前教育。这不仅因为我们知道它对孩子有效，还因为它能为在职父母提供重要支持。
And I’m going to take action in the education area to spur innovation that don’t require Congress. So, today, for example, as we speak, federal agencies are moving on my plan to connect 99 percent of America’s students to high-speed Internet over the next five years. We’re making that happen right now. We’ve already begun meeting with business leaders and tech entrepreneurs and innovative educators to identify the best ideas for redesigning our high schools so that they teach the skills required for a high-tech economy. 我也会在不需国会批准的教育领域采取行动，推动创新。例如，此刻联邦机构正在落实我的计划，要在未来五年让99%的美国学生接入高速互联网。这项工作已经展开。我们也已开始与企业领袖、科技创业者和富有创新精神的教育者会面，寻找改革高中教育的最佳办法，让学校教授高科技经济所需的技能。
And we’re also going to keep pushing new efforts to train workers for changing jobs. So here in Galesburg, for example, a lot of the workers that were laid off at Maytag chose to enroll in retraining programs like the one at Carl Sandburg College. And while it didn’t pay off for everyone, a lot of the folks who were retrained found jobs that suited them even better and paid even more than the ones they had lost. 此外，我们会继续推动新举措，培训劳动者适应变化中的岗位。就拿盖尔斯堡来说，美泰克工厂裁员后，许多工人选择参加卡尔·桑德堡学院等机构的再培训项目。虽然并非人人都从中受益，但不少受训者找到了更适合自己、收入甚至高于原来工作的岗位。
And that’s why I’ve asked Congress to start a Community College to Career initiative, so that workers can earn the skills that high-tech jobs demand without leaving their hometown. And I’m going to challenge CEOs from some of America’s best companies to hire more Americans who’ve got what it takes to fill that job opening but have been laid off for so long that nobody is giving their résumé an honest look. 因此，我请求国会启动“社区学院通向职业”计划，让劳动者不用离开家乡，就能学到高科技岗位需要的技能。我还要敦促美国一些最优秀企业的首席执行官，更多地雇用那些具备岗位所需能力、却因失业太久而无人认真看简历的美国人。
Audience Member: More talent! 听众：还有更多人才！
President Obama: That, too. 奥巴马总统：这也对。
I’m also going to use the power of my office over the next few months to highlight a topic that’s straining the budgets of just about every American family -- and that’s the soaring cost of higher education. Everybody is touched by this, including your President, who had a whole bunch of loans he had to pay off. 接下来几个月，我还将利用总统职位的影响力，聚焦一个令几乎每个美国家庭预算都吃紧的问题：不断飙升的高等教育费用。人人都受影响，包括曾经要偿还一大笔学生贷款的你们的总统。
Three years ago, I worked with Democrats to reform the student loan system so that taxpayer dollars stopped padding the pockets of big banks, and instead helped more kids afford college. Then, I capped loan repayments at 10 percent of monthly incomes for responsible borrowers, so that if somebody graduated and they decided to take a teaching job, for example, that didn’t pay a lot of money, they knew that they were never going to have to pay more than 10 percent of their income and they could afford to go into a profession that they loved. That’s in place right now. 三年前，我与民主党人合作改革学生贷款制度，让纳税人的钱不再流入大银行的钱袋，而是帮助更多孩子负担大学教育。随后，我规定符合条件、认真还款的借款人每月还款额不超过收入的10%。这样，毕业生即使选择一份薪酬不高的教师工作，也知道还款不会超过收入的十分之一，有能力从事自己热爱的职业。这项规定现在已经实施。
And this week, we’re working with both parties to reverse the doubling of student loan rates that happened a few weeks ago because of congressional inaction. 本周，我们还在与两党合作，扭转几周前因国会不作为而导致的学生贷款利率翻倍。
So this is all a good start -- but it isn’t enough. Families and taxpayers can’t just keep paying more and more and more into an undisciplined system where costs just keep on going up and up and up. We’ll never have enough loan money, we’ll never have enough grant money, to keep up with costs that are going up 5, 6, 7 percent a year. We’ve got to get more out of what we pay for. 这些都是良好的开端，但还不够。一个成本不断上涨、缺乏约束的体系，不能让家庭和纳税人无止境地多掏钱。如果费用每年上涨5%、6%或7%，无论提供多少贷款和助学金都赶不上。我们必须让每一笔投入得到更大回报。
Now, some colleges are testing new approaches to shorten the path to a degree, or blending teaching with online learning to help students master material and earn credits in less time. In some states, they’re testing new ways to fund college based not just on how many students enroll, but how many of them graduate, how well did they do. 有些大学正在试验缩短取得学位的时间，或将课堂教学与在线学习结合，帮助学生更快掌握知识、获得学分。有些州正在试行新的大学拨款方式，不只看招生人数，也看毕业人数和学习成效。
So this afternoon, I’ll visit the University of Central Missouri to highlight their efforts to deliver more bang for the buck to their students. And in the coming months, I will lay out an aggressive strategy to shake up the system, tackle rising costs, and improve value for middle-class students and their families. It is critical that we make sure that college is affordable for every single American who’s willing to work for it. 今天下午，我会访问中央密苏里大学，介绍他们如何让学生的钱花得更值。未来几个月，我将提出一项积极的战略，推动制度改革、控制上涨的费用，为中产学生及其家庭创造更高价值。我们必须确保每个愿意为学业努力的美国人都负担得起大学教育。
Now, so you’ve got a good job; you get a good education -- those have always been the key stepping stones into the middle class. But a home of your own has always been the clearest expression of middle-class security. For most families, that’s your biggest asset. For most families, that’s where your life’s work has been invested. And that changed during the crisis, when we saw millions of middle-class families experience their home values plummeting. The good news is over the past four years, we’ve helped more responsible homeowners stay in their homes. 有一份好工作，受过良好教育，这些一直是迈入中产阶级的关键阶梯。但拥有自己的住房，始终是中产阶级生活保障最清晰的体现。对大多数家庭来说，房子是最大的资产，凝聚着毕生劳动所得。金融危机改变了这一切，数百万中产家庭眼看房价暴跌。好消息是，过去四年我们帮助更多负责任的房主保住了家园。
And today, sales are up and prices are up, and fewer Americans see their homes underwater. 如今，房屋销售和价格都在上升，房屋价值低于所欠贷款的美国人也减少了。
But we’re not done yet. The key now is to encourage homeownership that isn’t based on unrealistic bubbles, but instead is based on a solid foundation, where buyers and lenders play by the same set of rules, rules that are clear and transparent and fair. 但工作还没结束。现在的关键是鼓励建立在坚实基础上的住房所有权，而不是靠脱离现实的泡沫支撑；买房者与贷款方都应遵守同一套清晰、透明、公平的规则。
So already, I’ve asked Congress to pass a really good, bipartisan idea -- one that was championed, by the way, by Mitt Romney’s economic advisor -- and this is the idea to give every homeowner the chance to refinance their mortgage while rates are still low so they can save thousands of dollars a year. It will be like a tax cut for families who can refinance. 我已经请国会通过一项很好的跨党派提议。顺便说一句，米特·罗姆尼的经济顾问也支持它：趁利率仍低，让每个房主都有机会为房贷再融资，每年节省数千美元。对能够再融资的家庭而言，这相当于减税。
I’m also acting on my own to cut red tape for responsible families who want to get a mortgage but the bank is saying no. We’ll work with both parties to turn the page on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and build a housing finance system that’s rock-solid for future generations. 我也在独立采取行动，为想申请房贷、却被银行拒绝的负责任家庭减少繁琐手续。我们将与两党合作，翻过房利美和房地美这一页，为后代建立坚实可靠的住房融资体系。
So we’ve got more work to do to strengthen homeownership in this country. But along with homeownership, the fourth cornerstone of what it means to be middle class in this country is a secure retirement. I hear from too many people across the country, face to face or in letters that they send me, that they feel as if retirement is just receding from their grasp. It’s getting farther and farther away. They can't see it. 因此，要巩固美国的住房所有权，我们还有很多事要做。除了住房，中产阶级生活的第四根支柱是安稳的退休。我在全国各地当面听到或从来信中看到太多人说，退休生活仿佛离他们越来越远，远到看不见。
Now, today, a rising stock market has millions of retirement balances going up, and some of the losses that had taken place during the financial crisis have been recovered. But we still live with an upside-down system where those at the top, folks like me, get generous tax incentives to save, while tens of millions of hardworking Americans who are struggling, they get none of those breaks at all. So as we work to reform our tax code, we should find new ways to make it easier for workers to put away money, and free middle-class families from the fear that they won't be able to retire. 如今股市上涨，数百万人的退休账户余额随之增长，金融危机造成的部分损失也得以弥补。但现行制度仍然颠倒了轻重：像我这样处于收入顶层的人，存退休金可享受丰厚税收优惠；数千万苦苦支撑的勤劳美国人却一点优惠都没有。因此，改革税制时，我们应寻找新办法，让劳动者更容易储蓄，让中产家庭不再担忧自己无法退休。
And if Congress is looking for a bipartisan place to get started, I should just say they don’t have to look far. We mentioned immigration reform before. Economists show that immigration reform makes undocumented workers pay their full share of taxes, and that actually shores up the Social Security system for years. So we should get that done. 如果国会想找一件两党可以着手合作的事，根本不用远找。前面提到的移民改革就是一例。经济学家表明，改革能让无证劳动者足额纳税，从而在未来多年支撑社会保障体系。所以我们应该完成它。
Good job; good education for your kids; home of your own; secure retirement. 好工作、给孩子的好教育、自己的住房、安稳的退休生活。
Fifth, I'm going to keep focusing on health care -- because middle-class families and small business owners deserve the security of knowing that neither an accident or an illness is going to threaten the dreams that you’ve worked a lifetime to build. 第五，我会继续关注医疗保障，因为中产家庭和小企业主理应安心：一次意外或疾病不会毁掉他们奋斗一生建立的梦想。
As we speak, we're well on our way to fully implementing the Affordable Care Act. We're going to implement it. Now, if you’re one of the 85 percent of Americans who already have health insurance either through the job or Medicare or Medicaid, you don’t have to do anything, but you do have new benefits and better protections than you did before. You may not know it, but you do. Free checkups, mammograms, discounted medicines if you're on Medicare -- that’s what the Affordable Care Act means. You're already getting a better deal. No lifetime limits. 此刻我们正稳步迈向全面实施《平价医疗法案》，而且一定会实施。如果你属于已经通过工作、老年医保或医疗补助获得保险的85%美国人，你无需采取任何行动，但会得到以前没有的新福利和更好的保障。你可能还不知道，但确实如此。免费体检、乳房检查，以及老年医保参保者购买药物的折扣，都是《平价医疗法案》带来的。你已经享有更好的待遇，保险也不再设终身给付上限。
If you don’t have health insurance, then starting on October 1st, private plans will actually compete for your business, and you'll be able to comparison-shop online. There will be a marketplace online, just like you’d buy a flat-screen TV or plane tickets or anything else you're doing online, and you'll be able to buy an insurance package that fits your budget and is right for you. 如果你尚无医保，从10月1日起，私人保险计划将争取你的选择；你可以在线比较。网上会有一个交易平台，就像上网买平板电视、机票或其他东西一样，让你选购适合预算与自身需要的保险。
And if you're one of the up to half of all Americans who’ve been sick or have a preexisting condition -- if you look at this auditorium, about half of you probably have a preexisting condition that insurance companies could use to not give you insurance if you lost your job or lost your insurance -- well, this law means that beginning January 1st, insurance companies will finally have to cover you and charge you the same rates as everybody else, even if you have a preexisting condition. That’s what the Affordable Care Act does. That’s what it does. 至于那些曾经生病或已有既存病症的人，人数可能达到全体美国人的一半。看看这座礼堂，约有一半人可能有某种既存病症，一旦失去工作或原有保险，保险公司就能以此为由拒保。但根据这部法律，从1月1日起，保险公司终于必须承保你，即便有既存病症，也只能按与其他人相同的费率收费。这就是《平价医疗法案》的作用。
Now, look, I know because I've been living it that there are folks out there who are actively working to make this law fail. And I don’t always understand exactly what their logic is here, why they think giving insurance to folks who don’t have it and making folks with insurance a little more secure, why they think that’s a bad thing. But despite the politically motivated misinformation campaign, the states that have committed themselves to making this law work are finding that competition and choice are actually pushing costs down. 听着，我亲身经历过这些争论，知道有人正积极设法让这部法律失败。我有时实在不理解他们的逻辑：让没有医保的人获得保险，让已有保险的人更有保障，为什么会是坏事？尽管存在出于政治动机的虚假宣传，致力于落实这部法律的州已经发现，竞争和选择确实能压低成本。
So just last week, New York announced that premiums for consumers who buy their insurance in these online marketplaces will be at least 50 percent lower than what they're paying today -- 50 percent lower. So folks' premiums in the individual market will drop by 50 percent. 就在上周，纽约州宣布，通过网上交易平台购买保险的消费者，保费将比目前至少降低50%，整整一半。个人保险市场参保者的保费也会下降一半。
And for them and for the millions of Americans who’ve been able to cover their sick kids for the first time -- like this gentlemen who just said his daughter has got health insurance -- or have been able to cover their employees more cheaply, or are able to have their kids who are younger than -- who are 25 or 26 stay on their parents' plan -- for all those folks, you'll have the security of knowing that everything you’ve worked hard for is no longer one illness away from being wiped out. 这些人，以及数百万首次能为生病的孩子投保的人——就像刚才那位说女儿已获得医保的先生——还有能以更低成本为员工投保的人，以及可以让25岁或26岁的子女继续留在父母保险计划中的人，都将安心地知道：一次疾病不再会抹去他们辛勤工作积累的一切。
Finally, as we work to strengthen these cornerstones of middle-class security -- good job with decent wages and benefits, a good education, home of your own, retirement security, health care security -- I’m going to make the case for why we've got to rebuild ladders of opportunity for all those Americans who haven't quite made it yet -- who are working hard but are still suffering poverty wages, who are struggling to get full-time work. 最后，我们努力巩固中产阶级生活保障的这些支柱——有体面工资和福利的好工作、良好教育、自己的住房、退休保障和医疗保障——同时，我还要说明，为什么必须为那些尚未成功跻身中产阶级的美国人重建机会阶梯。他们努力工作，却仍领取贫困水平的工资，苦于找不到全职工作。
There are a lot of folks who are still struggling out here, too many people in poverty. Here in America, we’ve never guaranteed success -- that's not what we do. More than some other countries, we expect people to be self-reliant. Nobody is going to do something for you. We've tolerated a little more inequality for the sake of a more dynamic, more adaptable economy. That's all for the good. 还有许多人在苦苦挣扎，太多人生活贫困。在美国，我们从未保证人人成功，这并非我们的做法。相比一些国家，我们更强调自立，不能指望别人替你做事。为了经济更有活力、更能适应变化，我们也容忍一定程度的不平等。这些都有其道理。
But that idea has always been combined with a commitment to equality of opportunity to upward mobility -- the idea that no matter how poor you started, if you're willing to work hard and discipline yourself and defer gratification, you can make it, too. That's the American idea. 但这一理念始终伴随着另一项承诺：机会平等、能够向上流动。不论出身多贫困，只要愿意努力、自律并为了未来暂缓享乐，也能取得成功。这就是美国理念。
Unfortunately, opportunities for upward mobility in America have gotten harder to find over the past 30 years. And that’s a betrayal of the American idea. And that’s why we have to do a lot more to give every American the chance to work their way into the middle class. 遗憾的是，过去三十年，美国人越来越难找到向上流动的机会。这背离了美国理念。因此，我们必须做得更多，让每个美国人都有机会靠努力进入中产阶级。
The best defense against all of these forces -- global competition, economic polarization -- is the strength of the community. So we need a new push to rebuild rundown neighborhoods. We need new partnerships with some of the hardest-hit towns in America to get them back on their feet. And because no one who works full-time in America should have to live in poverty, I am going to keep making the case that we need to raise the minimum wage -- because it's lower right now than it was when Ronald Reagan took office. It's time for the minimum wage to go up. 面对全球竞争、经济两极分化等力量，最好的防线是强大的社区。我们需要再次努力重建破败的社区，与美国一些受冲击最严重的城镇建立新的伙伴关系，帮助它们重新站起来。在美国，全职工作的人不应仍然生活贫困。因此，我会继续主张提高最低工资。目前它的实际水平甚至低于罗纳德·里根就任时。是时候涨工资了。
We're not a people who allow chance of birth to decide life’s biggest winners or losers. And after years in which we’ve seen how easy it can be for any of us to fall on hard times -- folks in Galesburg, folks in the Quad Cities, you know there are good people who work hard and sometimes they get a bad break. A plant leaves. Somebody gets sick. Somebody loses a home. We've seen it in our family, in our friends and our neighbors. We've seen it happen. And that means we cannot turn our backs when bad breaks hit any of our fellow citizens. 我们不能让出身的偶然性决定谁会成为人生的赢家或输家。多年来，我们亲眼看到任何人都可能轻易陷入困境。盖尔斯堡和“四城”地区的人都知道，善良勤劳的人有时就是会遭遇不幸：工厂搬走了，有人生病了，有人失去住房。我们的亲人、朋友和邻居都经历过。这意味着，同胞遭逢厄运时，我们不能转身不顾。
So good jobs; a better bargain for the middle class and the folks who are working to get into the middle class; an economy that grows from the middle out, not the top down -- that's where I will focus my energies. That's where I will focus my energies not just for the next few months, but for the remainder of my presidency. 优质工作、让中产阶级及努力跻身中产的人得到更公平的待遇、从中间向外而不是自上而下增长的经济，这些将是我投入精力的重点。不只是未来几个月，在我剩余的整个任期都是如此。
These are the plans that I'll lay out across this country. But I won’t be able to do it alone, so I'm going to be calling on all of us to take up this cause. We’ll need our businesses, who are some of the best in the world, to pressure Congress to invest in our future. And I’ll be asking our businesses to set an example by providing decent wages and salaries to their own employees. And I’m going to highlight the ones that do just that. 我会在全国各地阐述这些计划。但我一个人办不到，所以我要号召大家共同担当。我们需要世界一流的美国企业敦促国会投资未来。我也会请企业以身作则，为员工提供体面的工资和薪酬，并表彰做到这一点的企业。
There are companies like Costco, which pays good wages and offers good benefits. Companies like -- there are companies like the Container Store, that prides itself on training its employees and on employee satisfaction -- because these companies prove that it’s not just good for the employees, it’s good for their businesses to treat workers well. It’s good for America. 例如好市多提供优厚工资和福利；集装箱商店公司以培训员工和重视员工满意度为荣。这些企业证明，善待劳动者既有利于员工，也有利于企业，更有利于美国。
So I’m going to be calling on the private sector to step up. I will be saying to Democrats we’ve got to question some of our old assumptions. We’ve got to be willing to redesign or get rid of programs that don't work as well as they should. We’ve got to be willing to -- we’ve got to embrace changes to cherished priorities so that they work better in this new age. We can't just -- Democrats can't just stand pat and just defend whatever government is doing. 因此，我会号召私营部门承担责任。我也要告诉民主党人，我们必须检视过去的一些假设。效果不佳的项目，要愿意重新设计或取消；珍视的优先事项，也要愿意调整，让它们更适合新时代。民主党不能只守着现状，凡是政府在做的事都一味维护。
If we believe that government can give the middle class a fair shot in this new century -- and I believe that -- we’ve an obligation to prove it. And that means that we’ve got to be open to new ways of doing things. 如果我们相信政府能在新世纪给中产阶级公平机会，而我确实相信，我们就有义务证明这一点。这意味着必须接受新的做事方式。
And we’ll need Republicans in Congress to set aside short-term politics and work with me to find common ground. 我们也需要国会共和党人放下短期政治算计，与我寻求共识。
It’s interesting, in the run-up to this speech, a lot of reporters say that, well, Mr. President, these are all good ideas, but some of you’ve said before; some of them sound great, but you can't get those through Congress. Republicans won’t agree with you. And I say, look, the fact is there are Republicans in Congress right now who privately agree with me on a lot of the ideas I’ll be proposing. I know because they’ve said so. But they worry they’ll face swift political retaliation for cooperating with me. 有意思的是，在这次演讲前，许多记者对我说：“总统先生，这些想法很好，可有些您说过了；有些听着不错，但国会不会通过，共和党人不会同意。”我想说，事实上，国会里有些共和党人私下赞同我即将提出的许多主张。我知道，因为他们亲口说过。但他们担心，一旦与我合作，就会立刻遭受政治报复。
Now, there are others who will dismiss every idea I put forward either because they’re playing to their most strident supporters, or in some cases because, sincerely, they have a fundamentally different vision for America -- one that says inequality is both inevitable and just; one that says an unfettered free market without any restraints inevitably produces the best outcomes, regardless of the pain and uncertainty imposed on ordinary families; and government is the problem and we should just shrink it as small as we can. 另一些人会否定我提出的每一项主张：有的是为了迎合态度最激烈的支持者；有的则确实对美国抱持根本不同的愿景。他们认为不平等既不可避免又是公正的；认为没有任何约束的自由市场必然带来最好的结果，哪怕普通家庭因此承受痛苦和不安；还认为政府就是问题，应尽可能缩小它。
In either case, I say to these members of Congress: I’m laying out my ideas to give the middle class a better shot. So now it’s time for you to lay out your ideas. You can't just be against something. You got to be for something. 无论是哪一种情况，我都要对这些国会议员说：我正提出自己的主张，让中产阶级有更好的机会。现在轮到你们提出主张了。你们不能只会反对，还得明确支持些什么。
Even if you think I’ve done everything wrong, the trends I just talked about were happening well before I took office. So it’s not enough for you just to oppose me. You got to be for something. What are your ideas? If you’re willing to work with me to strengthen American manufacturing and rebuild this country’s infrastructure, let’s go. If you’ve got better ideas to bring down the cost of college for working families, let’s hear them. 即使你认为我所做的一切都错了，我刚谈到的趋势也远在我上任之前就已存在。所以，光反对我不够。你们得拿出自己的主张。你们有什么办法？如果愿意和我一起壮大美国制造业、重建国家基础设施，我们就开始行动。如果你们有更好的办法降低工薪家庭的大学费用，请说出来。
If you think you have a better plan for making sure that every American has the security of quality, affordable health care, then stop taking meaningless repeal votes, and share your concrete ideas with the country. 如果你认为自己有更好的方案，让每个美国人都能获得优质、负担得起的医疗保障，那就别再举行毫无意义的废除法案投票，把具体办法告诉全国人民。
Repealing Obamacare and cutting spending is not an economic plan. It’s not. 废除“奥巴马医改”、削减开支，并不是经济计划。
If you’re serious about a balanced, long-term fiscal plan that replaces the mindless cuts currently in place, or if you’re interested in tax reform that closes corporate loopholes and gives working families a better deal, I’m ready to work. But you should know that I will not accept deals that don’t meet the basic test of strengthening the prospects of hardworking families. This is the agenda we have to be working on. 如果你认真想制定一项平衡而长期的财政方案，取代当前盲目的削减；或者有兴趣通过税改堵住企业漏洞，让工薪家庭得到更公平的待遇，我随时愿意合作。但你们要知道，凡是不能通过“改善勤劳家庭前景”这一基本检验的协议，我都不会接受。这才是我们必须推进的议程。
We’ve come a long way since I first took office. As a country, we’re older and wiser. I don’t know if I’m wiser, but I’m certainly older. And as long as Congress doesn’t manufacture another crisis -- as long as we don’t shut down the government just because I’m for keeping it open -- as long as we don’t risk a U.S. default over paying bills that we’ve already racked up, something that we’ve never done -- we can probably muddle along without taking bold action. If we stand pat and we don’t do any of the things I talked about, our economy will grow, although slower than it should. 自我首次就任以来，我们已走了很长的路。这个国家更成熟、更明智了。我不知道自己是否更明智，但肯定更老了。只要国会不再制造新的危机，只要我们不因我主张政府继续运作就让它关门，只要我们不因偿付已经欠下的账单而让美国冒史无前例的违约风险，那么即使没有大胆行动，我们大概也能勉强前进。即使按兵不动，不做我谈到的那些事，经济也会增长，只是增速低于应有水平。
New businesses will form. The unemployment rate will probably tick down a little bit. Just by virtue of our size and our natural resources and, most of all, because of the talent of our people, America will remain a world power, and the majority of us will figure out how to get by. 新企业会成立，失业率也许略有下降。凭借国土规模、自然资源，尤其是人民的才华，美国仍会是世界强国，我们大多数人也总能想办法过下去。
But you know what, that’s our choice. If we just stand by and do nothing in the face of immense change, understand that part of our character will be lost. Our founding precepts about wide-open opportunity, each generation doing better than the last -- that will be a myth, not reality. The position of the middle class will erode further. Inequality will continue to increase. Money’s power will distort our politics even more. 但要知道，那是我们自己的选择。如果面对巨大的变化却袖手旁观，我们民族性格的一部分就会流失。开国以来的信念——机会向所有人开放、一代比一代过得好——将沦为神话，而非现实。中产阶级的地位会进一步衰退，不平等将继续扩大。金钱的力量会更严重地扭曲政治。
Social tensions will rise, as various groups fight to hold on to what they have, or start blaming somebody else for why their position isn’t improving. And the fundamental optimism that’s always propelled us forward will give way to cynicism or nostalgia. 社会紧张加剧，各群体争着守住既有利益，或因自身处境未改善而责怪别人。一直推动我们前进的根本乐观精神，将让位于愤世嫉俗或对往昔的怀念。
And that’s not the vision I have for this country. It’s not the vision you have for this country. That’s not the America we know. That’s not the vision we should be settling for. That’s not a vision we should be passing on to our children. 这不是我对国家的愿景，也不是你们的愿景，不是我们熟悉的美国，更不是我们该甘心接受的未来。这不是我们应该留给孩子的未来。
I have now run my last campaign. I do not intend to wait until the next campaign or the next President before tackling the issues that matter. I care about one thing and one thing only, and that’s how to use every minute -- the only thing I care about is how to use every minute of the remaining 1,276 days of my term -- to make this country work for working Americans again. That’s all I care about. I don’t have another election. 我已经参加了最后一次选举，无意等下一场选举或下一任总统才处理重要问题。我只关心一件事：怎样用好任期剩余的1276天里的每一分钟，让这个国家重新为劳动的美国人服务。我只在乎这个，因为我不会再竞选了。
Because I’ll tell you, Galesburg, that’s where I believe America needs to go. I believe that’s where the American people want to go. And it may seem hard today, but if we’re willing to take a few bold steps -- if Washington will just shake off its complacency and set aside the kind of slash-and-burn partisanship that we’ve just seen for way too long -- if we just make some common-sense decisions, our economy will be stronger a year from now. It will be stronger five years from now. It will be stronger 10 years from now. 盖尔斯堡的朋友们，我相信美国需要朝这个方向走，美国人民也希望如此。今天看起来也许困难，但如果我们愿意大胆迈出几步；如果华盛顿摆脱自满，放下持续太久、你死我活的党派争斗；如果我们作出一些合乎常识的决定，那么一年后、五年后、十年后，我们的经济都会更强大。
If we focus on what matters, then more Americans will know the pride of that first paycheck. More Americans will have the satisfaction of flipping the sign to “Open” on their own business. More Americans will have the joy of scratching the height of their kid on that door of their brand-new home. 只要关注真正重要的事，就会有更多美国人体验领到第一份工资时的自豪，更多人享受把自家店门牌翻到“营业中”的满足，也会有更多人高兴地在新家门框上刻下孩子的身高。
And in the end, isn't that what makes us special? It's not the ability to generate incredible wealth for the few; it's our ability to give everybody a chance to pursue their own true measure of happiness. We haven’t just wanted success for ourselves -- we want it for our neighbors, too. 说到底，这不正是我们的特别之处吗？特别的不是让少数人积聚惊人财富的能力，而是让每个人都有机会追求属于自己的幸福。我们不只希望自己成功，也希望邻居成功。
When we think about our own communities -- we're not a mean people; we're not a selfish people; we're not a people that just looks out for “number one.” Why should our politics reflect those kinds of values? That’s why we don’t call it John’s dream or Susie’s dream or Barack’s dream or Pat's dream -- we call it the American Dream. And that’s what makes this country special -- the idea that no matter who you are or what you look like or where you come from or who you love, you can make it if you try. That’s what we're fighting for. 想想我们的社区：我们不是刻薄的人民，不是自私的人民，也不是只顾自己的人。为什么政治要体现那些价值观？所以，我们称之为“美国梦”，而不是约翰的梦、苏茜的梦、巴拉克的梦或帕特的梦。这个国家的特别之处就在于，不论你是谁、长什么样、来自哪里、爱着谁，只要努力就有机会成功。我们争取的正是这一点。
So, yes, Congress is tough right now, but that’s not going to stop me. We're going to do everything we can, wherever we can, with or without Congress, to make things happen. We're going to go on the road and talk to you, and you'll have ideas, and we want to see which ones we can implement. But we're going to focus on this thing that matters. 是的，眼下国会难以合作，但这阻止不了我。无论国会是否配合，我们都会在一切可能的地方尽全力促成改变。我们会走遍各地与你们交谈，听取你们的主意，看看哪些可以落实；我们会专注于真正重要的事。
One of America’s greatest writers, Carl Sandburg, born right here in Galesburg over a century ago -- he saw the railroads bring the world to the prairie, and then the prairie sent out its bounty to the world. 一个多世纪前出生在盖尔斯堡的美国伟大作家卡尔·桑德堡，曾看见铁路把世界带到大草原，又看见大草原把丰饶物产送往世界。
And he saw the advent of new industries, new technologies, and he watched populations shift. He saw fortunes made and lost. And he saw how change could be painful -- how a new age could unsettle long-held customs and ways of life. But he had that frontier optimism, and so he saw something more on the horizon. And he wrote, “I speak of new cities and new people. The past is a bucket of ashes. Yesterday is a wind gone down, a sun dropped in the west. There is only an ocean of tomorrows, a sky of tomorrows.” 他见证新产业、新技术兴起和人口迁移，目睹财富得而复失。他也看到变化可能带来的痛苦，新时代怎样动摇人们长久以来的习俗和生活方式。但他拥有边疆开拓者的乐观精神，因此看到了地平线外更多的可能。他写道：“我谈论新的城市和新的人们。过去是一桶灰烬。昨天是平息的风，是沉入西方的太阳。唯有明天的海洋，明天的天空。”
Well, America, we’ve made it through the worst of yesterday’s winds. We just have to have the courage to keep moving forward. We've got to set our eyes on the horizon. We will find an ocean of tomorrows. We will find a sky of tomorrows for the American people and for this great country that we love. 美国的朋友们，我们已挺过昨日最猛烈的风暴。我们只需鼓起勇气继续前行，把目光投向地平线。我们会为美国人民、为我们深爱的伟大国家，找到明天的海洋、明天的天空。
So thank you. God bless you. And God bless the United States of America. 谢谢大家。愿上帝保佑你们，愿上帝保佑美利坚合众国。