From VOA Learning English, this is the Economics Report in Special English.
这里是美国之音慢速英语经济报道。

On January first, both houses of the United States Congress approved a plan that will increase taxes for most Americans. But the agreement avoided much larger tax increases that were set to take effect this year.
1月1日，美国国会两院通过一项向大部分美国人增税的计划。但该协议也避免了原定于今年实行的更大幅度的增税。

President Obama signed the bill into law late Wednesday. In a statement, he noted the importance of a balanced approach to the country's fiscal problems.
周三晚些时候，奥巴马总统将该法案签署成为法律。他在声明中特别指出了平衡措施对美国财政问题的重要性。

"Today's agreement enshrines, I think, a principle into law that will remain in place as long as I am president: The deficit needs to be reduced in a way that's balanced. Everyone pays their fair share. Everyone does their part. That's how our economy works best. That's how we grow."
“今天的协议将一项原则变为法律，这一原则在我任职期间将一直有效。那就是，赤字削减需要保持平衡。人人担其责，尽其职，这是我们的经济运行良好的原因，也是我们发展壮大的原因。”

The combination of higher taxes and automatic budget cuts has been called the "fiscal cliff." That cliff has been avoided. But much remains to be done. Congress has given itself another two months to decide on how to cut the federal budget. More tax money and budget reductions are needed to cut the federal deficit. That deficit was over $1 trillion last year.
增税和自动削减预算相结合被称为“财政悬崖”。目前财政悬崖已经避免，但还有许多工作要做。美国国会又给了自己两个月时间来决定如何削减联邦预算。减少联邦赤字需要征收更多税款和削减预算。去年联邦赤字超过了1万亿美元。

The new law increases the tax rate on individuals with earnings of over $400,000 and on couples with earnings of over $450,000. All working Americans will have some kind of tax increase. This is because the share of Social Security taxes paid by employees will return to 2010 levels, an increase from last year of two percent.
这项新法律提高了收入超过40万美元的个人和收入超过45万美元的夫妻的税率。美国所有在职人员都将面临某种形式的增税，这是因为由雇员支付的社会保障税份额将回到2010年的水平，比去年增加了2%。

But the largest part of the tax increase will affect those with a lot of investment income and those with very high wages. Taxes on investment gains and dividends, payments from some kinds of securities, will increase. Also, the top income tax rate will go to 39.5 percent from 35 percent. Overall, the effect of the law is simple. It will be the first major tax increase in 20 years.
但受增税影响最大的将是那些有很多投资收益的人和高工资人群。对投资收益和红利，以及某些证券收入的税收将提高。此外，收入税最高税率从35%提高到39.5。总体而言，该法律的影响很简单，它将是20年来首次大规模增税。

But the new law means only half of the deficit question has been answered. Taxes provide revenue to finance government operations. But budget cuts reduce costs. And lawmakers will have little time to debate. The federal government has reached its legal debt limit. That is the borrowing limit, set by Congress, for the government. Congress will have to raise the debt ceiling by late February. That will be the job of the 113th Congress, which was seated on Thursday.
但是这项新法只是意味着赤字问题的一半被解决了。税收为政府运作提供财源。但削减预算能够降低成本。留给国会议员们辩论的时间不多了。联邦政府已经达到其法定债务上限，也就是国会为政府设定的借债限额。国会必须在2月底之前提高债务上限。这将是周四就职的第113届国会需要解决的问题。

In addition, lawmakers will have to make difficult budget decisions by March first. On that date, big, automatic budget cuts, or sequestration is set to take place across the federal government.
此外，议员们将必须在3月1日前做出艰难的预算决策。整个联邦政府在这天将自动实行大规模的预算削减。