Elkhart, Indiana was the first town I visited as President. I'd been on the job for three weeks, and we were just a few months into the worst economic crisis of our lifetimes. Elkhart was hit harder than most. Unemployment there peaked at nearly twenty percent shortly after my visit. Nearly one in five people there were out of work.
印第安纳州的艾尔哈特是我就任总统后访问的第一个城市。那时我已经上任三周，我们陷入一生中最严峻的经济危机刚刚几个月。艾尔哈特的情况比大多数地方都严重。我访问后不久，那里的失业率就达到了近百分之二十的顶峰。几乎每五个人中就有一个没有工作。
This week, I returned to Elkhart. Unemployment there has now fallen to around four percent. More families are back on sturdy ground; more are covered by health insurance; more of their kids are graduating from high school. And it's no accident - it's because people there worked hard, and sacrificed, and looked out for each other.
本周，我重返故地。那里的失业率已经降至大约百分之四。更多的家庭恢复了元气；更多的人们得到了医保覆盖；更多的孩子们高中毕业。忙什么大惊小怪的，这是因为那里的人们辛勤工作、甘愿奉献和互信关心。
But it's also because we made a series of smart decisions early in my presidency. To rescue the auto industry. To help families refinance their homes. To invest in things like high-tech manufacturing, clean energy, and the infrastructure that creates good new jobs - not to mention the job training that helps folks earn new skills to fill those jobs.
但是这也因为在我就任初期，我们采取了一系列明智的决策。挽救汽车工业。帮助各家庭重新支付房贷。投资于高技术制造业、清洁能源和创造新就业机会的基础设施等行业-更不要说帮助人们获得这些新岗位所需的技能的职业培训了。
The results are clear. America's businesses have created 14.5 million new jobs over 75 straight months. We've seen the first sustained manufacturing growth since the nineties. We've cut unemployment by more than half. Another 20 million Americans have health insurance. And we've cut our deficits by nearly 75 percent.
结果很明确。美国的企业已经连续75个月创造了1千4百50万就业岗位。我们自上世纪九十年代以来首次见证了稳定的制造业增长。我们已经把失业人数降低了一半。另有2千万人获得了医保。我们已经把赤字削减了近百分之75。
We haven't fixed everything. Wages, while growing again, need to grow faster. The gap between the rich and everyone else is still way too wide. Republicans in Congress have repeatedly blocked investments and initiatives that would have created jobs faster. But the middle class isn't getting squeezed because of minorities, or immigrants, or moochers, or anyone else we're told to blame for our problems. If we're going to fix what needs fixing, we can't divide ourselves. We've got to come together, around our common economic goals. We've got to push back against policies that protect powerful special interests, and push for a better deal for all working Americans.
我们并没有解 决所有问题。尽管工作又增长了，但是还应该增长得快一点。富人与其他人的差距仍然太大。国会的共和党议员们一直在反复阻挠本来可以更快地创造就业机会的投 资和动议。但是中产阶级，并没有受到少数族裔、移民、乞丐或其他有人指责为我们的问题之源的人的挤压。如果我们打算解决需要解决的问题，我们就不能分裂自 己。我们必须团结在我们共同的经济目标周围。我们必须废除保护少数强势特殊利益群体的政策，推进更好地为所有工薪阶层服务的协议。
That's the choice you'll get to make this year. Between policies that raise wages, and policies that won't. Between strengthening Social Security and making it more generous, or making it harder to help people save and retire. Between strengthening the rules we put on Wall Street to prevent another crisis, or dismantling them. Between a tax code that's fair for working families, or wasteful tax cuts for a fortunate few at the very top.
这就是你们今 年要做出的抉择。在提高工资与不提高工资的政策之间抉择。在加强社保、使之惠及更多与使之更加难以帮助人们积攒和退休之间抉择。在加强我们监管华尔街的规 则、防止再次发生危机与废止这些规则之间抉择。在对工薪阶层公平的税法与给最富裕的少数走运阶层多余的税收减免之间抉择。
Over the past seven years, we've proven that progress is possible. But it's not inevitable. It depends on us. It depends on the choices we make. And if we come together, around our common values, and our belief in opportunity for everyone who puts in the effort - then we'll deliver on a brighter future for all of us. Thanks, and have a great weekend.
在过去的七年里，我们已经证明了可以取得进步。但是这不是当然的。这取决于我们自己。这取决于我们做出的抉择。如果我们围绕我们的价值观、以及我们对任何人努力就有机会的信仰，团结一致-那么我们将给我们所有人一个更加光明的未来。谢谢，周末快乐。
