The choice of words to describe America’s fiscal situation matters, given the hysteria that has been whipped up in recent months, primarily by people who want to make big cuts in the country’s two main entitlement programs, Social Security and Medicare. Their logic is that if we are about to rush off a cliff, we need to take extreme measures.
用什么词来形容美国的财政状况是很重要的，因为近几个月来，人们几乎已经变得歇斯底里，因为有人想对美国的两大福利计划——社会保险和医疗保险实施大幅削减。他们的逻辑是，快要跌落悬崖的当口需要非常措施。削减养老金和老年人医保显然属于“非常”范畴——当然也完全是不合适、不必要的。