With last week’s release of the president’s budget, Washington has once again descended into partisan squabbling. In the US today, there is pervasive concern about the basic functioning of democracy. Congress is viewed less favourably than ever before in the history of opinion polling. There is widespread revulsion at political figures seemingly unable to reach agreement on measures to reduce future budget deficits. Pundits and politicians alike condemn “gridlock”. Angry movements, such as Occupy Wall Street and the Tea Party, are present and still active on the extremes of both sides of the political spectrum.
上週公佈了總統預算方案後，華盛頓再次陷入黨派爭端。在今天的美國，人們對民主政體的基本運轉普遍感到擔憂。在民調歷史中，國會在美國人眼裏的形象空前糟糕。人們普遍反感的是，政治人物似乎無法商定降低未來預算赤字所需採取的措施。評論人士和政界人士都在譴責「僵局」。諸如「佔領華爾街」(Occupy Wall Street)和「茶黨」(Tea Party)等憤怒的運動仍然存在，並活躍於政壇的兩個極端。