It’s great to be at Kettering—a university that is teaching the next generation of leaders and training workers to have the skills they need to advance their own careers and communities. 　　很高兴来到凯特林大学—这里培养的是下一代领导人以及拥有成就事业和造福社会技能的劳动者。 　　For months, the state of our economy has dominated the headlines—and the news hasn’t been good. The subprime lending debacle has sent the housing market into a tailspin and caused a broader contraction in the credit markets. Over 360,000 jobs have been lost this year, with the unemployment rate registering the biggest one-month jump since February 1986. Incomes have failed to keep pace with the rising costs of health insurance and college, and record oil and food prices have left families struggling just to keep up. 　　数月以来，美国的经济状况一直是头条新闻，而且情况不容乐观。次贷危机使得房地产市场一路下滑并导致更大范围的信贷市场收缩。我们今年失去的工作岗位高达36万之多，失业率也创下了自1986年2月以来单月最大增幅。收入跟不上飞涨的医疗保险费和大学学费，油价和食品价格的最高纪录使众多家庭举步维艰。 　　Of course, grim economic news is nothing new to Flint. Manufacturing jobs have been leaving here for decades now. The jobs that have replaced them pay less and offer fewer, if any, benefits. Hardworking Americans who could once count on a single paycheck to support their families have not only lost jobs, but their health care and their pensions as well. Worst of all, many have lost confidence in that fundamental American promise that our children will have a better life than we do. 　　当然，严峻的经济形势对弗林特市来说并不陌生。这里的制造业就业机会早在几十年前就已不复存在了，取而代之的就业岗位的薪酬更低，所提供的福利更是微乎其微。一度靠单一收入养家糊口的勤劳的美国人不仅丢了工作，就连医疗保险金和养老金也一并失去了。最糟糕的是，许多人对美国“孩子要比父辈更幸福”的基本承诺已丧失了信心。 　　So these are challenging times. That’s why I spent last week talking about immediate steps we need to take to provide working Americans with relief. A broad-based, middleclass tax cut, to help offset the rising cost of gas and food. A foreclosure prevention fund, to help stabilize the housing market. A health care plan that lowers costs and gives those without health insurance the same kind of coverage members of Congress have. A commitment to retirement security that stabilizes Social Security and provides workers a means to increase savings. And a plan to crack down on unfair and sometimes deceptive lending in the credit card and housing markets, to help families climb out of crippling debt and stay out of debt in the first place .

　　因此，我们所面临的是一个具有挑战性的时代。这就是为什么上个星期我一直谈论要立即采取措施救助美国劳动人民的原因。对广大中产阶层减税有助于抵消汽油和食物价格上涨；设立防止止赎基金（Foreclosure Prevention Fund）有助于稳定房地产市场；实行降低成本的医疗保健计划，保障没有医疗保险的人士享受与国会议员同等的医疗保险待遇；对退休保障做出承诺，稳定社会保障，并为劳动者提供增加储蓄的手段；制订计划，打击信用卡和房地产市场中不公平、有时带有欺骗性的借贷，帮助众多家庭摆脱沉重的债务负担并避免再次负债。