Many foreign observers look at the US budget shenanigans with confusion and dismay, wondering how a country that seems to have it all can manage its fiscal affairs so chaotically. The root problem is not just a hugely elevated level of public debt, or a patently unsustainable trajectory for old age entitlements. It is an electorate deeply divided over the direction of government, with differences compounded by changing demographics and sustained sluggish growth. It is hard to escape the notion that today’s budget battles are but a skirmish in a much longer-term war that won’t be settled soon.
许多外国观察人士带着困惑而失望的眼神关注着美国的预算闹剧，他们不明白一个似乎拥有一切资源的国家怎么会将财政事务管理得如此混乱。根本的问题不仅仅在于公共债务水平过高，也不仅仅在于显然不可持续的老年人福利项目，还在于选民对政府政策方向产生了严重分歧，而人口变化和manbetx20客户端下载 增长持续疲弱又加剧了这种分歧。人们不可避免地认为，今天的预算纷争只是一场长期战争中的一个小规模冲突，这场战争不会很快尘埃落定。