款 ], government apartments and construction jobs for workers down on their luck [ 穷困潦倒 ].
1934年和1937年，罗斯福签署了住房立法，提供抵押贷款、政府公寓，并为那些穷困潦倒的工人提供建筑工作。
In 1949, Congress .set an official goal of \decent home and a suitable living environment for every American family,\
1949年，国会树立了官方目标——“让每一个美国家庭都能拥有一个体面的家和宜居环境，” and in 1974, President Richard M. Nixon began offering subsidized [ v. 给与补助] rent
vouchers [ n. 代金券，凭证] to millions of low-income tenants in private housing.
而到了1974年，尼克松总统开始对数以百万计的低收入租户在私有住房方面提供租金补贴凭单。 For half a century, most housing debates in Washington revolved around [ 以…为主题，
围绕 ] how much to expand federal assistance.
半个世纪以来，在华盛顿发生的大多数住房方面的辩论都围绕着一个主题：即应该在多大程度上扩大联邦政府的资助。
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But for the past two decades, the only new federal housing initiative [ n. 计划措施] has been HOPE VI,
但在过去20年中，唯一的联邦住房新提案就是HOPE VI
a Clinton administration program that has demolished [ v. 摧毁，拆掉] 80,000 units of the worst public housing and built mixed-income developments [ n. 新建住宅区] in their place.
也就是克林顿政府拆毁80,000单位的最差公共住房，重建混合收入寓所来取而代之。
The program has eliminated [ v. 消除，根除] most of the high-rise hellholes [ n. 环境恶劣的地
方] that gave public housing a bad name and has revived some urban neighborhoods.
该计划已经拆除了大部分高度危险的房子，它们曾使公共住房声名狼藉，并已重建了一些城市的社区。 But it has razed [ v. 把…夷为平地 ] more subsidized apartments than it has replaced. 但是它更多的是把享有补贴的公寓房夷为平地而不是取而代之。
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Overall, the number of households receiving federal aid has flatlined[ v. 降到很低的水平 ] since the early 1990s,
总的来说，自90年代初以来，接受联邦援助的家庭数已经降到最低 despite an expanding population and a ballooning budget. 尽管人口不断增加、预算不断膨胀。
Congress has rejected most of President Bush's proposed cuts, 美国国会已经拒绝了美国总统布什提出的大部分的削减计划
but there has been virtually [ adv. 实际上，事实上] no discussion of increases; 但几乎没有讨论过增加计划；
affordable-housing advocates spend most of their time fighting to preserve the status
quo [ n. 现状].
廉价房的倡导者花费的大部分时间都被用于努力争取保持现状。
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And it's a tough status quo. 而现状真是很艰难。
Today, for every one of the 4.5 million low-income families that receive federal housing assistance,
今天，有450万低收入家庭享受联邦住房救助
there are three eligible [ adj. 合格的，有资格的] families without it. 还有3倍于此的家庭符合被救助资格，却拿不到救助。
Fairfax County has 12,000 families on a waiting list for 4,000 assisted apartments. 费尔法克斯县有12,000户家庭在排队轮候4,000套救助公寓。
\golden when you get one—nobody wants to give it up,\says Conrad Egan, chairman of the Fairfax housing authority.
“这太宝贵了，一旦拥有，没有人愿意放弃。”费尔法克斯住房委员会主席康拉德·艾根这样说。 It sounds odd, but the victims of today's housing crisis are not people living in \projects\
这听起来奇怪，但如今住房危机的受害者不是那些已经享受“救助计划”的人，而是那些没那么幸运去享受这个计划的人。
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Some liberals dream of extending subsidies to all eligible low-income families, 一些自由派人士梦想着对所有合格的低收入家庭都给予补贴
but that $100 billion-a-year solution was unrealistic even before the budget deficit ballooned again.
但是这个每年要斥资上千亿美元的解决办法很不现实，即便是在预算赤字再度膨胀之前也不现实。 So even some housing advocates now support time limits on most federal rent aid. 因此，即使一些曾经主张住房政策的人，现在也支持对大多数联邦租房救济金实行时间限制。 The time limits included in welfare reform 10 years ago were controversial, 人们对10年前福利改革中所涉及的时限问题有争议
but studies suggest they've helped motivate recipients to get off the dole [ n. 救济金]. 但研究表明，这些时限有助于激励受助人摆脱对福利的依赖。 And unlike welfare, housing aid is not a federal entitlement, 和福利不同的是，住房救济金不是联邦所赋予的权利
so taking it away from one family after a few years would provide a break for an equally
deserving family.
因此几年后对一个家庭停止供给意味着给另一个同样需要救济的家庭一个喘息的机会。
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\ “这是显而易见的事，”大卫·史密斯——波士顿的一位廉价房的倡导者说 \“你不能让内在矛盾无限地延续。”
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The root of the problem is the striking mismatch [ n. 不匹配，不协调] between the demand for and the supply of affordable housing 问题的根源是廉价房的供需
—or, more accurately, affordable housing near jobs. 者更准确地说，工作地点附近的廉价房的供需之间极不协调。
Fifteen million families now spend at least half their income on housing, according to Harvard's Joint Center for Housing Studies；
哈佛大学住宅联合研究中心提供的数据，现在有1,500万个家庭至少把他们一半的收入用于支付住房费用；
many skimp [ v. 舍不得花，克扣 ] on health care, child care and food to do so. 许多人为了住房甚至在医疗保健、照顾儿童和食品等方面节省开支。
Others reduce their rents by overcrowding, which studies link to higher crime rates, poorer academic performance and poorer health;
其他人为了减少租金，居住条件极为拥挤，研究表明，拥挤的居住条件与高犯罪率、学习成绩差、以及健康状况不佳紧密相关；
Los Angeles alone has 620.000 homes with more than one person per room.
仅洛杉矶就有62万户家庭多人共居一室
Other workers are enduring increasingly long commutes from less expensive communities, a phenomenon knownas \
其他工作者居住在较为便宜的社区，忍受着越来越长距离的交通往返，这种现象被称为“驾驶以保生活质量”。
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This creates all kinds of lousy [ adj. 糟糕的] outcomes—children who don't get to see their parents,
这造成各种不良结果——孩子们看不到父母
workers who can't make ends meet [ 收支平衡 ] when gas prices soar, exurban sprawl, roads clogged[ v. 堵塞 ] with long-distance commuters emitting greenhouse gases. 当汽油价格飙升、城市向外扩张、道路上堵满了长途通勤的打工者、他们的汽车排放着温室气体，劳动者根本就入不敷出。
\hours a day,\says Cathy Hudgins, chairwoman of the housing committee for the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors.
费尔法克斯县监督委员会的会长凯西·哈金斯说：“我认为如果我们迫使人们平均每天四个小时呆在汽车里，我们就无法建立强大的社区。”
Affordable housing also helps make communities competitive; 廉价房也可以使社区具有竞争力
it's not clear how Fairfax can keep creating jobs if workers can't afford to live there. 如果打工者没钱住在那里，我们还真不知道费尔法克斯县怎能一直创造就业机会。
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The best thing local officials can do to promote affordable housing is to get out of the