Fiscal policy, which splurged in past years, must now be tightened to preserve a legal limit on government debt.

过去几年放任的财政政策现在为了守住法律规定的债务上限而必须收紧。

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This standoff risks delaying an essential increase in the legal limit on Treasury debt, calling into question America's ability to honour its obligations.

而这一僵局将加大耽搁法律上允许的国债本必要增长的风险，而这就使人们对美国履行其义务的能力提出质疑。

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Fiscal policy, which splurged in past years, must now be tightened to preserve a legal limit on government debt.

ECONOMIST: Polish politics

Both Democrats and Republicans agreed to the sequester in 2011 as part of a bill to raise the US debt ceiling - the legal limit the government can borrow.

BBC: Sequester: Obama warns budget cuts will hit defence

The cuts were created in negotiations over a 2011 bill that raised the US debt ceiling, the legal limit that America is allowed to borrow to fund its budget deficit.

BBC: Q&A: What are the 'sequester' budget cuts