I said it was all well and good to let them strike the first blow, but if they hit us hard below the belt, we should take a meat ax and cut their hands off.

我说，我们容忍共和党人先出手，向我们发动攻击，这也就罢了，但如果他们不正当地抨击我们的要害部位，我们就应该拿起一把剁肉的斧头，将他们的手砍断。

youdao

Applying a meat ax to those few fixed cost-of-living items would only cost us to fix up the house at a later date.

对这几样生活费用项目进行砍削，只会使我们日后修缮屋子时花更多的钱。

youdao

Despite the despairing rhetoric of Republican hardliners, the sequester is but a scalpel when a meat-ax is required.

FORBES: Republicans Mislead Their Base With Handwringing Over Sequester Defense Cuts