In today's Washington, the two parties have a hard time even agreeing to disagree.

如今在华盛顿，民主、共和两党想做到“求同存异都很困难。

That was the grim picture on New Year's Day in a capital still tied in knots over how to find a deficit-reduction deal, despite a full year's advance warning that one was absolutely, positively essential by year's end.

这就是华盛顿在元旦当天面对的残酷现实。尽管早在一年前就有警告称，绝对有必要在2012年年底前达成一项减赤协议，但新年第一天华盛顿在达成协议上仍面临重重障碍。

Even when the contours of a potential big deal were possible to see weeks ago, the path to compromise proved too hard for President Barack Obama and Republican House Speaker John Boehner.

即便是早在几周前一个潜在的大规模协议就已初具雏形，但对于美国总统奥巴马(Barack Obama)和众议院议长、民主党人博纳(John Boehner)来说，妥协之路仍然过于艰难。

When the two sides lowered their sights to seek a more modest deficit-reduction deal, there still was no solution in sight─until time ran out on the year 2012. Then Republicans and Democrats in the Senate decided to put aside the things they couldn't possibly agree on to pass a relatively narrow tax bill that included items each side could at least live with. But within hours, even that minimalist agreement was in peril in the House.

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