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【慢速VOA】２０１１-０７-１９Debt Limit Talks Show Deeper Debate on Government Researchers at the Library of Congress say Congress passed the first debt-limit law in 1917. That was to control the costs of Americas entry into World War One. Today Jerry Webman says the United States is going through an important debate on what services Americans can expect from their government. I think we may be looking at one of those almost generational changes in the role of the federal government in US society. Lenders worried about the risk of not getting repaid usually demand higher interest rates. That has happened to heavily indebted countries such as Greece, Ireland and Portugal. Usually it is the bond market that says, Wait a minute were not going to accept any more debt until we feel more confident in your credit. Interest rates for the United States, however, have come down. But on Thursday, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke warned lawmakers that lack of action to raise the borrowing limit would mean a lower credit rating. The central banker said that means the government could have to pay sharply higher interest rates. And that would only add to deficits in what he called a self-inflicted wound. 【慢速VOA】２０１１-０７-２１Words and Their Stories: Nicknames for Chicago Barry Popick says other cities in the central United States called Chicago a windy city. This meant that people in Chicago liked to brag or talk about how great their city was. They were full of wind or full of hot air. He says newspapers in Cincinnati, Ohio used this expression in the 1870s. Chicago was an important agricultural, industrial and transportation center for the country. In 1916, the city gained two more nicknames from a poem called Chicago, written by Carl Sandburg. Here is the first part of the poem: Hog Butcher for the World, Tool Maker,Stacker of Wheat, Player with Railroads and the Nations Freight Handler; Stormy, husky, brawling, City of the Big Shoulders. Chicago was called Hog Butcher for t