原文：
By: Simon Davies | 4th Oct 2011: 3:07pm
Debt collectors in the USA will be given authority to chase people who owe money to the Federal Government via their cell phone as well as other means, under proposals in the deficit reduction plan.
Currently, debt collection calls to cell phones are limited because collectors must check their phone number lists against a list of known cell phones and cannot call those numbers unless the consumer has provided that number as a way of reaching them.
The new plans would allow so-called robo-calls, or automatic calling of the cell phones to chase the debt -- although the proposals only apply to, or guaranteed by the federal government, such as student loans or for tax payments.
"Giving one of the most abusive industries in the U.S. free rein to inundate people with robo-calls to their cell phones is a terrible idea," said Margot Saunders, Of Counsel to the National Consumer Law Center. "Cell phone calls can distract people while driving, interrupt them at their jobs, and needlessly impose a cost on struggling families by using up scarce minutes. Debt collectors regularly call land lines to harass and threaten friends, family and even strangers with similar names to the debtor. No one will be safe from receiving abusive calls on their cell phones if this proposal goes through."
The proposal is aimed at helping to reduce the federal debt by ensuring its own creditors pay, but the National Consumer Law Center argues that most of the people affected are unable to pay due to the current economic situation.
译文：
“自动呼叫”手机将使美国债权人讨债更给力~
在赤字消减提案的建议下，美国的债权人将被赋予一项权利，他们将可以通过手机或其它途径向欠他们钱的人讨债。
目前，这种通过电话讨债的方法还有一定的局限性，因为债权人必须将他们的电话号码清单与已知的手机号清单进行比对，并且债权人不能打这些号码除非号码所有者允许通过这个号码联系他们。
新计划将允许所谓的“自动呼叫”，也就是自动的给指定手机打电话要债。尽管这个提案仅仅适用于（或者说被联邦政府担保）助学贷款和税收。
“给美国最滥用的行业之一通过“自动呼叫”来自由侵犯人们的手机的权利是一个可怕的主意” 国家消费者法律中心顾问Margot Saunders说，“手机能使人们开车分心，打扰他们的工作，而且会耗尽拮据的家庭仅有的时间，从而不必要地增加他们的支出。收债人有规律的通过地面通信线路骚扰和威胁与债务人有着相似名字的朋友、家人甚至陌生人。如果这个提案通过了，将没有人会免于收到这种恶意的电话。”
这个提案的目的是通过确保联邦的债权人收回钱来帮助联邦减少债务，但是国家消费者法律中心辩解到，大部分受这个影响的人因当前经济形势无力偿还债务。
扩展：
check sth. against sth. 相互对照
student loans 助学贷款
Automated Political Calls ： http://robocalls.net/
Robocall_Wikipedia ： http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robocall
