As Republicans in the House move the American economy closer and closer to the edge of the fiscal cliff, it's time for New York's "moderate" GOP House members to take a stand for their constituents and put the interests of the middle class over the interests of millionaires.
Rep. Chris Gibson, R-Kinderhook, for example, has a choice to make: 99 percent of his constituents aren't wealthy.
If Gibson were to support ending the Bush era tax breaks for income over $250,000 per year but continuing a lower tax rate for all income below that, only about 1 percent of the residents in his district would see their taxes go up.
This proposal, backed by President Barack Obama, would also protect 97 percent of small businesses.
Only 3 percent of small businesses nationally make more than $250,000 in profits per year, and many of that 3 percent are hedge funds and tax shelters that define themselves as small businesses for tax purposes. Donald Trump, for example, defines himself as a "small business" to reduce his tax burden.
Millionaires, billionaires and Donald Trump can afford to pay higher rates. Working and middle-class people can't. That's why the President's common-sense proposal is being supported by more and more Americans of all backgrounds — including many patriotic millionaires.
Gibson has disavowed his prior pledge to conservative lobbyist Grover Norquist to never raise taxes, which is good. We can't avoid the fiscal cliff without revenues. But Gibson is resisting calls to end the Bush tax cuts for the rich, which is nothing more than favoring the 1 percent over the 99 percent.
New York would be hit hard by automatic cuts if Congress and the President can't come to an agreement, and that would mean more pain for working New Yorkers. Cuts to schools, housing, emergency food programs and even FEMA disaster relief would hit our state hard.
This is another area where Gibson isn't standing up for his constituents. He's suggested moving forward with budget cuts from the Cooper-LaTourette plan, which he voted for last year. This proposal goes easier on the very rich than the Obama plan, and would require even deeper cuts to schools and services than we're facing now.
Too much austerity too fast will threaten our economic recovery. We need to grow good-paying jobs, not cut them. We need to invest in the short term to build the economy for the long term. And we need to take steps that will put money in the pockets of middle-class and lower-income New Yorkers that will be spent quickly to boost sales at local small businesses.
There is a moderate, balanced, common-sense answer to the fiscal cliff: raise nearly a trillion dollars in revenue by ending the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy; keep tax cuts for the middle class in place; protect Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid; and use some of the new revenue to invest in infrastructure, clean energy and education as foundations for our economic future.
Gibson was recently re-elected as a moderate, common sense member of a House of Representatives that many New Yorkers think has been too extremely conservative. Ending the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy would be a solid way for Gibson to stand up for his district, his state and his country.
Michael Kink is executive director of the Strong Economy for All Coalition.