Mazie Hirono: “If we don't act soon, middle class income families across the country will see their taxes go up. I have spent the past…”

“If we don't act soon, middle class income families across the country will see their taxes go up. I have spent the past 6 weeks crisscrossing the Hawaiian island chain, meeting with small business owners, workers, educators, and farmers. I've asked them how they feel about extending the Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans. And we agreed that the most important thing we can do now is extend the tax cuts for the middle class. I will oppose those who hold the middle class tax cuts hostage so that people earning more than $1 million will receive average tax cuts of $100,000 annually. The top 2 percent of these income earners in our country can afford to pay their fair share. Extending the Bush tax cuts for this group will pile on a whopping $700 billion to our deficit over the next 10 years. We must pass legislation now that ensures that 98 percent of Americans and 97 percent of small businesses do not pay higher taxes next year. And let's remember that the 111th Congress and the Obama administration have already enacted eight tax cuts for small businesses. We can no longer afford to continue the tax cuts for the wealthiest among us.”