Orrin Hatch: “one thing people admire about firefighters is that when others are running away from a burning building, they run toward…”

“one thing people admire about firefighters is that when others are running away from a burning building, they run toward it. Conversely, while most people prudently avoid cliffs, President Obama and the congressional Democratic leadership are racing to go over the fiscal cliff ``Thelma and Louise'' style. Absent action by Congress and leadership by the President, at the end of the year almost every Federal income tax payer in America will see an increase in their rates. Some will see a rate increase of 9 percent, while others will see a rate increase of 87 percent. Although not often discussed--and although the President likes to avoid discussing it--the impact of these rate hikes will have a uniquely damaging impact on small businesses and the jobs they provide. Small businesses are the engine of job creation in our economy, and the rate hikes the President insists on will hit them hard, undermining economic growth and hampering innovation and job creation. Whether we go over the fiscal cliff or whether the President gets his way on raising rates, taxes will go up significantly on small businesses. The President would like us to think that raising these taxes is no big deal; it will just hit people who already have a lot of money and who can ``afford to give a little more.'' As President Obama put it in using his own finances as an example, absent tax increases, ``I'm able to keep hundreds of thousands of dollars in additional income that I don't need . . .…”