Dan Morain obviously holds very strong opinions, but he does them no justice by descending to the sort of character assassination he displayed in his Sunday column ("He just said 'no' to 'cliff' solution"; Forum, Jan. 6). Personal invective is often a warning that the advocate is not very confident of his position.
The core of his contention is that my vote against the so-called fiscal cliff deal sold out the interests of my constituents. He notes that their family income is below the state average, and thus contends that increasing taxes on the wealthy 2 percent will affect few, while increased government spending will benefit many.
Actually, the tax increases he lauds will have an impact on 76 percent of net income from small businesses. That's precisely the income they use to create two-thirds of the new jobs in our economy. Recent reports by the Congressional Budget Office, and Ernst and Young, warn that this policy will cost hundreds of thousands of jobs.
What does Mr. Morain plan to say to those unemployed families: "Cheer up, you got a few extra weeks of benefits"?
I sincerely hope he is right. Perhaps massive tax increases on small businesses will cause them to produce more jobs; perhaps spending hundreds of billions of additional dollars we don't have will produce the prosperity that the trillions already spent have failed to provide.
I think they will not, and while the people of my district have entrusted me with their voice and vote in Congress, I believe I have a responsibility to say so and to vote accordingly. Ultimately, time will tell.
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