I am outraged at our dysfunctional state government right now and everyone who works for a living should be as well. How can Governor One-Percent Cuomo actually be considering giving a tax break to his millionaire friends at this crucial time in our struggling economy? The millionaires tax cut would allow almost five billion dollars of our much needed tax revenues to go the wealthiest one percent of New Yorkers! We need those funds in our local economies to help bridge the widening gap between the have and have-nots. The New york State legislature and the governor were voted into office to serve the interests of the 99 percent, not the uber rich. The politicians keep telling the middle class that if we give the wealthy more money they will create jobs, but we have been doing this for 10 years now, and I have one question, “Where are all those promised jobs?”

We need that money in our community to fund the HEAP program so people can stay warm this winter, to pay for good teachers and education supplies, keep our police and firefighters, and fund our libraries, not to ensure the rich have yet one more tax break to buy that second summer home, or enjoy another vacation in the Bahamas. When will the hard-working folks who comprise the 99 percent stand up to this kind of class war politics?

Local National Fuel CEO David Smith makes $3500.00 an hour, but that is not enough for him and his wealthy friends. He now sits as the chair of the Business Council of New York State, where he has lobbied hard to give the millionaires that five billion dollar tax break they don’t need. I know terms like “class war” seem provocative and controversial, but in this situation that term is just a basic fact of a corrupt political system that is being controlled by the influence of wealthy individuals, and CEOs from the new all-seeing corporate state we used to call America.

In my loudest voice I say, “No Tax Cuts For Fat Cats! Hey You Millionaires, Pay Your Fair Share!”

> Albert Brown, Buffalo

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