first democratic congressmen to call for an extension of the tax cuts. so you're not just a johnny come lately to this issue. you've been on this since what, january? >> that's right, jon. we felt that since january, as we realized that the recession was much deeper than even the experts had said and even though we've been creating jobs we need to do more, so we're in the throes of recession. it's bad policy, everyone knows it, to raise taxes during a recession. it will put us back into a deeper recession. so since january, with my colleagues, i said we should extend those cuts across the bor and now many others are chimeing in as well. jon: you heard what the president says, he says rich people can afford to pay more taxes. >> the problem there, where i am from, you can have a fire lieutenant, working overtime, married to a school teacher, they're making $250,000, and if he has a roofing business on the side, he's a small businessman as well and they're already paying taxes, city and state, close 2060 percent, so they're not rich, they're living paycheck to paycheck, so i don't agree with that