“I’m delighted to be in the Husky Deli as a Cougar,” U.S. Sen. Patty Murray joked as she took the makeshift podium at Husky Deli in West Seattle on Aug. 23 to urge Congress to pass a bill to continue tax cuts for the middle class and "true" small business owners.

“Today, a lot of our middle class families and our small business owners, just like where we are here today, are really struggling in this tough economy … We are beginning to move in the right direction but there are still a lot of workers struggling to get a job … families who are fighting to stay in their home and main street businesses … are working every day just to keep their doors open,” the fourth term democratic senator representing Washington said.

“We are here today because if Congress does not act, taxes are scheduled to go up for every single American at the end of this year. I think that is truly the wrong way to go for our families and the wrong way to go for the economy here in Seattle, and I’ve been working very hard to stop that from happening.”

Murray said she was instrumental in passing a Senate bill last month to extend tax cuts “for 98 percent of our workers and 97 percent of our small business owners in this country.”

She said support for extending middle class tax cuts “is not a debate,” across party lines and through the House and Senate.

“I think it makes sense for us to pass the tax cuts we all agree should be continued on the middle class, and then, if some people in Congress want to have a debate about whether or not the wealthiest one percent of Americans should get a tax break, we can have a debate.”

“Let’s not leave the middle class held hostage,” she said, by tying their tax fate in with that of the wealthiest.

Murray then passed the microphone to small business owners in support of her work.

Mary Clark, owner of recently opened used book store Merryweather Books in the Junction, spoke during the event.

“My husband has been out of work, my daughter has health problems, health insurance is always an issue, and to run a small business is hard work and it is hard to make ends meet,” she said. “97 percent of small business owners do not earn over $250,000 a year. I think we should keep the tax cuts for the middle class and repeal the tax cuts on the wealthiest two percent.

“It is not right for some members of congress to claim that asking the top two percent to pay their fair share of taxes will hurt small business owners. It is dishonest. They are stealing the name of small businesses, but what they are really talking about is a tax giveaway to large corporations and the millionaires,” Clark said.

“I personally will not allow my name and my business to be used for these unjust practices and policies,” she added.

Other in support of Sen. Murray’s plan to extend tax cuts spoke, including Kimberly McRae, a Seattle Central Community College teacher, Dean Shelton, a firefighter with the Marysville Fire District, and Husky Deli owner Jack Miller.

“These are the people who really deserve a tax break and need one so they can really get their families and businesses back on their feet,” Sen. Murray said. “I think congress ought to pass the middle class tax cut extension so they’ve got that certainty, and I think the wealthy should pay their fair share so our country can be strong again.”