Have we sufficiently beat up on “the rich,” “the wealthy,” or “the 1 percent” during this last election cycle? Apparently not.

Even though the top 1 percent of wage earners pay over 40 percent of all taxes, it is their fault that we are teetering on the fiscal cliff. According to President Obama, anyone making over $200,000 has to pay a higher rate or we pull a “Thelma and Louise” on Jan. 1.

And who are “the rich”? Thousands are your fellow contractors and wholesalers who have poured their hearts and souls into their businesses. They employ hundreds of thousands of people in this industry. Beyond that, they give to their local communities in countless ways, contributing to organizations as diverse as Ronald McDonald House, Toys for Tots, Make a Wish Foundation, and Habitat for Humanity.

I recently interviewed a contractor who donates $50,000 to local charities each year, and his employees volunteer hundreds of hours to help those in need. And this is not the exception to the rule. It is taking place all over the country.

Enough already. According to Thomas Sowell, an economist and a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, an increase in taxes for the top 2 percent will only run the government for 10 days. What do we do for the other 355 days?

We don’t have a revenue problem … we have a spending problem. I say we should beat up on the bureaucrats and force them to tighten their belts, because we are in for a long and hard fall.