LGBT Millionaires Warn John Boehner About Effect of 'Fiscal Cliff'

BY Lucas Grindley

December 07 2012 3:19 PM ET

Suze Orman and Kathy Travis

A group of wealthy gays and lesbians, including Suze Orman and Tim Gill, sent a letter Thursday to Speaker John Boehner warning against falling from the so-called "fiscal cliff."

The Washington Post first reported on the letter, in which 25 familiar names introduce themselves as "successful LGBT Americans who now or in the past have earned an annual income of $1,000,000 or more." Orman is the famous financial advisor and TV host. Gill is the founder of Quark. The letter is also signed by Bruce Bastian, co-founder of WordPerfect and by Obama supporters like bundler Laura Ricketts and party treasurer Andrew Tobias.

"For LGBT Americans, this 'fiscal cliff' isn't just an abstract concept," they write, noting that the across-the-board spending cuts would likely mean less money for health care programs used by LGBT Americans, less funding for investigating claims of workplace discrimination, and it could hurt government programs that fight school bullying.

Congress is running out of time before its self-imposed deadline to strike a deal that would avoid the "cliff" — a trigger created when the two parties cut a deal to temporarily lift the debt ceiling. Now, the situation the've invented is cut the deficit, or else.

Another famous and wealthy name in the LGBT community — George Takei — was a guest on The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell where he made the case that people like him could afford to pay more. "All it takes is everyone rallying together and sacrificing just a tiny bit," he said, adding later, "It’s to me absolutely baffling that the Republicans don’t get it."

Watch the Takei interview below, and read the complete letter to Boehner.