The regular people v Wall Street

I remember an episode of Cosby where Theo tells his father that he wants to be a regular person, not a doctor or lawyer like his parents. And Bill Cosby goes through a scenario with his son, telling him what he'll earn as a regular person and where his money will go - and how he won't have anything left. The point of the scene was that Theo should get an education - and it's well taken.

But it also describes, all too vividly, how Americans have for too long turned away from the truth that, for many, no matter how hard they work, they cannot break even, much less get ahead - a truth that's been accepted in its innate unfairness.

The economy has not been good for many people for a long time, but it's become much worse. And for those who have taken second and third jobs or have been doing without "extras", like some groceries or maybe heat and gas, for themselves and their families, the words "bail out" are making them extremely angry. No one has helped them when their kids are sick and they are struggling to buy medicine and take them to a doctor. No one has cared if there is less food on the table. A chicken in every pot? Yes, there was a promise - meat.

And then there's Wall Street. People on Wall Street wear expensive suits. They eat out (imagine that) and - travel places on vacation. They have benefit plans with letters and numbers in them that many Americans will never see - or if they do, have to cash them in when they have a baby to pay those extra expenses. Long term security to those in a lower economic bracket is having the money for rent and food in the immediate future. This is not due to lack of planning- it's a numbers crunch. The amount regular people can earn is limited, no matter how many jobs they take, and, therefore, so are options as to where they can put their money.

The words savings and loans equate with "none" and "no".

So yesterday the regular people and the high flyin' Wall Street types who take risks with money that's not their own (but who might have acted differently if they were in the shoes of a gas station attendant trying to support a family) clashed.

The value of a dollar is different to regular people. In college we spoke about disposable income, money that's left over after bills are paid and how people choose how to spend money. But regular people these days don't have money left over. Their income is already disposed of as they sit down and start paying their bills. So when you tell them a figure of $700 billion, even when you try to ease it toward them by saying we'll start with $250 billion, regular people start thinking what they could do with an extra few hundred dollars a month.

More groceries. A doctor's visit. Gas. Eyeglasses. Stuff that gets crossed off regular peoples' lists.

The reason Congress is in this situation is because they haven't been listening to the regular people. But, you see, regular people vote. And their vote counts equally to the vote of anyone else. No matter if you've got a baloney sandwich (or less) in your belly or a steak from a fancy restaurant - you pull that lever and in that moment, that one moment, regular people get transformed into who they really are and should be-

equal citizens.

Vote.