As always, Patrick is right on point. I think, in a nutshell, politicians on both sides have sold us out. NAFTA/GATT etc was the grand slam for the wealthy and greedy. And the only answer that has been offered that has stuck is blame the immigrant who took your job.

The greedy are so blind that they can’t see that if they lower everyone else’s standards to the point they can’t afford to purchase their goods, they are screwed.

Only a handful of leaders have offered a claw back of decent wages, pensions, healthcare. And those few are stymied by the party machines.

The only “solution” I offer is one that happens if its own volition. That is the collapse of the system (again). Only the deprivations of the Great Depression can stir the soul of our country. If we still have one.

Unfortunately it evidently needs to be worse than 2008 for folks to wake up. To rip the levers of control from the hands of the corrupt. And to hold the corrupt accountable. Obama sounded good and he delivered some help, but what did he think would happen when he allowed his Justice department to let the criminals not only go free, but to go right back to what they had been doing.

In closing I will say that our stupidity is only exceeded by our unwillingness to take responsibility and our willingness to engage in hate by blaming the poor.