the rich got the average, the middle class, to vote for policies that sustain them. politics like, for instance, extending a tax cut to the wealthiest in society. christine, explain the psychology there. explain why 95% of the people support a system that enriches the top 5%? this recession has made the wall between the haves and the have-nots a lot harder to climb. here s another thing i want to talk to you about, as if the middle class hasn t been battered enough. food and clothing prices, you know this, they re going up as a result of rising global commodity prices. you re talking about companies that are starting to say we can start passing along these higher raw materials prices, and that s going to be everything from meat to poultry to eggs. you re already seeing that. you ve got grains prices that are historic. then you take a look at cereal. could be up 3 to 4%.