Social Security "reform" and gymnasium floors

Dear Christopher,

I was sitting next to you when we both first heard that Kerry had conceded defeat in the presidential race. We both became rather upset. I remember the first coherent thought that you managed to speak: you said that American homeowners who voted to reelect Bush, with their thirty-year mortgages and their 401K's in the stock market, are going to be pretty bewildered in a few years when things get so bad in this country that they're having to sleep on gymnasium floors.

I think of this often. The Social Security debate recalls it to me. I also thought of it when the religious right managed to convince the entire media that the election was about ordinary people and their moral values when in fact nationwide Bush won lost in every annual income group below $50k a year and won in every income group above $50k. I think it's so interesting that that was the first thing you said.

cheers,
tim