Here's the key question.

I'm confused. And I'll admit it. When it comes to the sagging economy, I don't have the answers. And I suspect that even the so-called experts don't. Seems to be a world-wide problem. Not just American. Maybe it's the result of everything going global. And we don't know how to deal with the changes of the past decade or two or three. My impression is that everyone is being hurt to some degree. The poor and middle classes more so than the rich. Yes, the rich can afford to lose and still have a comfortable existence. The less fortunate don't have much wiggle room. I guess that the rich -- the industrialists and the executives and the bankers and the money lenders at the top of the economic hierarchy -- are telling us that their businesses need government bailouts. So they can survive and offer us common folk jobs and credit. To me, that seems all right. That is, if there's agreement at the top of our political, economic and social systems that there be a dramatic closing of the gap betwen the rich and the poor. Yes, a redistribution of wealth. So that the rich are far less rich and the poor are far less poor. We need a burgeoning middle class. And how do we accomplish that? That's the key question. --Jim Broede