Esme's Blog: Class Warfare

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- As the Occupy Wall Street protest spreads to Minnesota and other states, the debate over the protests intensifies.

Presidential candidate Mitt Romney said the protests represent "class warfare." But is it war or just the expression of anger in a nation where 14 million are out of work? Three years ago, major financial institutions were deemed "too big to fail" and ended up being bailed out by taxpayers. That bailout money has largely been repaid.

But for millions of Americans who lost their homes, their jobs and their place in the shrinking American middle class, there was no bail out. If the banks were "too big to fail," what are these people, too small to save? It is that frustration that is largely fueling these protests.

Call it class warfare, call it anger or just despair. Many Americans have taken a long hard slide these past few years and now they are saying something about it.