So far there has been tepid reaction by official Washington to the protests against Wall Street that have spread throughout the nation. This may prove the point of both those on the right and the left that the leaders of our big political and economic institutions just don't get it.

The rescue by the government of the big banks and failure of the 2009 stimulus bill to create more jobs are cited by conservatives as evidence that those in government are clueless. Meanwhile, those on the left cite high bank fees and the failure of businesses to expand hiring (despite strong profits) as evidence that business needs to be regulated even more.

It is too early to tell if the Occupy Wall Street rallies will fuel the liberal equivalent of the Tea Party movement. At the very least, however, they show that a segment of the public thinks that businesses have been unfairly coddled by the government and aren't being sufficiently responsive to consumers.