It came from the middle class that worked and invested to build a quality of life that was the envy of the world.

We may be in a global economy, but without middle class America, the world economy would collapse. China and India are decades away from being the promised land.

That doesn't' surprise me; what does, I guess, is that someone's willing to pay this man money to write this garbage.

You made me look, so I'm making the rest of you look...here's a little sample:

But, really, enough is enough. The Wisconsin state employees who are demonstrating in Madison have my sympathy but not my total support. I recognize that they have offered givebacks, and I recognize, too, that Gov. Scott Walker has gone too far - if not trying to bust the unions, as it is alleged, then surely trying to cripple them. In the manner of Ronald Reagan taking on student demonstrators at Berkeley in 1966, Walker will become the champion of the common man, the Middle American and all of that. This works. Reagan, you might recall, went on to become president.

Reagan personified the disgust many Americans felt toward unruly (and ungrateful) college students. Walker is personifying the feeling of resentment and anger toward government workers who have so gamed the system that some of them retire on larger stipends than the average American makes in salary - and with health care, too. Like Reagan, Walker has tapped into a feeling of disgust - the always-dangerous sense that you and I have played by the rules and saved for our modest retirements, while government workers, on our dime, have run off with pensions they do not deserve. We feel we have been played for a fool.

Walker as the champion of the common man?  Are you kidding me?  Is Cohen thinking that maybe Scott Walker is presidential material in the mold of - urp - Reagan?  

Holy moly.

One thing's for sure: Cohen has tapped into a pretty big feeling of disgust himself - that which I feel for him and many of his colleagues.

You know, along with everyone else who makes that much.

Or shoot, if that's too high, I'll compromise, we should raise taxes on anyone making $100,000 a year.

You left out the funniest part of his column.  Here it is:

In New York City, the No. 2 guy in the fire department retired on a pension worth $242,000 a year. In New York State, a single official holding two jobs and one pension took in $641,000. A lieutenant with the Port Authority police retired with an annual pension of $196,767, and 738 of the city's teachers, principals and such have pensions worth more than $100,000 a year.

This is a bit old, but I doubt the figures have gone up by much since they were compiled:

    / Home / Teacher Salary Information / United States

Teacher Salary Information - United States

Average teacher salaries. California had the nation's highest average salary in 2002-03, at $55,693. States joining California in the top tier were Michigan, at $54,020; Connecticut, at $53,962; New Jersey, at $53,872; and the District of Columbia, at $53,194.

South Dakota had the lowest average salary in 2002-03, at $32,414. The other states in the bottom tier were Montana, at $35,754; Mississippi, at $35,135; North Dakota, at $33,869; and Oklahoma, at $33,277. Also in the lowest tier were the Virgin Islands, at $34,764; Guam at $34,738; and Puerto Rico, at $22,164.