Yeah, my thoughts exactly--I remember when my cousins and aunt would talk about how much hope they had for the country now that Bush was in office, and then in the next topic of conversation, they'd talk about how their mom made them lie down on the couch all day after sustaining an injury because they couldn't afford a trip to the emergency room, or about how the economy was so bad that none of them could get so much as a cashiering job... and meanwhile, their President was trying to solve that problem with "Make the rich people spend more and it'll trickle down!"

Personally, I wouldn't have felt any more valued as an American or as a person to hear of rich people being favored for tax breaks and rewards and then to get what "trickled down" from them as "help" than I would have felt in response to Obama's "elitist" comments, but maybe that's just me...

(Of course it has to be said that "hope for the country" for my cousins and a lot of people plain and simply means "Turning America onto the road toward becoming a Christian theocracy," with no concern for the economy or people who need more than Christian faith to survive. No exaggeration. :\)