My first instinct was to be furious at President Barack Obama for yet another capitulation to the entitled rich, while the rest of us go down in a slowly sinking ship.

My second instinct was to understand Obama’s capitulation in favor of restoring unemployment payments, so needed by millions who have been forced out of the workplace — not by their own design. A day or a week without income can become a fatal crisis for both individuals and families.

Who can trust that Republicans who support taxation exemption would feel free to vote for unemployment compensation?

On the other hand, I pray to God that Obama, Democrats and Republicans will expose the greed and corruption of those screaming their heads off about protecting democracy, capitalism, competition, job growth and financial frugality. Certainly, if tax reduction for the rich was the problem, job growth would have continued these past 10 years.

If the wealthiest among us are so worried about debt, they wouldn’t devise systems to create it. The hypocrisy of it all is overwhelming. After receiving subsidies, taxation relief and even electoral advantages at the expense of the middle class, the poor and those most vulnerable, the wealthy still scream that the poor are getting too much from the “nanny state.”

How dare they.

Virginia (Tilla) Durr, Sweden