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

The rescue by the government of the big banks and failure of the2009 stimulus bill to create more jobs are cited by conservativesas evidence that those in government are clueless. Meanwhile, thoseon the left cite high bank fees and the failure of businessesto expand hiring (despite strong profits) as evidence that businessneeds to be regulated even more.

It is too early to tell if the Occupy Wall Street rallies willfuel the liberal equivalent of the Tea Party movement. At the veryleast, however, they show that a segment of the public thinks thatbusinesses have been unfairly coddled by the government and aren'tbeing sufficiently responsive to consumers.

Credit unions could capitalize on this development by doing moreto emphasize that they didn't need TARP money and have lower fees.They have been hiding their attributes under a proverbial bushelbasket which is why their share of the financial servicesmarketplace (6%) has remained unchanged for at least twodecades.

The time has never been better for credit unions to gain moremembers and more clout. If they don't take advantage of thisalignment of the stars, one might say of them what Israelistatesman Abba Eban said of the Arabs: “They never miss anopportunity to miss an opportunity.”

That's especially true in light of recenteconomic data.

Since June 2009, when according to many economists the recessionofficially ended, inflation-adjusted median household incomedeclined 6.7% to $49,909. During the recession, from December 2007to June 2009, median annual household income fell 3.2% to$53,518.

That data, contained in a study by former Census Bureaueconomists John Coder and Gordon Green, show the stark reality ofthe challenges facing the nation's middle class, the targetaudience for credit unions. Think about it, people have lost moreground since the experts told us that things were gettingbetter.

However, definitions of what constitutes the end of an economicdownturn can be suspect. In June 2009 unemployment was 9.5%. Itthen shot up to 10.1% that October and since then has been all overthe place.

At the same time, many businesses, including some of the bigbanks, are reporting strong profits. What many of these firmsaren't doing is hiring. Here's how one observer described thesituation.

“The absence of effective state, and, especially, national,restraint upon unfair money-getting has tended to create a smallclass of enormously wealthy and economically powerful men, whosechief object is to hold and increase their power.

“The prime need is to change the conditions which enable thesemen to accumulate power which is not for the general welfare thatthey should hold or exercise. We grudge no man a fortune whichrepresents his own power and sagacity, when exercised with entireregard to the welfare of his fellows.”

Those weren't the sentiments of an antibusiness rabble rouser.Rather, they were remarks by Theodore Roosevelt in 1910, 17 monthsafter he left the While House. In that speech, he outlined hisvision for a New Nationalism.

The Occupy Wall Street movement shows there is a similarsentiment among an increasingly vocal segment of the public today.The gains of the Republicans in last year's elections (fueled inpart by the Tea Party's activism) reflect equally strongfrustrations with the government's performance.

Political and business leaders often don't set the agenda asmuch as they follow the wishes of with the biggest wallets or theloudest voices. That's why watching the response to the latestround of antibusiness and antigovernment protests is sofascinating.