"Whether it's disappearing work-based health care, the move from traditional pensions to 401(k)s, the push to privatize Social Security or just making it harder to file for personal bankruptcy, these and other social supports and safety nets that were designed to make Americans more secure have been watered down, abandoned or altered so that individuals bear a greater share of the risk and cost.

" 'What's happening on Wall Street occurs alongside a very substantial slow-moving crisis for American families,' said Jacob Hacker, a political science professor at the University of California at Berkeley. 'More and more financial responsibility and risk have moved from the broad shoulders of government and corporations onto the backs of America workers and their families.'

"All but gone are the days when employers and trustees made investment decisions and assumed all the risks for pension plans that pay workers a set amount each month for the rest of their lives.

"With 401(k)s, those payments are neither guaranteed nor assured, and investment responsibilities now lie with individual workers, many of whom know little or nothing about investing.

"However, with the economy facing its greatest challenge since the Great Depression, the business community and individuals clamoring for universal health care, the national sentiment may be more receptive to the old social compact in which government takes a larger role in providing for the well being of its citizens."