The combination of some mild benefit to the majority of Americans and a big hit to the economic power of the US$ earnings of the top 1% would be portrayed in the US media as a massive crisis in US standard of living, and given the tendency of media to focus on mean averages rather than median averages, there would be all sorts of numbers floating around to persuade people that their personal experience of things being not so bad after all were only unusual special circumstances.

MORE SUSPICIONS CONFIRMED!

The question then becomes: HOW CAN WE CONVINCE A MAJORITY OF THE VOTERS, FOR ONCE IN THEIR LIVES, TO LET THE FAT CATS STEW IN THEIR OWN JUICES RATHER THAN GIVING THEM OUR RETIREMENT FUNDS TO BAIL THEM OUT.

"It is not necessary to have hope in order to persevere."