Compare the realities of two worlds. One world is that of Lee Raymond, the recently-retired CEO of Exxon Mobil. From 1993 to 2005, he received $686 million in pay and benefits. In his final year of work in 2005, he raked in more than $400 million, including a $98 million pension payout.

The other world is that of millions of workers in the country and in our state. Those folks--our family members, neighbors and co-workers--have seen their wages stand still, health care coverage dwindle, pensions disappear and personal debt reach an all time high. Not to mention having to pay more in gasoline prices, partly to finance Mr. Raymond's obscene paychecks.

This is the country we live in because our elected politicians stand by and say nothing--and, indeed, by their inaction and by their willingness to cozy up to powerful corporate interests, those politicians endorse the reality of the two worlds I've described.

Well, we shouldn't stand for this. And I won't.