What the middle class really needs: WalletPop staffers react to Obama's State of Union address

We all know something's not right. That despite the promises made to us since childhood, we do not, in fact, have it better than our parents did.

Home values have tanked. Gasoline is up, food is up, healthcare, college tuition, even heating fuel, all up, up, up. Meanwhile, unemployment is at 10% and holding (it's actually much higher if you count everyone out of work). Those in the middle class who did save dutifully for retirement saw their investments plummet along with the economy in 2008. Life for America's middle class has become less about security and more about fear.

So it was with particular interest that the nation listened to President Obama's State of the Union address, which focused on the travails of the middle class. We asked five WalletPop staffers -- middle-class parents all -- to react to the speech with their thoughts on what the middle class in America really needs.