While the Daily News met the day with a "Mad Carl Disease" cover headline, the NY Post embraced Joe the Plumber of the Month Velma Hart. Hart is the latest "average" citizen to be catapulted to election-year fame for her heartfelt entreaty to President Obama at a town hall meeting in Washington, where she asked the president to reassure her that a diet of "hot dogs and beans" would not become her "new reality?" It sounds like times are pretty tough for Hart, who is a Chief Financial Officer and has two children attending private school in one of the world's wealthiest countries.

"The recession has taken an enormous toll on my family," Hart insisted. But instead of pointing out that it was a Republican administration that checked the middle class into Hospice in the first place, Obama tried to accentuate the positive, highlighting the Democrats' attempts to tighten regulations on the credit card and banking industries, and reform the student loan system. Last night Hart told the Post she wasn't satisfied with the president's response, because he didn't say whether these tough times are a "new reality" or just temporary. "He didn't answer that," she said. "That was the heart of my question. Like most Americans, fear is starting to take hold, anxiety is taking hold." Let's just hope we can make it through this election season without anyone exploiting these fears for political gain.

Last night it fell to Bill Clinton to remind America about the origin story of this economic tragedy. In an interview with his old strategist George Stephanopoulos, Clinton said, "[Republicans] had eight years to dig the hole. They say we have 21 months, throw us out, put them back in... I just want you to understand that every election is a choice, not a referendum. It's a choice here. Give us two more years. Don't go back to the policies that dug the hole…If we don't do better, you can vote against us all, and I'll be on the ballot, too. Vote against us all if it's not better." Wait, did Clinton just announce he's running for office again? We're saved!