The common thread between the "Occupy" and "Tea Party" movements is the feeling that the government, in all three of its branches, has somehow rigged the system so that some people are far more equal than others. When money talks louder than people, crucial reforms in the tax code, immigration, energy, commerce, banking and defense (to name a few policy areas) are impossible. Most of all, there exists a conflict over the very founding ideals of this country, specifically the "pursuit of happiness." Whether "Tea Partiers" feeling oppressed by government or "Occupiers" feeling downtrodden by the One Percent, popular backlash on both sides of the political spectrum is symptomatic of a majority (let's say 99%) of the country feeling thwarted in their pursuit or attainment of their "inalienable right" to happiness.