“My fridge is on the fritz, my washing machine is on the fritz, my oven is on the fritz, my roof is on the fritz,” said Maria Thuy of Jenkintown a suburb of Philadelphia, who lost her job as a director of a non-profit a few weeks ago and wonders how she will stop her house falling down around her.

Like many, Thuy looked on in horror as the stock market crashed on Monday and she fears for her retirement savings…

Sammy Rubin, a 64-year-old electrical contractor in Birmingham, Alabama, blames politicians. A self-described conservative, he said he was angry at recent political fighting over the debt ceiling.

“If I had the power, I would freeze every congressman’s bank account … and make them go get a job, to see what it’s like out here. And I wouldn’t care if the whole government shut down, except for the military,” he said.