Former President Bill Clinton will be remembered for many things, some good, others, well, not so good, but some of the things he will be remembered for are some of his catch phrases.

There were some classics like, “It depends on what the meaning of the word ‘is’ is,” or “When I was in England, I experimented with marijuana a time or two, and I didn’t like it. I didn’t inhale and never tried it again.”

But there was also,  “I feel your pain.” A message he shared during a debate with former President George H.W. Bush.

The problem today, it seems, is our elected officials, despite waxing poetic about understanding the difficulties of the American people and the effects of a sluggish economy on the middle class, have little understanding of what an average American family is having to deal with.

And this inability to understand is not particular to the Republican Party, the Democratic Party or even the newfound Tea Party. This lack of understanding, this lack of compassion, is across the board and across the so-called “aisle.”

This misunderstanding came back in the spotlight Friday when it was announced only three fourths of Alabama’s Legislature has either agreed to give up their automatic raise and/or take a 15 percent reduction in pay because of the state’s recent 15 percent proration cuts.

Only three fourths? Why not 100 percent.

Has the other 25 percent completely forgotten what it felt like not to be tied to a guaranteed civil service, governmental salary? Did they forget that it is very likely their constituents who are struggling the most and need governmental assistance the most?

That would be two questions to ask of State Sen. Hank Sanders who is among the 25 percent who has gone ahead with plans to take the pay raise.

It is Sanders’ district that has consistently recorded the highest unemployment rates and has, in many cases, depended on a properly funded, and well-run state government for so many things.

It is true Sanders is not the only one who has not given up the raise, but he is one of the most prominent and the most senior of legislators who has not.

He should show those who have sent him to office for so many years that he has not lost touch with what is going on in his district and that he is willing to sacrifice just like the rest of his constituents.