"even some employed people feel that way"

I'd venture that most employed people would feel that an income of $100,000/year is rich. While the definition of rich isn't exactly set in stone, $100,000 is nearly twice the national median household income. If you're making $100,000 a year, you're almost certainly rich.

Edit: And while those of us earning "average engineer salaries" might not be getting bailouts, I'd reckon we're at least more likely to feel the effects of them than a poor, or even "average" person. The financial services sector got bailouts -- they also buy a lot of software. Maybe we keep our jobs because of those bailouts.