12/27/2011
By Charles Payne

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On Friday President Obama said the extension of the payroll tax cut was "make or break" for America, and I just lowered my head in disbelief. I really don't see or understand how missing out on an extra $20.00 a week for the average household would have crushed the nation's economy. I guess that's what they call layering it on and taking the notion of tax cuts from the party of tax cuts (for all economic brackets, by the way). Politics is politics but the portrait painted of this nation by its Commander in Chief is completely inaccurate and could create the direst of self-fulfilling realities.

You see, while the president was enjoying his victory lap, a masterful public relations win (his approval ratings on the economy leaped five percentage points according to Gallup to 47%), something was brewing in the country that belied the notion Americans are so desperate they would parish without the extra twenty bucks; the debut of a pair of sneakers, which would once again show why the greatest risk to the greatness of America isn't economic. The scenes from last Friday underscore my long contention that we live in a trickle up economy where people on lower rungs can't wait to funnel their money to those on higher rungs of the ladder of success.

There is a great debate about the historic levels of Americans living in poverty and low income and what can be done about the condition. The White House and liberals have come to the conclusion that taking more money from relatively successful Americans (households earning more than $250,000) is the way to fix this situation. Not only is such a solution an economic lie, it continues to look the other way as those on the lower rungs of society are given a free pass toward the need for self-improvement. There has always been poverty in America, but the greatness of the nation is that people climbed out of that abyss.

The narrative today is that it's impossible to climb out, and therefore ignorance and poor behavior is not only tolerated but encouraged. But there is a difference between poverty and pauperism, especially poverty and pauperism of the soul.

Watching dozens of scenes around the country of people breaking down doors and running over each other to get to a pair of Air Jordan sneakers was not only appalling but heartbreaking, too. Heartbreaking in the sense that these people, even the mother that left her two young children in an SUV, will be excused for their behavior. In fact, some will blame the sneaker company, others will blame the malls and some will call the media coverage biased. Yet, nobody in power will say it was a sad commentary on the nation. In this era of "Occupy" where it's cool to demand more of the hard earned money from others while advocating skipping out on personal loans like student and mortgages, I guess those in power would rather look the other way.

In fact many in power have stoked this kind of behavior in the name of social justice.

We aren't talking about people ripping down gates at the local supermarket, but instead gathering at local malls to break in doors so they can own a pair of sneakers. There used to be a certain kind of dignity that people in real poverty displayed in this country. Of course, there used to be a time when poor in America meant not knowing where your next meal was coming from. These days the poor often suffer diseases once known only to the wealthy such as gout, obesity and self-induced diabetes. In Thomas Walker's "The Originals", published in 1835, he distinguished between poverty and pauperism - see table above. It's amazing how much of the latter seems to dominate our nation these days.

I wonder how many of those folks who broke into malls, knocked each other down, and even committed violence for those sneakers, receive an unlimited unemployment check, welfare or food stamps. It's a question politicians can't ask, but concerned citizens can and must. You see pauperism of the soul can't be fixed by taking money from others that happen to be marginally more successful than the average person. Pauperism of the soul can't be fixed by looking the other way and blaming individual behavior on corporate America or Wall Street. Pauperism of the soul can't be fixed with set-aside jobs and lower educational requirements. Pauperism of the soul can't be fixed if it's being encouraged by the mightiest of Americans.

Charles Payne
Wall Street Strategies