Interesting comment NLTSG (that’s a lot of locations by the way!)
Anyway, I was watching CNBC this morning and there was a discussion very similar to what you have written. The guest “experts” stated that even though the economy looks good in the news, most common (low to middle income) Americans confidence is low because they are feeling the effects via gas prices, food costs and mortgage issues. The comment was that basically the gap between the haves and have nots is increasing and the upper middles and wealthy are the only ones not feeling the crunch.
Tax cuts won’t help as many of the haves will continue to make more money invest it and stay on top.