The dream is now drowning in debt.

Spending beyond your means isn't some freakish trait of the American middle class. It scares the hell out of the Europeans or Chinese. The notion that American households don't mind debt is preposterous.

Have you ever had a conversation with somebody who said, “Sure, I'm buried in credit card debt and under water with my mortgage but I don't mind. I'm going to continue to spend to my heart's content.”

It's precisely because the middle class is deeply worried about its debt (and the economy) that they have substantially reduced spending. And it's going to stay that way until the value of the houses they live in and the incomes they make start to go up again.

Politicians of both political parties have turned a blind eye to the fate of the American middle class for too long. It's time the government steps up to the plate.

They should do so because the fate of American retailers relies on reviving the middle class. Except for low-end retailers like Mickie D's, Wal-Mart and the super stores, the entire sector is suffering mightily from the wanton disabling of the American Middle Class.

Then there's this: the American Dream will die if they don't do something and do it sooner rather than later.

Harvard political scientist Samuel Huntingdon wrote: "Critics say that America is a lie because its reality falls so far short of its ideals. America is not a lie, it is a disappointment. And it can be a disappointment only because it is also a hope."

There's still hope for the American Dream. But it's getting late.