Instead Obama got 1.3% economic growth rates, the economy teetering on the edge of a double dip, an unemployment rate over 9%, and shrill claims from the hard left that mere near trillion dollar deficits simply are not enough.

FORBES: Not Default, Growth: Wall Street, Main Street And Even Washington Gets It Now

But when really hard economic times hit, when sustained high unemployment sends the number of Americans living on the edge of poverty sharply higher, those mainstream retailers lose market share to ultra-discounters like Family Dollar, Dollar General ( DG) and Dollar Tree ( DLTR).

FORBES: Wal-Mart's Cheaper Cousin Is A Buy