What's crushing their buying power is unemployment. It's almost at 25% according to shadowstats.com.
The unemployment is caused by cheap imports. And there is no end in site to the cheap imports. China has at least 200 million more workers earning less than $1.50 a day that would love to come in from fields to a manufacturing job just as soon as China can import the businesses from the west.
Don't believe the the weekly propaganda put out about China about how they are either about to go bust, banking crisis, wages are rising, etc. It's just propaganda to try to keep us from reacting to their predatory trade tactics.
It's because America has decided to compete with both hands tied behind its back while wrapped in four tonnes of chains.
Remove those chains and America has an excellent chance.
And just to reiterate what I mean by 'chains':
Massive corporate taxation, limitless legal vulnerability, crushing environmental regulation, employee-disrupting Obamacare and pro-Union arbitrary Government: these are why industry chooses to locate away from the USA.
Year on year dollar devaluation due to huge government and punitive healthcare costs/hour cuts due to Obamacare: these are just two reasons why the American middle-class don't have the discretionary spending that they used to have.