Reply #20: actually, i over-estimated. china lent the US about $120 billion from sept 07

[Hannah Bell]

to sept 08. scroll down to the middle of the page & look at the chart labeled: Foreign owners of US Treasury Securities, compare '07 & '08 totals: 585 - 467.7 = $117.3 billion borrowed '07-'08.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_public_debt

The US gov't borrows more than that each year from excess social security tax collections, & the total us debt to China is 1/4 the size of the SS Trust Fund.

The scare stories about China financing the US are just that: they're intended to make people think the US has few options, no room to maneuver, & so must cut social spending, reduce wages, etc.

In fact, Clinton made significant inroads with just a small tax adjustment on the upper brackets. More could be done if there were the will.