How in the world did we end up here?

From a story on NPR today: 

The U.S. buys a lot more from China than China's consumers buy from America each year. Because of that gap in trade, China ends up with about a billion new U.S. dollars each day. 

What do the Chinese do with all that money? They lend it back to the U.S. so Americans can buy more from them. China doesn't just give Americans credit cards or a bank loan. Instead, one of the main ways China lends that money to the U.S. is by buying bonds issued by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. 

Geez. I guess it's not enough that we give away all our manufacturing jobs and import all our crap from China instead. Looks like now we're just giving away the store. Whose idea was this arrangement?

And while I'm ranting, I also heard a fabulous interview on Fresh Air today with a journalist named Thomas Friedman who has written a book called Hot, Flat and Dry. (his prediction for our planet if we stay on our destructive course) He makes a strong argument for rebuilding America by leading a so called Green Revolution. The Amazon link for his book has a video of him speaking. I haven't watched it, but if it's anything like his interview today it'd be worth seeing.