Big numbers get thrown around like they are nothing these days—a $140 billion tax refund here, an $85 billion bailout there. America must be one rich country. But America is not rich. It’s broke!

U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson’s $700 billion bailout plan may have been killed by the House of Representatives, but you can be sure that some form of similarly-sized gigantic rescue will most likely make it through eventually. The U.S. government, however, was already expecting to borrow over $430 billion to cover its normal operating expenditures. Judging by the size of the problem, America could easily be looking at a budget deficit of well over $1 trillion if it tries to prop up the banking sector. As a percent of gross domestic product, America hasn’t spent that much money since World War ii.

Such an outlay would put the United States well within banana republic territory. And as America’s leaders and banking experts claim, the other alternative—doing nothing—would be the financial equivalent of bombing us back to the Stone Age.

So which foreign investors are going to loan the U.S. government hundreds of billions so it can purchase above-market-price mortgages and other noxious “investments” to bail out big banks? Who would be willing to brave the growing U.S. credit risk?

The American monetary black hole might be about to realize that its orbiting countries are no longer enthusiastic about lending it money.

Already there are inklings of discontent from America’s largest supporters. According to Bloomberg, foreign creditors may be past their limit on how much U.S. government debt they want to be exposed to. In fact, there are rumblings of possible central bank treasury sales, as no nation wants to be the one left holding the bag if America’s economy plunges and investments in its bonds and dollars become worthless.

International holders of U.S. treasuries must quickly reach an agreement to prevent panic sales leading to a global financial collapse, said Yu Yongding, a former Chinese central bank adviser. “We are in the same boat; we must cooperate. If there’s no selling in a panicked way, then China willingly can continue to provide our financial support by continuing to hold U.S. assets.”

“China is very worried about the safety of its assets,” says Yu. “If you want China to keep calm, you must ensure China that its assets are safe.” According to Yu, high-level U.S.-Chinese communication every “couple of days” is keeping Chinese leaders informed and helping to avoid a potential panic.

But here is the most interesting statement of all from Yu: After noting that China is helping the U.S. “in a very big way,” he said that China should get something additional in return for taking so much extra risk!

If China is thinking that way, you can almost guarantee that America’s other creditors are thinking along the same lines.

So what is America giving in exchange for the hundreds of billions in international loans? Concessions on Taiwan? Oil and other natural resources? Freedom to purchase strategic U.S. corporations? Access to U.S. military equipment and technology purchases? Political and national compromises?

The consequences of America’s indebtedness are about to give a new perspective to the biblical proverb, “The borrower is servant to the lender.”

As both the Wall Street Journal and the Washington Timespoint out, one of the primary reasons the government stepped in and nationalized Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac was to protect the foreign bond holders—the same bond holders who lend the hundreds of billions of dollars the government needs each year to keep functioning.

America has become a servant to foreign creditors. And servants don’t tell others what to do. They get told what to do.