700 Billion bailout...trying to understand

I have been trying to get my mind wrapped around this $700 billion bailout.

How does this compare to the cost of the Iraq war?  I found this up to the second war cost counter. I found this piece:

Were the financial crisis to end today, the costs would be painful but manageable, roughly equivalent to the cost of another year in Iraq. Unfortunately, however, the financial crisis is far from over, and it is hard to imagine how the US government is going to succeed in creating a firewall against further contagion without spending five to 10 times more than it has already, that is, an amount closer to $1,000bn to $2,000bn.

Where is th money coming from?  Faith!:

JEREMY SIEGEL: The government cannot run out of money. Go into your wallet and take a look at what you've got in it. It's called Federal Reserve Notes. Those are under control of the Federal Reserve. Do you notice that they don't say they are backed by gold. They are not backed by silver. They don't have to have anything behind them except the full faith and confidence of the government.

Here's a good perspective:

$700 billion. That's over two years, so it's not as bad as it sounds [smirk]. But for perspective, here's how much President Bush asked to spend this fiscal year on various projects:

• "Security" (Defense, Homeland, etc.): $553.9 billion
• "Global War on Terror" supplement: $145.2 billion
• Health & Human Services: $69.3 billion
• Education: $56.0 billion
• Veterans: $39.4 billion
• NASA: $17.3 billion

I know there is a link to China somehere, but I am having trouble finding it.  I did find this:

Behind all of this is an irreversible shift of income, wealth and power eastwards; from America and Europe to China.

Whew!  I feel better...

Why aren't they teaching Chinese in the schools?