coaxial:
You're confusing the trade imbalance problem with the public debt problem. After the great depression throughly discredited the Laissez-faire Austrian school economists, Keynesian theory pointed out that issuing public debt can be a useful tool for the government to control economic growth and check inflation by being able to widen or tighten the money supply on command. Though the total public debt is quite colossal as a gross figure, much of it is purely internal debt (i.e. securities owned by American citizens) which doesn't adversely affect the economy because the money is staying in the country. External debt is much more significant economically but the U.S. is actually better off than even most so called first-world countries. Japan, Belgium, Italy, France, Germany, The Netherlands, Canada and the U.K. for instance, all have substantially more foreign debt as a percent of their GDPs than the U.S. does.

The foreign debt [i]does[/i] influence exchange rates, however the trade imbalance is probably the
biggest factor devaluing the dollar. Last year the trade imbalance was almost -800 billion dollars. That means that 800 billion dollars physically left circulation in the U.S. economy in a real way making us collectively poorer, and thus devaluing the currency. This has the slight benefit of helping (now cheaper) U.S. goods in export markets, a sort of negative feedback loop. But it also brings us that much closer to the collapse of the dollar as a major world reserve currency which could cause the U.S. Gov't for the first time in living memory to actually have to deal with real money shortages... Here's to Victory in 3008 and make those tax-cuts permanent while we're at it! *rolls eyes*

It's on page 410:

"14 SEC. 494. CAMPUS-BASED DIGITAL THEFT PREVENTION.
Part G of title IV (20 U.S.C. 1088 et seq.) is further amended by adding at the end the following new section:
‘‘SEC. 494. CAMPUS-BASED DIGITAL THEFT PREVENTION.
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Each eligible institution participating in any program under this title shall to the extent practicable—
‘‘(1) make publicly available to their students and employees, the policies and procedures related to the illegal downloading and distribution of copyrighted materials required to be disclosed under section 485.
‘‘(2) develop a plan for offering alternatives to illegal downloading or peer-to-peer distribution of intellectual property as well as a plan to explore technology-based deterrents to prevent such illegal activity.
‘‘(b) GRANTS.—
‘‘(1) PROGRAM AUTHORITY.—The Secretary may make grants to institutions of higher education, or consortia of such institutions, and enter into contracts with such institutions, consortia, and other organizations, to develop, implement, operate, improve,and disseminate programs of prevention, education,and cost-effective technological solutions, to reduce and eliminate the illegal downloading and distribution of intellectual property. Such grants or contracts may also be used for the support of a higher education centers that will provide training, technical assistance, evaluation, dissemination, and associated services and assistance to the higher education community as determined by the Secretary and institutions of higher education.
‘‘(2) AWARDS.—Grants and contracts shall be awarded under paragraph (1) on a competitive basis.
‘‘(3) APPLICATIONS.—An institution of higher education or a consortium of such institutions that desires to receive a grant or contract under para2
graph (1) shall submit an application to the Sec3
retary at such time, in such manner, and containing or accompanied by such information as the Secretary may reasonably require by regulation ‘‘(4) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—
There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this subsection such sums as may be necessary for fiscal year 2009 and for each of the 4 succeeding fiscal years.’’.