Wednesday, August 26, 2009

How much is $9,000,000,000,000?

So it seems that the Obama administration can't even make the most critical of projections correctly. Instead of the already outrageous $7 trillion (with a T) deficit over the next ten years, they got it wrong (again...just like the porkulus, just like health care 'reform', just like cap and tax). Instead, it's actually $9 trillion. So, how much is a trillion dollars? Let's start small. We can all easily picture $1,000, since that's a mortgage or rent payment. $1 million is even better. We know we're doing well if we have $1,000,000. $1 billion is harder to imagine, but not impossible. Bill Gates is an excellent example of a billionaire. But $1 trillion...the brain starts to shut down. To give us some perspective, the federal government collects just over $1 trillion per year in individual income taxes. That's about $3,300 per person. Now, imagine 9 TIMES that....almost $30,000 per person, per year. THAT'S $9 trillion. Crazy, huh?

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