Billions and Billions of Reasons to Care

We hear politicians talk about huge sums of money all the time, and their words generaly go in one ear and out the other. However, every once in a while all of us need to stop and really think about what these numbers mean.

Fun facts from an e-mail I recieved this morning.

Here's something thought provoking - be sure to read to the end, even if you've seen these 'billion' comparisons before .......

The next time you hear a politician use the word "billion" in a casual manner, think about whether you want the "politicians" spending your tax money. A billion is a difficult number to comprehend, but one advertising agency did a good job of putting that figure into some perspective in one of its releases.

A.. A billion seconds ago it was 1959.

B.. A billion minutes ago Jesus was alive.

C.. A billion hours ago our ancestors were living in the Stone Age.

D.. A billion days ago no-one walked on the earth on two feet.

E.. A billion dollars ago was only 8 hours and 20 minutes, at the rate our government is spending it.

While this thought is still fresh in our brain, let's take a look at New Orleans - It's amazing what you can learn with some simple division;
Louisiana Senator, Mary Landrieu (D), is presently asking the Congress for $250 BILLION to rebuild New Orleans.

Interesting number, what does it mean?

Well, if you are one of 484,674 residents of New Orleans (every man, woman, child), you each get $516, 528.

Or, if you have one of the 188,251 homes in New Orleans, your home gets $1, 329,787 or, if you are a family of four, your family gets $2,066,012.

Washington, D.C.!!!...........................Are all your calculators broken????!!!! Maybe everyone should just flood their houses, then we can all be on the "big easy" street for the rest of our lives, and forget about working, and paying taxes and all that useless stuff!

Now I know that this money is not going to the "people" of New Orleans, but to Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco and N.O. Mayor Ray Nagin, and we all know that they will spend it wisely. I expect to see some nice improvements to the State House and a new shiny Casino or 2 (or 6).

A. Weasel