Billion Is The New Million

As I continue to watch the ever growing deficits in communities, states and the National Government I'm amazed at how common the figure billion is thrown around. Need 200 billion for automobile bailouts? Sure, no problem! How about 670 billion to help the banking industry make those yearly bonus payments? Okay, we can do that too! Can I get 999 billion to fight wars on two fronts? Wars? I didn't know we were at war, it hasn't affected me in my daily life. Well, if you say you need it, here ya go... Can I get a subsidy for health care premiums? My policy costs over 500 bucks a month. Hahehahalololol, you're nuts if you think we can help out everyday Americans, especially a middle-aged fat woman. All of these questions had me asking what exactly a billion dollars equates to; just how much is it? I received the following email forwarded from a friend. Read it and judge for yourself: How many zeros in a billion? This is too true to be funny. 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 it's 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 these thoughts are still fresh in your brains...the new proposed spending spree is being touted in trillions. Yes, trillions! 1,000,000,000,000. That's a lot of zeros...and that's about how much the average American can expect to get.