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 physically 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 12 minutes, at the rate our
government is spending it.
In the light of another hurricane bearing down on the Gulf Coast (on the
anniversary of Katrina), let’s think about BILLION with some simple
division.
Louisiana Senator Mary Landrieu (D), asked Congress for $250 BILLION to
rebuild New Orleans. Interesting number, what does it mean?
A. If you are one of 484,674 residents of New Orleans (every man, woman,
child), you each get $516,528.
B. If you have one of the 188,251 homes in New Orleans, your home gets
$1,329,787.
C. If you are a family of four, your family gets $2,066,012.
I wonder if all the calculators in Washington, DC are broken?
~~
Dr Bob Griffin, www.grif.net
“Jesus knows me, this I love”