What IS A "Billion?"

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:
1 - A billion seconds ago it was 1959.
2 - A billion minutes ago Jesus was alive.
3 - A billion hours ago our ancestors were living in the Stone Age.
4 - A billion days ago no-one walked on the earth on two feet.
5 - 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 your brain, let's take a look at New Orleans.

It's amazing what you can learn with some simple division. Louisiana Senator, Mary Landrieu (Dem, of course) is presently asking the Congress for $250 BILLION to rebuild New Orleans.

Interesting number, but what does it mean?

Let's break it down into more personal impact, shall we?
A - If you are one of 484, 674 residents of New Orleans (every man, woman, child), then you would get $516 , 528. Not too shabby.
B - If you have one of the 188, 251 homes in New Orleans, you get $1, 329, 787. Getting better, isn't it?
C - If you are a family of four, your family gets $2, 066, 012.

Washington , D.C .. HELLO!!! ... Are all your freakin calculators broken?!?

So, the next time you hear a politician use the word 'billion' in a casual manner, think about whether you want him/her spending YOUR tax money. And it doesn't matter which party she/he belongs to - earmarks and pork are doled out collectively by all of them.

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MORE FUEL FOR THOUGHT

Accounts Receivable Tax
Building Permit Tax
CDL License Tax
Cigarette Tax
Corporate Income Tax
Dog License Tax
Federal Income Tax
Federal Unemployment Tax (FUTA)
Fishing License Tax
Food License Tax
Fuel Permit Tax
Gasoline Tax
Hunting License Tax
Inheritance Tax
Inventory Tax
IRS Interest Charges (tax on top of tax)
IRS Penalties (tax on top of tax)
Liquor Tax
Luxury Tax
Marriage License Tax
Medicare Tax
Property Tax
Real Estate Tax
Service charge taxes
Social Security Tax
Road Usage Tax (Truckers)
Sales Taxes
Recreational Vehicle Tax
School Tax
State Income Tax
State Unemployment Tax (SUTA)
Telephone Federal Excise Tax
Telephone Federal Universal Service Fee Tax
Telephone Federal , State and Local Surcharge Taxes
Telephone Minimum Usage Surcharge Tax
Telephone Recurring and Non-recurring Charges Tax
Telephone State and Local Taxes
Telephone Usage Charge Tax
Utility Tax
Vehicle License Registration Tax
Vehicle Sales Tax (and you pay this on that "trade in value" that you already paid once before)
Watercraft Registration Tax
Well Permit Tax
Workers Compensation Tax

FACT:
Not one of these taxes existed 100 years ago, and our nation was the most prosperous in the world. We had absolutely NO national debt, had the largest middle class in the world, and Moms could stay home to raise the kids without worrying about buying enough groceries to feed the big families. What happened?

Can you spell P - O - L - I - T - I - C - I - A - N - S ???