TT#16 | 13 Things We Could do w/the Amount of our National Debt ($9 trillion)

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(Photo of U.S. Treasury from govt. website) 

As of October 22, the United States' national debt is about $9 trillion, up from about $5.7 trillion in January 2001 (a roughly 36% increase). Distinction: the "budget deficit" is the amount we are over-budget in a given year; the "national debt" is the total amount the U.S. owes (U.S. Treasury).

A trillion dollars is a mind-bogglingly huge number: a one with 12 zeros behind it.  To get my mind around the number, I started thinking about things we could do with $9 trillion (not that I recommend any of them):

1. Give President Bush's Annual Salary ($400,000) to 22.5 million people.

2. Give the 2006 U.S. Median Income ($48,201)  to 186 million people.

3. Buy a House ($250,000) for 36 million families.  You'll have to come up with closing costs, insurance, and annual property tax.

4. Buy a 2007 (new) Maserati Quattroporte for 80 million people. That's roughly one Maserati for each U.S. family (est. price $112,250).

5. Buy a 2008 Toyota Prius for 300 million people. That's roughly one Prius for every man, woman and child in the U.S. (fully loaded, est. price $30,000).

6. Buy an I-Phone, I-Pod Touch, and Mac laptop for 2.6 billion people.  That's a gift set for every person in the U.S., the Western European nations, and a few more countries (est. cost of $3,500).

7. Pay for a Harvard education (4 years) for 75 million people. That's about 1/4 of the U.S. population (est. cost of $120,000).

8. Give an Hermes Kelly bag to 1.8 billion people. Or we could give 6 of these valuable bags to every man, woman and child in the U.S. (basic model, est. price $5,000).

9. Give a pair of Jimmy Choo Shoes to 18 billion people. That's almost 3 times the world population, but not everyone wants a $500 pair of high-heels.  Just for this example, let's say that the U.S. and Canada have 180 million grown women who would appreciate them: we could give each one 10 pairs of Choos.

10. Give a Luxury trip to Paris for 327 million people. That's more than one trip for every person in the U.S. This includes round-trip first-class seat ($7,500), two weeks at Hotel du Louvre ($6,000) and $14,000 mad money ($1,000 per day).

11. Operate Florida Government for 128 years. The 4th largest state in the nation, Florida has a budget of about $70 billion.  I wanted to use California (the largest state), but a budget total wasn't easy to find on the state's website -- i.e., I gave up after 5 minutes.

12. Operate U.S. Government for 3.2 years.

13. Pay for the Iraq War 19 times. This is based on est. cost of $462 billion.

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Related BN-Politics' Posts:

* Tax Dollars Funded Luxury Travel

* Big-Spending, Big-Government Bush

* Private Insurers Milking Medicare

* How the Energy Dept. Incinerated Tax Dollars

* New Orleans Still Suffering after 2 Years and Billions of Tax Dollars

* Govt. Contractors: Driving up War's Costs?

* Interior Dept. Officials Allowed Oil Companies to Underpay Royalties

* Contractor Fraud: Driving Up Healthcare costs?

* Embassy in Iraq: Waste, Bad Planning, and Contractor Fraud?

* Billions over Baghdad: Poor Accounting Allowed Waste & Fraud

* Inspector General Blocked Investigations re: Waste and Fraud?

* Blackwater Seeks More Tax Dollars, Govt. Corruption More Evident

* DynCorp Joins Blackwater as Probe Target, State Dept. Stonewalls Congress

Commenters:

1. The Story of Me
2. Comedy Plus
3. Country Dawn
4. Nap Warden
5. The Pink Flamingo
6. West of Mars
7. Brain Freeze
8. Fond of Snape
9. Wylie Kinson
10. Me & Mine
11. My Place of Beauty
12. Single Parents Unite
13. The Safe Harbor
14. One Gal's musings
15. Greatfullivin
16. Pop culture Dish
17. No Nonsense Girl
18. What Works for Us
19. Puss Reboots
20. Joy in the Moment
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22. Around the Island
23. Philly Transplant
24. Loose Leaf Notes
25. AniqueAnik
26. Tilly Greene
27. Salome's Corner
28. Chaotic Crafter
29. Storyweaver's Web
30. Lives Less Ordinary
31. On a Limb with Claudia
32. She
33. One Old Green Bus
34. Notes in the Key of Life
35. Mundane Matters in the Life of Lynn
36. The Cafe at the End of the Universe
37. D3
38. iPentimento
39. Zenmomma's Garden
40. Live Your Life and Smile
41. Wakela Runen

Comments

[Chelle Y.]

How about provide good insurance benefits for thousands of people? :)

[Comedy Plus]

What an awesome post. I always wondered how to wrap my mind around the term trillion. Thanks for allowing me to do that. Have a great TT. :)

[Country Dawn]

Yeahhhh.... it's time to tighten the ol' belt...

AGAIN.

Clinton had the dang thing almost paid off...

Maybe the next Clinton will get it back under control! :P

[Nap Warden]

Well, it certainly makes you think. I will take the Kelly bag and the Jimmy Choo shoes...Do you deliver?;)

[SJ Reidhead]

#4 - Red please

SJ Reidhead
The Pink Flamingo

[SJ Reidhead]

#4 - Red please

SJ Reidhead
The Pink Flamingo

[Susan Helene Gottfried]

I like the Harvard idea. Maybe some of those newly educated minds can find the way to get us out of this mess!!!

[DrillerAA]

The Harvard education is overrated. Give a good state college education to triple the number of students.

[Janet]

hmmm...thanks...now I'm doubly depressed.

[Wylie Kinson]

Oh, someone stole my health insurance comment. Dang...
Okay - how many libraries could it fund?
How many diseases could it cure?
Ah hell -- just hand over the Choos ;)

[Wylie Kinson]

Oh, someone stole my health insurance comment. Dang...
Okay - how many libraries could it fund?
How many diseases could it cure?
Ah hell -- just hand over the Choos ;)

[Yen]

That's a lot of money!!! :)

[morgan]

You should run for President. Especially with thoughts like this!

[Lori]

What awesome ideas...I think you need to submit these to congress and say the people voted YES on all the above. Especially #1. Happy TT.

[Laura]

Happy TT!

[The Gal Herself]

I know this is supposed to disgust and appall me, except I dream about owning my own Kelly bag. Does that make me a bad person?

[D. Cupples]

Gal Herself,

This list is NOT supposed to make people feel bad, just to give an idea of what $9 trillion looks like. Remember, I'm the one who listed the Kelly bag as an option.

[Greatfullivin]

And how many homeless hungry people are there in this country? I am totally disgusted! Thank you for the thoughtful post. Happt T13!

[Malcolm]

Thanks for the fiscal breakdown. Just like others, I was thinking about health care and shelter for the homeless. As always, a very thoughtful and informative post.

[No Nonsense girl]

I agree with the gang!!!! Very interesting and informative TT!!!

[WorksForMom]

Now THAT's a fiscal commentary if I ever saw one. Good post. Very good post.

[pussreboots]

Just another way to be angry at this current shitty administration. Happy TT.

[marcia v]

I like the houses idea

[kristinaQ]

Happy TT!

That's a great compilation.. really makes people think about our country and economy.

[Robin from Israel]

How much free healthcare would that buy? Or new teachers? Or better education in general?

So so sad...

[Christine]

Amazing. Those numbers boggle my mind!

[Carrie Lofty]

Priuses for everyone! Prius party! We'd have to make sure they traded in their gas-guzzler to get one.

[Tilly Greene]

Oh man, this shows exactly how off the track the US is when it comes to money.

Thank you for putting it out there in terms every man, woman, and child can understand - a house, car [and an energy efficient one], or raise, who wouldn't want those things.

[AniqueAnik]

that's really lot of money and many people will be benefited if it's really use on the right way. nice list you've got there.happy TT!
my first entry is up hope you got time.

[Xakara]

If we threw 1 trillion at innovate technology and education, creating new jobs and extending the value of jobs already in existence; then threw another trillion at health care and social security, we'd have enough healthy, educated, high-earning workers contributing to the economy enough to help pay off the other 7. Just sayin'

Thanks for the effort in breaking that down to understandable concepts.It's such a mythical number that it helped having tangible things to attribute it to.

Happy TT

~X

[colleen]

The Iraq war will be costing more like trillions someone on the news reported. I just don't get how anyone thinks Bush is conservative. Let's not forget that he started with a balanced budget.

[colleen]

The Iraq war will be costing more like trillions someone on the news reported. I just don't get how anyone thinks Bush is conservative. Let's not forget that he started with a balanced budget.

[Sparky Duck]

Can I do something else with my shoe money, maybe an Xbox?

[Open Grove Claudia]

Ok, so I'm trying to choose. My heart wants the Maserati but my mind wants the Prius. I don't care about Harvard. Sheez. I went to Cal. (rolling eyes)

Then there's the shoes. Um, could I have some Christian Loubartins instead??

I get so angry with the national debt and our complete inability to create effective policy to change things. I have to focus on anything else.

Were we talking about Christian Loubartin's shoes? How 'bout thigh high boots?

[amypalko]

I won't hold my breath for my gift set of i-pod, i-phone and laptop! Truly shocking figures though. Thanks for visiting my TT, btw.

[she]

lovin' your tt this week!

[Cindy Swanson]

Hey, I'll take the Jimmy Choos! :)

OK, so I'm being flippant. As always, a clever and informative list.

[Matthew James Didier]

...and yet, I miss a payment to ANY of my regular bills and here them HOLLER!

I love these sorts of lists... kinda like the "How Many Big Macs Could Bill Gates Buy with One Hours Worth of his Income".

...'cept this one is scarier.

[vigilant20]

Wow, that really does bring it down to earth. Great TT.

[Penelope Anne]

I'd like the house please :)

[J. Lynne]

I'd like to donate my share to SChip please.

I do really wish that I could mark on my tax forms how I want my tax money spent. I mean, when the United Way people come around asking for donations, you have the option to select where you want your donation to go to; I think I should have an option to put down where I want my tax money to be spent. I pick education and health care for children.

[webduck]

Great post for TT! I am adding you to my blogroll too. Come visit if you have time. :)

[zenmomma]

Those numbers are mind boggling! :-P

[Jill]

I'll take of one #10!!
You certainly need to get out of debt!! I don't understand why you keep going more deep into debt...

[Wakela Runen]

That really makes you wonder. Think about how just a few years ago we were almost out of debt. Now we have Bush to thank for getting us back in debt.

Hmmm... Then they wonder why we are a nation of overspenders. We are just following the example of our government.

[Wakela Runen]

That really makes you wonder. Think about how just a few years ago we were almost out of debt. Now we have Bush to thank for getting us back in debt.

Hmmm... Then they wonder why we are a nation of overspenders. We are just following the example of our government.