Note to Thirteeners & Others:
If you leave a comment with your URL, we'll list your link under our
post (making it a proper link for Technorati and Google). To join
Thursday 13, click on the badge.
.
Want to join BN-Politics' link-exchange? Add us to your blogroll and email us.
(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.
Get Thursday Thirteen code here! View More T-13 Participants
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:
- The Story of Me
- Comedy Plus
- Country Dawn
- Nap Warden
- The Pink Flamingo
- West of Mars
- Brain Freeze
- Fond of Snape
- Wylie Kinson
- Me & Mine
- My Place of Beauty
- Single Parents Unite
- The Safe Harbor
- One Gal's musings
- Greatfullivin
- Pop culture Dish
- No Nonsense Girl
- What Works for Us
- Puss Reboots
- Joy in the Moment
- Green Tea Rocks
- Around the Island
- Philly Transplant
- Loose Leaf Notes
- AniqueAnik
- Tilly Greene
- Salome's Corner
- Chaotic Crafter
- Storyweaver's Web
- Lives Less Ordinary
- On a Limb with Claudia
- She
- One Old Green Bus
- Notes in the Key of Life
- Mundane Matters in the Life of Lynn
- The Cafe at the End of the Universe
- D3
- iPentimento
- Zenmomma's Garden
- Live Your Life and Smile
- Wakela Runen
How about provide good insurance benefits for thousands of people? :)
Posted by: Chelle Y. | October 24, 2007 at 06:15 PM
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. :)
Posted by: Comedy Plus | October 24, 2007 at 06:31 PM
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
Posted by: Country Dawn | October 24, 2007 at 06:31 PM
Well, it certainly makes you think. I will take the Kelly bag and the Jimmy Choo shoes...Do you deliver?;)
Posted by: Nap Warden | October 24, 2007 at 06:40 PM
#4 - Red please
SJ Reidhead
The Pink Flamingo
Posted by: SJ Reidhead | October 24, 2007 at 07:15 PM
#4 - Red please
SJ Reidhead
The Pink Flamingo
Posted by: SJ Reidhead | October 24, 2007 at 07:16 PM
I like the Harvard idea. Maybe some of those newly educated minds can find the way to get us out of this mess!!!
Posted by: Susan Helene Gottfried | October 24, 2007 at 07:48 PM
The Harvard education is overrated. Give a good state college education to triple the number of students.
Posted by: DrillerAA | October 24, 2007 at 08:31 PM
hmmm...thanks...now I'm doubly depressed.
Posted by: Janet | October 24, 2007 at 08:40 PM
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 ;)
Posted by: Wylie Kinson | October 24, 2007 at 08:47 PM
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 ;)
Posted by: Wylie Kinson | October 24, 2007 at 08:47 PM
That's a lot of money!!! :)
Posted by: Yen | October 24, 2007 at 08:48 PM
You should run for President. Especially with thoughts like this!
Posted by: morgan | October 24, 2007 at 08:50 PM
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.
Posted by: Lori | October 24, 2007 at 09:08 PM
Happy TT!
Posted by: Laura | October 24, 2007 at 09:08 PM
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?
Posted by: The Gal Herself | October 24, 2007 at 09:36 PM
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.
Posted by: D. Cupples | October 24, 2007 at 09:51 PM
And how many homeless hungry people are there in this country? I am totally disgusted! Thank you for the thoughtful post. Happt T13!
Posted by: Greatfullivin | October 24, 2007 at 09:59 PM
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.
Posted by: Malcolm | October 24, 2007 at 10:13 PM
I agree with the gang!!!! Very interesting and informative TT!!!
Posted by: No Nonsense girl | October 24, 2007 at 10:17 PM
Now THAT's a fiscal commentary if I ever saw one. Good post. Very good post.
Posted by: WorksForMom | October 24, 2007 at 10:25 PM
Just another way to be angry at this current shitty administration. Happy TT.
Posted by: pussreboots | October 24, 2007 at 10:32 PM
I like the houses idea
Posted by: marcia v | October 25, 2007 at 12:34 AM
Happy TT!
That's a great compilation.. really makes people think about our country and economy.
Posted by: kristinaQ | October 25, 2007 at 01:32 AM
How much free healthcare would that buy? Or new teachers? Or better education in general?
So so sad...
Posted by: Robin from Israel | October 25, 2007 at 03:30 AM