What Billions Really Mean

Contributed by an American Citizen

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 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 this thought is still fresh in our brain...let's take a look at New Orleans. It's amazing what you can learn with some simple division.

Louisiana Senator, Mary Landrieu (D) is presently asking Congress for 250 billion dollars to rebuild New Orleans. Interesting number...what does it mean?

A.  Well...if you are one of the 484,674 residents of New Orleans (every man, woman, and child) you each get $516,528.

B.  Or... if you have one of the 188,251 homes in New Orleans, your home gets $1,329,787.

C.  Or... if you are a family of four...your family gets $2,066,012.

Washington, D. C: Hello! Are all your calculators broken?