Why Is A Billion A Lot Except When Talking About U.S. Politics?

In most contexts, a billion of anything is a lot. It's a thousand times bigger than a million, which has always been a benchmark for a wide variety of things including being the minimal threshold for the millionaire's club, having a gold record in the music industry, etc. Yes, a billion is almost always a lot of something.

Consider a billion seconds of time. If you do the math, a billion seconds is about 32 years:

• 32 years ago, Jimmy Carter was still President.
• 32 years ago, about 41% of the current U.S. population had not been born yet.
• 32 years ago, very few people owned a personal computer, no one owned a cellular phone, the Internet did not exist, and TVs were neither flat or large.
• The cumulative national debt was only about $900 billion or about $11,300 per U.S. household.

Yes, a billion seconds was a long time ago. However, a billion minutes is even longer. A billion minutes is about 1,903 years ago:

• 1,903 years ago is within a hundred years or so when Jesus Christ walked the earth.
• 1,903 years ago is within the reign of the Roman Empire.
• 1,903 years ago is about 1,400 years before Columbus discovered the New World.

Yes, a billion minutes is a long time ago. But a billion hours is even longer. A billion hours is about 114,000 years ago:

• 114,000 years ago is prior to the last Ice Age (according to the NOAA).
• 1114,000 years ago, Neanderthals were still walking the earth.

Yes, a billion of anything, even things as small as seconds, minutes, and hours, is really a lot and lasts a very long time...unless your are talking about the U.S. Federal government and the political class who operates it.

Based on Obama's recently submitted 2013 budget, one dollar, if multiplied a billion times, would be spent, on average, by the U.S. government in about two hours and 19 minutes:

• Yes, in less than the time it takes to watch an NFL football game, the Federal government would have spent a billion dollars.
• In less than the time it takes to typically to go out and see a movie in a theater, the Federal government would have spent a billion dollars.
• In less than the time it takes many trained runners to run a marathon, the Federal government would have spent a billion dollars.
• If Obama's proposed 2013 budget is not changed, it will add about another $11,300 to the national debt burden of each American household on average. This is equivalent to the debt burden that all American President's combined from Washington through the Carter administration had added to the national debt burden of American households over two centuries.

Yes, a billion is a lot of anything and everything and lasts a long time unless you measure it against how out of control this administration and the current political class in Washington is when it comes to spending, and wasting, taxpayer wealth. A billion seconds, a billion minutes, a billion hours, all seemingly last forever. A billion dollars in the hands of a Washington politician, not so much.

And this anomaly of a billion is what will destroy this country, this democracy, and our freedom long before a billion seconds, a billion minutes and a billion hours transpire.



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Please visit the following sites for freedom:

http://www.cato.org/
http://www.robertringer.com/
http://realpolichick.blogspot.com/
http://www.flipcongress2010.com/
http://www.reason.com/
http://www.repealamendment