So How Much Are We Spending?

All of us are aware of the latest stimulus bill and its cost of 787 billion. But that is just one part of the bailouts our government has been funding. CNNMoney.com is keeping a running record of government spending on bailouts. Since December of 2007, the government has allocated 10.8 TRILLION in rescue spending and has actually spent 2.1 trillion of that so far. So how much is a trillion? A noted mathematician has said that if you spent a million dollars a day since the birth of Christ, that would equal about three-fourths of a trillion. One trillion seconds equals 32,000 years. If you stacked a trillion dollar bills on top of each other, the stack would reach 68,000 miles into space, or one third of the way to the moon.

Our national debt is just under ELEVEN TRILLION DOLLARS! Think about that.

On another, equally dismal note,money spent to rescue failing banks has NOT been successful, and now even conservative Republicans are thinking that nationalization of the banks is the only answer. Fear of this sent the DOW tumbling to a six-year low on Friday as private investors dumped their bank stocks. If the banks are nationalized, stock owners of bank shares will lose their investments. They are getting out while there is still time.

However, we should be happy. We will see an increase of about $13 a week in our paychecks, possibly as early as next week. Now, doesn't that make you feel better?