It's Really Not Funny That Government Spending Can Generate a Bilion Laughs

This past December, I received an e-mail from a business associate telling me the next time you hear a politician use the word ‘billion' in a casual manner, think about whether you want that politician spending your tax money. He went on to say that a billion is a difficult number to comprehend, but an advertising agency he works with put that figure into perspective in one of its releases.

The release pointed out that a billion seconds ago, it was 1959. A billion minutes ago, Jesus walked on this earth and a billion hours ago, our ancestors were living in the Stone Age. If we go back a billion days, no one walked on this earth using two feet.

Keeping this analysis in mind, I think we have a right and a responsibility to hold our elected officials accountable for their actions. It's hard to believe that at the rate the government spends money, a billion dollars will be spent every eight hours and 20 minutes. As I see it, this is an indication that many elected government representatives have zero comprehension of the value of money.

For example, Louisiana Senator Mary Landrieu (D) is asking Congress for $250 billion to rebuild New Orleans. At first glance, many might applaud her initiative. But if we do our homework and use the divisional key on the calculator, the applause may turn into jeers.

The money Senator Landrieu is requesting would mean that each of the 484,674 residents of New Orleans (every man, woman, and child) would receive $516,528. Or if you have one of the 188,251 homes in New Orleans, you would receive $1,329,787. Better yet, if you are a family of four, your family gets $2,066,012.

I'm pointing out this silliness because government spending is out of control. Contrary to what these elected, money-spending advocates say, most of the new spending is for purposes other than homeland security and national defense.

As we enter into this New Year, we need to remain focused. We will be electing a new president along with many other Congressional representatives who will be responsible for creating policy that directly affects our future. The maturity of the Baby-Boomer age is now a reality and this brings increasing entitlement costs to the forefront. Some presidential hopefuls see socialized medical plans as a necessity. The necessary funds to support these plans will undoubtedly increase taxes, should these hopefuls be elected.

To quote Daniel J. Mitchell, PhD., senior research fellow in the Thomas A. Roe Institute for Economic Policy Studies at the Heritage Foundation, "Controlling federal spending is particularly important because of globalization. Today, it is becoming increasingly easy for jobs and capital to migrate from one nation to another. This means that the reward for good policy is greater than ever before, but it also means that the penalty for bad policy is greater than ever before."

It's time elected officials like Senator Landrieu rethink their current position and stop taking money out of the private sector to use in ways that are counterproductive.

Without cracking a smile, we should be able to come up with a billion reasons why legislating responsible fiscal policy needs to be this country's first priority.