I got up this morning and heard on the news that after 12 hours since the stimulus package passed congress, they wonder if anyone had actually read the 1100 pages that outline the 787 billion dollar monstrosity.  I just have to illuminate the difference between the millions, billions and trillions.  It is easy to assume that we have a clue what it means to have a million dollars or a billion dollars or even a trillion, but when we look at spending this money, it puts the amounts in perspective.  So here is the scenario:

Starting right now, you spend one dollar a second.  That means 60 dollars a minute, 3600 dollars an hour, and 86,400 dollars by this time tomorrow.  That is a chunk of change.  But you don’t stop there (assuming you’re loaded and have that many things to buy, obviously).  You continue with the one dollar a second spending.  It would take you about 11 and a half days to hit a million dollars.  At this point, you probably have a lot of stuff.  And maybe even some storage space or something to put the stuff in.  But you don’t stop there (remember, you’re loaded).  You keep going, trying to exhaust a billion dollars, going at the same rate.  You can wager a guess right now, but depending on how healthy you are, you might not make it to when you spend your billion. It’s going to take 8 more months and then 31 more years.  Let that sink in.  I would be 56 years old when I finished spending a billion dollars if I started spending 86,400 dollars a day right now.

Ok, that’s a big difference, but you ain’t seen nothin’ yet.  The national debt is currently sitting at 10.7 trillion dollars.  So let’s keep spending that money.  I know that after 31 years of spending 86,400 dollars a day, you may feel like you’re running out of money or things to buy (or friends houses to pay off).  If you started right now, as I’m writing this in 2009, you would spend your 1 trillionth dollar sometime in the year 33,718 A.D.  This would be the appropriate time at which your jaw hits the floor.

I can’t read 1100 pages in 12 hours to see how awesome ‘possum this stimulus plan is going to pan out.  I hope that people that are dying to work will get jobs.  But I would also like to see no one get rich off this thing.  The sad part is that someone is going to.  I would also like to see ridiculously rich folk lose a lot of money.  Probably not going to happen.  If only we weren’t such broken people, trying to find happiness/security in money, then maybe we would stand a chance.