$10T
Ever wanted to know just how big a number $10 trillion is? You know, $10,000,000,000,000?
Well, it’s pretty f*cking big, people.
In fact, it’s big enough that the national debt clock in Times Square can’t even accommodate it anymore, as it ran out of zeros back in September.
Now the famous clock, created by Manhattan real estate developer Seymour Durst in 1989, will be replaced with a clock that can display a cool quadrillion dollars of debt.
Here’s the thing, though … $10 trillion is more than just the current national debt (which is $10.7 trillion, actually) it’s also the amount of money our government has spent on bailouts and other interventionist efforts – in the last four months alone.
Yeah, you heard that right.
Over the last four months, we’ve spent or pledged the equivalent of our entire national debt trying to avoid an “economic Pearl Harbor” that went ahead and came anyway.
Let’s put that number in perspective, shall we?
With $10 trillion, you could not only put a man on the moon, you could have funded NASA’s entire budget from its inception.
You could have made the Louisiana Purchase.
You could have rebuilt Germany after World War II.
You could have fought the Korean, Vietnam, Gulf and Iraq wars.
You could have paid for the New Deal.
And when you were done paying for all of that – in inflation-adjusted dollars, mind you – you would still have $5 trillion left to play with.
That’s what your government has been up to for the last four months, people.
Comments
By EyesWideOpen on January 6th, 2009 at 2:44 pm
holy shit….
By Trey on January 6th, 2009 at 5:30 pm
I think Bill Clinton had that number at 0 about 10 years ago. Go figure.
By Disgusted on January 6th, 2009 at 8:28 pm
Bush never vetoed a single Republican spending bill. The debt rose more in his presidency than all other presidents combined. There is nothing conservative about Republicans.
How does McCain get close to 50 million votes? How does Henry Brown get re-elected? How does Lindsey Graham get re-elected?
Our kids should never respect us for our lack of fiscal discipline.
By James the Foot Soldier on January 6th, 2009 at 10:22 pm
Not to nit-pick Trey, but President Clinton did NOT get the national debt to zero 10 years ago. He and the republican controlled Congress(with less RINO and more conservative spines) managed to run a surplus for a year or so and actually made a tiny, tiny, downpayment on the natinoal debt.
Since then it’s been on an upward trajectory – thanks in LARGE part to RINOs in the Congress and the White House.
And the National GOP is seriously considering a RINO like Katon to lead it to the promised land? Sorry – that will simply keep the GOP wandering around in circles like the South Carolina GOP has for the past few years.
Having power is the SC GOP claim to fame. Exercising it judiciously turned out to be the impossible part as has finally been made plain for all to see.
By lou on January 7th, 2009 at 9:13 am
That’s only part of the story. People, your Social Security is being ripped off too. I have all the details…….. because I am the first in ” my class”. “They” didn’t mean to slip up this bad but add trillions of stolen SSA monies to this tab.
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