Tread lightly on the things of earth

As my neighbor Advisorjim points out, the U.S. Senate yesterday approved a $2.6 trillion budget for FY 2005 (official OMB documentation). Jim observes of this budgeted quantity:

Just to put this in perspective, Bill Clinton’s final budget $1.789 trillion, so under the “fiscal conservatism” of Bush government spending has grown by 45%. To put it another way, in terms of absolute dollars it took Clinton 8 years to increase spending as much as Bush has increased it in one year.

I’m not the only one to observe this budget assumes zero dollars spent in Iraq. Hmmm. According to the National Priorities Project, we’ve spent at least $166 billion in Iraq. Last time I checked, $166B indicates a rate of spending substantially greater than represented by $0.

So it’ll actually be $2.6 trillion with a really big-ass cherry on top.

Trillion, schmillion — sure we’re talkin’ big money, but how can we comprehend how much a trillion dollars really is? Hillbilly Dem thoughtfully provides a word picture:

If you won a $1 million dollar lottery on the day of Jesus’ birth, and then won another the next day, and the next day and kept winning $1 million every day, every single day, through the days of the Roman Empire, through the rule of Constantine in 4th century, and every day of every year through the Persian Wars in 500 A.D., through Charlemagne’s reign, through the Norman invasion of 1066 A.D., through the Mayan Empire, the Dark Ages, the Renaissance, the Spanish conquistadors, the Romanov Dynasty — every day another $1 million. Through America’s independence, the U.S. Civil War, through both world wars, and kept winning $1 million every single day from the birth of Jesus until April 29, 2005, you still have not collected $1 trillion dollars.

In fact, you’d be over $250,000,000,000 short.

Yikes. And this U.S. budget, projecting expenses for one year without counting war costs, is two-and-a-half times that incomprehensible number. How to pay? The solution is obvious: <snark>Cut revenues! Tax cuts for everybody! Forever!</snark>

Let’s see now … We’re fed nearly endless assertions that

• Fiscal irresponsibility is fiscal responsibility
• Big government is small government
• Greed is generosity
• Consumption is stewardship
• Division is unity
• Hatred is compassion
• War is peace
• Ignorance is wisdom
• Lies are truth
• Deception is revelation
• Ends justify means

Nuts: the new sane?

Nope. Nuts is nuts.