It’s a bargain At Only One Billion Dollars

A $Billion here, A $Billon there, here a $Billion, there a $Billion, everywhere a $Billion…

Are our Elected Officials taking care of their “Public Trust”. This is too true to be very funny – but sheds new light on Einstein’s Theory of Relativity – remember this the next time you’re paying your household bills… and you hear a politician use the phrase  ‘only a billion dollars‘ in a casual manner, knowing that it’s OUR money that they are spending collected through taxation.

A billion is a difficult number to comprehend, but one advertising agency did a good job of putting that figure into some perspective in one of its releases.

One Billion, Relatively Speaking:

• A billion seconds ago it was 1959 (I wasn’t born yet. How old were you?)
• A billion minutes ago Jesus was alive.
• A billion hours ago our ancestors were living in the Stone Age.
• A billion days ago no-one walked on the earth on two feet.
• And…

Drum Roll Please: 8 hours and 20 minutes,
the the time it takes the US government to spend $1,000,000,000 (Billion Dollars – yes, with a “B”)

While this thought is still fresh in our brain, let’s take a look at New Orleans. It’s amazing what you can learn with some simple division. Louisiana Senator, Mary Landrieu (D), is presently asking the Congress for $250 BILLION to rebuild New Orleans.  Interesting number, what does it mean?

• Well, if you are one of the 484,674 residents of New Orleans (every man, woman, child), you each get $516,528.
• Or, if you have one of the 188,251 homes in New Orleans , your home gets $1,329,787.
• Or, if you are a family of four, your family gets $2,066,012.

Washington, D.C .. HELLO!!! … This is the Inconvenient Truth.

Here’s a taxing little ditty (must be a country song):

• Tax his land, Tax his wage, Tax his bed in which he lays
• Tax his tractor, Tax his mule, Teach him taxes is the rule.
• Tax his cow, Tax his goat, Tax his pants,Tax his coat.
• Tax his ties, Tax his shirts, Tax his work, Tax his dirt.
• Tax his tobacco, Tax his drink, Tax him if he tries to think.
• Tax his booze, Tax his beers, If he cries, Tax his tears.
• Tax his bills, Tax his gas, Tax his notes, Tax his cash. Tax him good and let him know, That after taxes, he has no dough.
• If he hollers, Tax him more, Tax hi m until he’s good and sore.
• Tax his coffin, Tax his grave, Tax the sod in which he lays.
• Put these words upon his tomb, ‘Taxes drove me to my doom!’
• And when he’s gone, We won’t relax, We’ll still be after the inheritance TAX!!

Taxation: Let’s count the ways (some may argue that these are fees, I’d ask you to consider who the check is written too):

• Accounts Receivable Tax
• Building Permit Tax
• CDL License Tax
• Cigarette Tax
• Corporate Income Tax
• Dog License Tax
• Federal Income Tax
• Federal Unemployment Tax (FUTA)
• Fishing License Tax
• Food License Tax
• Fuel Permit Tax
• Gasoline Tax
• Hunting License Tax
• Inheritance Tax
• Inventory Tax
• IRS Interest Charges (tax on top of tax)
• IRS Penalties (tax on top of tax)
• Liquor Tax
• Luxury Tax
• Marriage License Tax
• Medicare Tax
• Property Tax
• Real Estate Tax
• Service charge taxes
• Social Security Tax
• Road Usage Tax (Truckers)
• Sales Taxes
• Recreational Vehicle Tax
• School Tax
• State Income Tax
• State Unemployment Tax (SUTA)
• Telephone Federal Excise Tax
• Telephone Federal Universal Service Fe e Tax
• Telephone Federal, State and Local Su rcharge Tax
• Telephone Minimum Usage Su rcharge Tax
• Telephone Recurring and Non-recurring Charges Tax
• Telephone State and Local Tax
• Telephone Usage Charge Tax
• Utility Tax
• Vehicle License Registration Tax
• Vehicle Sales Tax
• Watercraft Registration Tax
• Well Permit Tax
• Workers Compensation Tax

Interesting Taxation Side note: Not one of these taxes existed 100 years ago, and our nation was the most prosperous in the world. We had absolutely no national debt, had the largest middle class in the world, and Moms stayed home to raise the kids.

What happened? Government is BIG business – albeit not an efficient one. Why are we surprised when we elect “foxes” to watch the public “hen house”?

It’s said that ff you are in business, you are in politics. I never liked this, but it’s true.