The perspective:

[mndapa1]

www.nypost.com/seven/08022009/postopinion/opedcolumnists/the_4_trillion_splurge_182650.htm

You thought you'd had enough of depressing numbers after the stimulus package passed in February. But a reporter from the Heritage Foundation, out this week, shows that those numbers were just a fraction -- about one-fifth, to be precise -- of what the federal government will spend in 2009.

This year's $4 trillion total -- a record, even accounting for inflation -- may look like a sudden blip on Heritage's graphs, but research shows the spike is here to stay. Three years from now, when stimulus spending has slowed to a dribble, new programs and strained entitlements will bring federal expenses right back to today's "emergency spending" levels. By 2019, Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid caseloads will have hit record heights, and the national debt will be nearly double what it is now.

In the haze of zeros, it's hard to really grasp what this means. It isn't helped by the fact that the Office of Management and Budget has some 2,200 pages of documents explaining the budget.

But with the help of Heritage, we broke down exactly what $4 trillion means -- both for spending and for each of us.


Depressing...isnt it?

[hasset]

I did not see how much is being put into private pockets (deep ones!) When I hear how much some of those Chicago people who are now in our government have lined their pockets with, I get mad and sick.

[hasset]

This is from an article in the St. Petersburg Times Newspaper on Sunday and was sent to me in an email.

The Business Section asked readers for ideas on "How Would You Fix the Economy?" It sounds like the best plan I have heard of yet.

Dear Mr. President, Please find below my suggestion for fixing America 's economy.

Instead of giving billions of dollars to companies that will squander the money on lavish parties and unearned bonuses, use the following plan:

Patriotic Retirement Plan:

There are about 40 million people over 50 in the work force. Pay them $1 million apiece severance for early retirement with the following stipulations:

1) They MUST retire.. Forty million job openings - Unemployment fixed.

2) They MUST buy a new American CAR. Forty million cars ordered - Auto
Industry fixed.

3) They MUST either buy a house or pay off their mortgage - Housing Crisis
fixed.

P.S. If more money is needed, have all members in Congress and their
constituents pay their taxes...and Mr. President...while you're at it...make
congress retire on Social Security and Medicare...I'll bet both programs
would be fixed...pronto!!