What is a Trillion?

The B.O. presidency is about to pass an 850 Billion dollar “stimulus” package, criticized as being a fast-tracked budget extension for many liberal pet-projects. Additionally, most economists feel the expenditures are too slow to develop, and that the economy, left alone, would recover in about two years. Many provisions of the stimulus package would not even be in full swing yet. We, as a nation are about to have an operating deficit of one trillion dollars.

I have for years (since 1988) said that liberal government’s primary directive is to get people so dependant of government programs and money that the people would resist change for fear of losing assistance, thus creating a permanent liberal state. A government that will let enough individuals fail to give the masses a real fear of what life would be like without the government aid, but offer no real motivation to excel since the burden of the poor rests firmly on the shoulders of the successful.

So, back to my question, what is a trillion? We see the word and probably think hey, it is only one more than a billion and just two more than a million. I think if the media showed the number instead of the word people would be a little more concerned.

With my question in mind I took to the Inter-web and this is some of what I found.

• Trillion = 1,000,000,000,000.00, or a 1, twelve zeros and 4 commas.
• A Trillion in time: A million seconds ago was 12 days ago. A billion seconds ago was 1959. A trillion seconds ago Neanderthals were wandering around France.
• Based on the US Treasury’s average gross income of a working American I would have to work 17,233 years to make $1,000,000,000,000.00. However, since I work in education I may need to work 20,000 years.
• Light travels about 186,200 miles per second. It takes the light from the sun 8 minutes to reach Earth. If I could ride the V-Strom to the Sun at 100 MPH it would take me over 105 years to get there. At light speed, light leaving the Sun would take 62 days to travel a trillion miles.
• A Trillion in Distance: A trillion miles would be about 350 trips to Pluto & back on the V-Strom if we were both on the same side of the sun.

I do not know about you but that last one made me a bit nauseous.

With this in mind I do not think is unpatriotic or that I lack compassion for the people in need if I want to ask where my money is going.

How long does it take to heal?

I was walking through the halls of campus and saw PE-BO (I coined it, it’s mine) on one of the numerous flat panels that adorn the corridors on campus. Of course I got my requisite laugh out of the plaque on the podium that read “Office of the President Elect”. He did not look out of place nor was I shocked to see him as the next President. Please do not confuse that statement with any, and I mean any, softening of my opinions for the man. Swap the word welfare for stimulus in any of his speeches and you know where the country is headed.
Anyway, the reason I bring this up is because the media made race such a big deal during the election that in hindsight I put some deep thought into who I supported. During the election I publicly stated I did not think there was really that much of a difference between PE-BO & The McCainiac. So was I supporting McCain because he was “like” me? Ideologically, I am a fiscal conservative with many liberal social views.
You get intriguing glimpses of yourself when you have your guard down and you least expect it. So when I looked up and saw PE-BO on TV, in that fleeting unguarded moment, the only disdain that surfaced was for the man’s policy and not who or what he is. That answered my question.
Now about the healing, in the aftermath of the aforementioned fleeting unguarded moment, I felt no loss or anger. I am not stripping the Bikers for McCain stickers off of the mule or anything like that but there were no real passionate emotions that erupted. I was upset about the election outcome. I do not expect to win every election, but I have not been as beat up as the typical Texas democrat. I (my party) have not lost a presidential election since 1996. I have not lived under a democrat Congressman or Senator in a longer time than I can remember and the last democratic Governor elected in Texas was was Ann Richards. So, I was poised to take the loss quite badly. I still occasionally see the faded Kerry or Gore stickers trolling around on battered Toyotas and wondered if I was going to be that guy. I am glad to say I have healed and the time required seems to be about 64 days or less. I got over it and I will continue to try and make a better life for my family in spite of the new liberal political machine. I will transfer any new tax burden levied upon me and remove the exact amount from any nonessential spending prolonging the current economic slump. I will not reward any increased middle class taxation with increased consumerism and I urge the TWAATFOG nation to do the same. How was I able to “get over it” so fast? I figured that out too. (Humor & Generalization Warning) To most hard-core liberals politics is their Religion; they are in fact mostly godless. So, getting over an election loss is not readily possible because their political ideology occupies the same space in themselves as a sole would reside in normal people. To walk away from the election would be the equivalent turning your back on your Religion. Since my political ideology is but a small portion of who I am I only needed 64 days. In other words, I have a life to attend to so I “got over it”.