Another Perspective On A Billion
By Harris R. Sherline
May 27, 2008
Senator Everett Dirksen (1896-1969) has been credited with saying, "A billion here and a billion there, and pretty soon you're talking real money." His comment is often quoted, but we rarely hear anyone talk about another aspect of his observation, which is: Just how much money is a billion dollars? Or, what can we pay for with that amount of money?
Today, we hear and see the word, "billion," constantly. Multi-billion dollar government budgets are routinely debated and approved, and we seem to think nothing of it. There's hardly a flicker from anyone. As a matter of fact, more often it's the opposite, ranging from simple disinterest to boredom. Unfortunately, what usually happens is that "pork" is piled onto appropriations bills as if the budget is a bottomless money pit for the convenience of our legislators, who are generally free to spend taxpayer funds with little or no public disclosure. The entire process is structured to enable them to ignore public good for personal advantage, without being held accountable.
I can remember a time when the idea of a billion dollars was a source of wonder at the sheer magnitude of that amount of money. Today, it no longer seems to elicit any response at all, other than lack of concern. But, a billion dollars does add up to "real money," especially when you look closely at what it can buy.
The 2008 Edition of Citizens Against Government Waste's (CAGW) "2008 Congressional Pig Book" notes, "In fiscal year 2008, Congress stuffed 11,610 projects (the second highest total ever) into the 12 [federal] appropriations bills worth $17.2 billion."
With this in mind, consider the following illustrations of just how much money a billion dollars, or $17.2 billion, actually is:
Based on the average national income of $38,611 (www.aft.org), the $17.2 billion in pork barrel expenditures appropriated by Congress in fiscal year 2008 could support over 445,000 families for one year. Or, it could pay the salaries of all members of Congress plus those of the entire Congressional staff and the legislators' total office expense budgets for 17 years, with money left over. Which is the better use of funds?
In many third-world countries, where the average annual income is less than $500, $17.2 billion could provide support for more than 34 million people for one year or 3.4 million people for ten years.
At $10,000 per student, $17.2 billion could pay the costs of schooling for 1.72 million children (K-12) for one year; or for the entire college educations of 430,000 students (at, say, $40,000 each).
At a median (half above/half below) salary of $50,872 a year, nationwide, $17.2 billion could pay for over 338.000 secondary school teachers for one year, or more than 33,800 teachers for 10 years.
At $100 per visit, $17.2 billion could pay for 172 million doctor appointments. Based on an average of four doctor visits per year, it could provide health care for 43 million people for one year. Coincidentally, that's roughly the number of Americans who reportedly do not have any health insurance. In addition, at an average prescription drug expense of $100 a month, $17.2 billion could cover the prescription costs for over 14 million people for one year, or 1.4 million patients for 10 years.
For those who live in apartments, at a rental rate of $1,000 a month, $17.2 billion could provide housing for over 1.4 million residents for one year.For the investment minded, at 5% per annum, the earnings on 17.2 billion dollars would be $860 million a year. Looking at it from the viewpoint of seniors who collect Social Security, with the average retiree receiving about $1,000 a month, the investment income could permanently provide annual retirement payments to almost 72,000 people. Isn't that how Social Security should work, instead of as a form of "Ponzi scheme," which would be illegal if it were not the government doing it?
Now we are hearing about trillion-dollar budgets, which makes the scope of our federal finances even more difficult to comprehend. The bigger the numbers, the easier it becomes to waste or hide large expenditures in the various budgets.
Are we getting our money's worth from government, or is too much of it being wasted? Like the man said, "A billion here and a billion there, and pretty soon you're talking real money."
The foregoing illustrations clearly demonstrate the misplaced priorities of our legislators. I believe financial impact reports should be required for all major appropriations bills.
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NOTE: Read more of Harris Sherline's commentaries on his blog at "opinionfest.com."
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Note -- The opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions, views, and/or philosophy of GOPUSA.