Do $ numbers still have meaning?

[JohnB]

Pangloss recently started a thread about President Obama asking Congress for another $60 Billion.

 

I'm not going to comment on either the legality or necessity of the request, but it made me wonder, do the numbers mean anything to politicians any more?

 

$60B is equal to 20% of the total Australian Federal budget. I know we are only a small nation, but, jees that's a lot of money.

 

US pollies seem to throw around billions and tens of billions like ours throw around millions and tens of millions. While the scale differs you have to wonder if the pollies are connected to the reality that it's not their money, it belongs to the people.

 

Because it isn't theirs, is it just a number to them now?

[ecoli]

to be fair, our population is ~15 times that of Australia so the tax burden can be spread a bit thinner.

 

The people don't notice because it's not like we're raising taxes. Any wagers as to when greater than 5% inflation will set in?

[Pangloss]

A trillion here, a trillion there, and pretty soon you're talking about some real money.