NATION: Heavy, heavy debt

Since my last letter concerning the national debt, as publicly reported, we’ve added another mere trillion dollars, so here’s some new basic facts:

A million dollars in one hundred dollar bills weighs approximately 22 pounds. A billion dollars weighs 22,000 pounds, and a trillion dollars weighs 22,000,000 pounds. That’s 22 million pounds folks! Somebody get Guiness on the phone! Twenty-two trillion dollars weighs in at 484,000,000 pounds, or 242,000 tons. That’s equal to two nuclear-powered aircraft carriers, plus 42,000 tons of $600 government toilet seats, or 3,450 M1 Abrams tanks fully loaded with ammo, Red Bull and girlie magazines. How’s that for giving our society a financial hernia. The sage old saying comes to mind, “You can pay me now, or pay me later.”

RAY GODDARD

Emida