BUDGET ART

Image Credit: Washington Post.

(Click on the Chart for a bigger, clearer image)

Wow.

If I'm not mistaken, that deficit figure means if it was my budget, say $38,300 a year, I'd be putting $12,700 a year on my credit cards to pay the bills.

Got to tell you, that's not gonna last very long. Even when I start accepting all those credit card deals with the zero percent interest for 6 months. Pretty soon I'm printing money in the basement or knocking over 7-11s.

BTW, our credit card company (China) has nukes. I am not liking this picture.

Here's a link to a fabulous video on budget cuts. This is one of the best graphic representations I've ever seen on the subject. Just a few minutes long. Tells the story.

The President is talking about cutting $100,000,000 (one hundred million) from the budget.

The budget is $3,830,000,000,000 (3.83 trillion).

So, if this was my budget of $38,300, the President would be cutting 1 dollar.

100 pennies. That gets us down to $12,699 on my credit card bill. Which is better than $12,700, to be sure, so maybe I should not whine. 100 million here, 100 million there. Do it 12,700 times and VOILA! Problem solved, as Ross Perot used to say.

If the President finds 35 of these 100 million cuts (3.5 billion) per day for the next year, we are back at ground zero, my friends.

Sadly, I am unimpressed with the math. More importantly, so is Mrs. Optimist, who is the budget maven around here. When she cuts a budget, she cuts a budget. With a serrated knife her mom bought when Eisenhower was President.

You can hear the screaming and crying, the begging for mercy, for blocks. Usually the neighbors call the police and an ambulance.

I'm not saying that's the only way to do it. I'm just saying that's my experience.

Here's my impression of the current budget process:

Photo Credit.

Actually, I much prefer Jackson Pollack's results to the current federal budget situation. Why?

Photo Credit.

Told you. Much better.