What does one TRILLION dollars look like?

All this talk about "stimulus packages" and "bailouts"...

A billion dollars...

A hundred billion dollars...

Eight hundred billion dollars...

One TRILLION dollars...

What does that look like?

We'll start with a $100 dollar bill.

A packet of one hundred $100 bills is less than 1/2" thick and contains $10,000 and fits in your pocket easily.

Believe it or not, this next little pile is $1 million dollars (100 packets of $10,000). You could stuff that into a grocery bag and walk around with it.

While a measly $1 million looked a little unimpressive, $100 million is a little more respectable. It fits neatly on a standard pallet...

And $1 BILLION dollars... now we're really getting somewhere...

Next we'll look at ONE TRILLION dollars. This is that number we've been hearing so much about. What is a trillion dollars? Well, it's a million million. It's a thousand billion. It's a one followed by 12 zeros.

You ready for this?

It's pretty surprising.

Go ahead...

Scroll down...

Ladies and gentlemen... I give you $1 trillion dollars...

Notice those pallets are double stacked.

...and remember those are $100 bills.

So the next time you hear someone toss around the phrase "trillion dollars"... that's what they're talking about.

It is time we stop tossing these numbers around like they are nothing.  We have become desensitized and need to recognize that a billion is a lot and a trillion is way more than we should even be considering. 

Hopefully this Tuesday you will make your voice heard and send a message to our elected officials that we need to manage the governmental budget like we do our own household budget.  We don't spend more than we have and we don't spend everything we make.  We put money aside for a "rainy" day and we only spend what we need to spend.  Let's get people in office that understand this and that can get this country back on firm financial footing.