A Picture Is Worth 3.8 Trillion Words

President Obama has been talking about his budget cuts.  How much are these cuts in the context of the total federal budget.  Or in the context of the household budget of an average American?

The President has proposed budget cuts of $775 million in the $3.8 trillion federal budget.   The deficit is projected at $1.5 trillion for the year.  To put this in practical terms, if this was an average family, they have $60,000 in income and they are spending $100,000.  They are putting $40,000 a year on their credit cards.

To cut what President Obama is proposing is equivalent to cutting about .0002 (that's 2/100 of 1%) of total spending.  Or about $20 on the $100,000 that family is spending.   Now they will only need to borrow $39,980 to maintain their lifestyle.

Doug Ross writes a blog( http://directorblue.blogspot.com/2011/02/obamas-tough-budget-cuts-in-pictures.html) that illustrates the magnitude of the President's budget cuts in more graphic fashion.  After all, a picture is worth a thousand 3.8 trillion words.

The first chart shows the total budget and the amount of deficit spending.  It also shows the size of the proposed cuts in green.  Do you see them?

Ross then blows up the image ten times to allow you to see a little sliver.

 If you still can't see it he blows it up another 10-fold from the previous image.

                                                                                  

Do you see it now?  Do you understand the magnitude of the mess we are in?

This is leadership?