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Shanea Watkins and Patrick Tyrrell of the Center for Data Analysis at The Heritage Foundation put President Barack Obama’s trillion-dollar spending plan into terms we understand:

Many people have trouble picturing such an enormous amount of money. To put it into perspective, $825 billion is worth approximately $10,520 for each family in the United States, or $22,445 for each family with children under the age of 18.

Average spending for all family groups in the United States is similar to that of families with children. On average, families annually spend:

  • $2,330 on apparel and services,
  • $3,595 on health care,
  • $4,322 on food at home, and
  • $11,657 annually on shelter.

If all families were asked to equally shoulder the burden of the $825 billion “stimulus” package, it would be like asking them to take on an amount of debt equivalent to what they spend on food, clothing, and health care — or most of what they spend on shelter — for an entire year.