The Things We Could Have Bought

The election is over, thank goodness. We're done with attack ads and robocalls ... until the next election. The hundreds of thousands of yard and roadside signs will eventually be removed. The anger and gridlock and political childishness will continue. And we'll come to grips with the realization that this was the most expensive midterm election campaign in history - nearly four billion dollars was spent to convince us to vote for one person or the other, one party or the other.

Maybe it's just me, but I think this is beyond shameful. Do you have any idea how much money that is? Most of us can't fathom such enormous numbers ... so let's look at them in a different way: what does that much money look like? Here are some pictures that put it in perspective:

This is what $100 looks like ...

Here's $10,000 ... it's a convenient size to slip into an inside jacket pocket for those short-notice opportunities to make a down payment on a politician ...

This is $1,000,000 ... it would probably fit comfortably in a suitcase ...

This is what $100,000,000 looks like ... it fits pretty nicely on a standard-sized shipping pallet, with a bit left over ...

And this is what a billion dollars looks like ...

Multiply that by four, and you have an idea of the number of hundred dollar bills that was spent on yesterday's election.

Don't you think we could have done more for the country with four billion dollars? This article gives us a few ideas on things we might have done with that much money.

Four billion dollars would buy a lot of schools. A lot of libraries. A lot of quality health care. It could repair bridges, roads, and sewers.

Instead, we spent it on road signs, glossy and uninformative mailers, disgusting and insulting television commercials, and annoying robocalls. We spent it on buying certain individuals and groups a level of government service and attention not available to you and I.

A few days ago when I complained about this on my Facebook page, one of my coworkers commented that "... this is private money. Not public money. I don't want people telling me how to spend my money, so I'm not going to tell others how to spend theirs."

It's a free country. People can spend their money however they want. I just wish they'd be more responsible about what they spend it on.

Have a good day. Expect more from your elected reprehensives, even if you aren't the one who paid for them.

More thoughts tomorrow.

Bilbo