Forwarded by Harley Koets. Originating source unknown.

The next time you hear a politician use the word “billion”, casually think about whether he or she is the right one to be spending your tax money.

A billion is a difficult number to comprehend, but an advertising agency did a good job of putting that figure into perspective in one of its publicity releases:

• A billion seconds ago it was 1959.
• A billion minutes ago Jesus was alive.
• A billion hours ago our ancestors were living in the Stone Age.
• A billion days ago no person walked on two feet on earth.
• A billion dollars ago was only 8 hours and 20 minutes, at the rate our government spends it.