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The Straight Story Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun May-22-11 10:00 AM
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Pile of debt would stretch beyond stratosphere
Pile of debt would stretch beyond stratosphere

President Ronald Reagan once famously said that a stack of $1,000 bills equivalent to the U.S. government's debt would be about 67 miles high.

That was 1981. Since then, the national debt has climbed to $14.3 trillion. In $1,000 bills, it would now be more than 900 miles tall.

In $1 bills, the pile would reach to the moon and back twice.

The United States hit its legal borrowing limit on Monday, and the Treasury Department has said the U.S. Congress must raise the debt ceiling by August 2 to avoid a default.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/05/19/us-usa-debt-size-idUSTRE74I5TL20110519
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Davis_X_Machina Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun May-22-11 10:10 AM
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1. Strange...
...if you used trillion-dollar bills it would be about as high as a matchbook.

It's an idiot statistic -- was when Reagan did it, dumb today when Reuters does it.

Lazy journalism -- and lazy journalism with an axe to grind.
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Tunkamerica Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun May-22-11 10:15 AM
Original message
Another interesting fact:
For every person on the earth, there are two hundred million insects.

also,

A cockroach can live nine days without eating. This is also the same amount of time that the body of a cockroach can live after its head has been cut off before it eventually dies from starvation.
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Tunkamerica Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun May-22-11 10:15 AM
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2. xx
Edited on Sun May-22-11 10:15 AM by Tunkamerica
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NYC_SKP Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun May-22-11 10:15 AM
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3. I need this converted to Football Fields... or Olympic Size Swimming Pools...
Or elephants, some measurement I'm more familiar with!

:P
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Silent3 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun May-22-11 10:15 AM
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4. I thought the Republican plan was to "starve the beast"
Maybe they're trying to suffocate it instead.
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BluDogsRPubs Donating Member (27 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun May-22-11 10:18 AM
Response to Original message
5. Rancid Ronnie and his ilk
have been the single worst thing to happen to America. America is turning into a fascist nation right before our eyes all because of the GOP and the DLC.
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DCBob Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun May-22-11 10:55 AM
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6. How about in pennies... would it stretch to the end of the universe?
inquiring minds want to know.
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Tunkamerica Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun May-22-11 11:10 AM
Response to Reply #6
7. the weight of the pennies would create a singularity which would devour the earth
and all surrounding matter. The debt is serious stuff people. Also, no more pennies. Think of the children.
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rock Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun May-22-11 03:30 PM
Response to Original message
8. How far would it reach
if converted to nanocents?
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Tunkamerica Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue May-24-11 04:53 AM
Response to Reply #8
9. you tell us
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