Number of the Day

$7,300,000,000

N.C. First District Congressional Representative G.K. Butterfield requested $7.3 billion in earmarks requests in the Democrats' federal budget. The Wilson Democrat then hid the numbers under a tab on his Congressional website unlike his collegues who have placed the information on the home pages of their websites. When a Democrat requests that much new spending during a recession, it is no wonder he would want to keep it under the radar. You can view the full list of earmarks here.

Number of the Day

$9,300,000,000,000

The 10-year deficit total under President Obama's spending plan that he is sending to Congress. Under President Obama's plan, the United States will take on more debt during his term as president than we have in our history as a nation from the election of George Washington up to now.

Number of the Day

$9,000,000,000

"Calculations show, in fact, that state spending has outpaced inflation plus population growth by $9 billion over just the past five years." ("A lid for N.C.'s budget," News & Observer, 3/14/09)