Sometimes the most basic examples are the best. This is one of them. John Hinderaker posted an article at Power Line yesterday that puts the budget debate in terms that I can understand.
In the interest of science (of course), John went to McDonald’s and ordered a Big Mac Extra Value Meal. He based his research on a Cato Institute report that commented on the ‘budget slashing’ Continuing Resolution recently passed:
“Federal spending has soared by more than $2,000,000,000,000 during the Bush-Obama years, pushing the burden of government up to $3,800,000,000,000, yet the reporters who put together this story said that an agreement to trim a trivially tiny slice of 2011 spending would “slash the budget.”
“As Charlie Brown would say, good grief. This is the budgetary equivalent of going on a diet by leaving a couple of french fries in the bottom of the bag after bingeing on three Big Mac meals at McDonald’s.”
John decided to follow up on this concept. John Hinderaker concluded:
“,,,If there are 570 calories in a large order of fries, and 87 fries per order, each french fry, on the average, contains 6.5 calories. One 633rd of the total calorie content of a Big Mac Extra Value Meal is 1,320/633, or 2.1 calories. That equals almost exactly one-third of an average sized french fry.
“So, consider: if you were to go on what the Democrats consider a starvation diet, and “slash” your calorie intake to exactly the same degree that the Republicans’ $6 billion cut has “slashed” the federal budget, you would do the following. Go to McDonalds and order a Big Mac Extra Value meal. Eat the Big Mac. Drink the Coke. Eat 86 of the 87 french fries. Carefully take the last fry and bite off two-thirds of it. Put the remaining one-third of one fry back in the bag.
“If you seriously think that you have just “slashed” your diet, you are a Democrat. Most likely, an overweight Democrat.”
All this ruckus about budget cuts involves cuts that equal only one third of a french fry. Good grief is right.