Change?.. What’s it cost?.. Who pays?..

Just How Much is $700 Billion?

Seven-hundred billion dollars. It's a mind-boggling number, any way you look at it - an amount equal to one third of the money received by the Federal government last year. As the debate rages on about the political, economic and moral wisdom of the Wall Street and mortgage bailout, RightChange.com offers some perspective, in practical terms:

Just how much is $700 billion??

• It is almost $150 billion more than has been spent on the Iraq War since the invasion in 2003
• It is equal to $2,300 payment for every person in the United States, and more than $100 for every person in the world
• It is enough to buy 233,333 Super Bowl ads
• It could build 400 space shuttles
• It could purchase 3.5 billion iPhones
• It could purchase 700 billion items from the dollar menu at McDonalds

The stats are staggering, but the potential long-term ramifications of this deal can't be measured in phones and fries. The question we need to ask ourselves, and our leaders, is this:

Who bears the responsibility for this crisis?

As the Washington blame-game heads into double overtime, with fingers pointing across the aisle at which party bears the blame for this mess, the fact is, there is plenty of blame to go around. Sen. Barack Obama, one of the loudest critics of the firms, has been on the receiving end of over $125,000 in campaign contributions from Fannie and Freddie since his election to the U.S. Senate four years ago - the highest amount of any Member of Congress over the last 10 years. Fifty seven percent of Fannie and Freddie contributions have been made to Democratic members.

As you watch Members of Congress denounce the barons of greed who precipitated the financial crisis, remind yourself: today's criminal was yesterday's contributor.

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