Michelle Kuecks
COMP 2000 – 31341
January 6, 2008
Journal Entry #1 - revised for formatting

Claim:

In modern Washington, trillion is the new billion. (“Feels Like a Trillion Bucks”, 2009)

Type of Claim:

This claim deals with policy. In an attempt to call attention to the current upward trend
of the federal budget the claim calls for action and a change in policy. In Washington
today, a change in vocabulary is warranted, from billion to trillion, like a hot new fashion
trend that is the latest craze. Specifically, the aim of the claim is to call attention to the
federal budget reaching towards a trillion dollars. Although one can spin this claim off in
many different directions and call it a factually oriented claim, if one takes a few steps
back and analyses the whole point of the claim, it is to call attention to what we should do
about our policymakers in Washington.

Some of the appeal of this claim is supported by the intentions of President-Elect Barack
Obama, whose proposed economic stimulus package over a very short two-year period
just under $1 billion dollars. To set this figure into context, it is pinned against other
claims of government spending that pale by comparison. Additionally, the author breaks
down what exactly is a trillion dollars, so that the reader can attempt to get a visual
concept of this previously elusive figure which is now fast becoming a reality. While
these points added strength to the original claim, perhaps the strongest evidence comes
from a quote from a United States Senator. His words pretty much summed up how
comfortable politicians are with the way they describe money in words. In the beginning
of the article Senator Everett Dirksen displayed his loose concept of money, “A billion
here, a billion there…”, like it was a game of monopoly. (Wall Street Journal, 2009).

Reference

(2009). Feels like a trillion bucks. Retrieved January 6, 2009, from The Wall Street
Journal. Website http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123120542333456031.html