Has GWB's spending spree cost YOU PERSONALLY more than your annual salary? Probably.

According to Congressional records, George W. Bush's out-of-control spending spree has cost YOU PERSONALLY at least $27,666 since he took over the White House in 2001 -- and probably much much more (my math skills aren't that good.) That's more than a lot of people (myself included) earn in a year! Imagine working for a whole year FOR FREE so that our George and his colleagues can keep their closets full of Armanis and their Lear jets running.

This is a chain letter. Pass it on.

And like all chain letters, there's always a dire threat attached at the end -- something like, "Send this to ten people or else." Well, the "or else" in this case is that if the Bush bureaucracy spending spree isn't stopped immediately, the amount of money that they will have cost you and me personally will go up and up and up and soon we will be working our entire lives for free.

How high could this debt go? Would we soon be owing a billion dollars each? "Jane, you are exaggerating." Not really. The national debt is now eight trillion dollars but some insiders say that it is closer to $44 trillion. Divide that by 300,000,000 Americans? That's something like $146,000,000 each already. And you KNOW that, while those Wild Boyz in the White House and Congress have our credit cards in their pockets, they are NOT going to stop spending and spending and spending.

We are dealing with LARGE numbers here. Sorry but I've run out of fingers and toes.

When it comes to spending our money, these guys make Paris Hilton look stingy. And this isn't even real money they are spending. It's credit card debt. And we all know how high the monthly interest on THAT is.

Ask yourself this. "Do I really want to go into debt for the rest of my life -- and have the collection agencies calling me and repo man at my door until the Grim Reaper comes for me -- in order to pay back a bunch of 'Friends of George Bush' Mastercard scams?" No!

Send this e-mail to ten friends today -- or else get ready to live in the poor house for the rest of your life.

PS: I wrote the following essay in 2003. Things are much, much worse now:

Having Bush instead of Gore in the White House has cost Americans approximately $39,233 each...so far:

Oh God, I hate math. But let's give it a try. Here's a thought-problem for you: Suppose Al Gore was in the White House now instead of George Bush? How much money would America have saved in the last three years? And how much money has Bush cost us so far?

Let's start with the Afghan war. How much did that cost? "$50 billion." The war on Iraq? "Hard to say. $100 billion?"

Jobs lost? "2.5 million jobs times approximately $30,000 per job equals what?" Gifts to friendly weapons manufacturers and oil execs? "Put down $10 billion although it's probably more."

The Israel/Palestine foreign policy debacle costing the lives of 700+ Jews and 3000+ Muslims? "$20 billion and counting."

If Al Gore had been in the White House in 2001, he would not have ignored the many pre-9-11 warnings. How much did 9-11 cost us? "No idea." Cost at the gas pump? "50 cents per gallon. 25 gallons per car. 100 million cars." I'm out of my league here.

Tax benefits to the rich? "$50 billion?"

I don't know what other costs Bush has accrued. Utilities deregulation pyramid schemes leading to the California disaster and the Great Blackout of 2003? FBI surveillance of our libraries? Anthrax vaccines? Pension plan gouging? Selling off our national parks? Vote tampering? Extra jails? What's all that add up to? I'm not Einstein. You do the math. $980,750,000,000? Close enough.

Now divide that by 250 million Americans. What did you get? I figure that not having Al Gore in the White House has cost every man, woman and child in America at least $39,233...so far.

That seemed like a lot of bucks to plug into a "what if" alternative universe situation so I ran my figures past noted economist Robert Zimmerman. Here's what he had to say: "Remember that there will be interest on current and projected deficits, over $1 trillion over the next 20 years. The costs of new terrorist attacks emanating from the new hatreds resulting from Bush's action -- incalculable. Continuing and future costs of the Bush military build-up -- trillions. Plus you have to add in reduced contributions to our economy from small business as a result of Bush's focus on giant corporations and also our reduced opportunities for legitimate foreign trade resulting from hatreds fueled by Bush military adventurism."

Your list, this list, and the entire list are absolutely mind-boggling.