adding zeroes to the argument.

we're bad at processing large numbers. try picturing 3 million birds, for example, in the sky. chances are you're off by a lot, and that you couldn't even guess in which direction.

i bring this up because of passages like this, from the times:

"Since their last recess, [Congress's] biggest 'achievement' has been a two-year extension of investor tax cuts, worth nearly $51 billion, for America's wealthiest families... Yet those same lawmakers are now running out the clock on unemployment benefits for some of America's neediest families. The estimated cost for a 13-week extension is $125 million."

$125 million against $51 billion, huh? try this:

$51,000,000,000
$    125,000,000

it sounds bad; it looks worse. congress could give every person receiving benefits $408 for every $1 that they're getting now with the money lost by the tax cuts. and we can all tell the difference between $408 and $1.

all of us except for a few hundred congressmen. i propose that whenever numbers are reported, news sources include the zeroes. let's see those differences in the clearest way possible.