Fun facts from the Luntz budget memo

Republican strategist Frank Luntz (see related post, Uh oh--doubleplusungood, 1/10/05) has just penned a new "playbook" with advice to the GOP on how to talk about the economy and the budget. See Daily Kos or Think Progress for a detailed analysis. Also, did you know, as Luntz helpfully points out in a section titled "Ten 'Fun' Facts about the National Budget," that

• "A tightly packed stack of crisp new $1000 bills, totalling $5 billion would be 315 miles tall"
  
• "The space shuttle, which orbits at about 240 miles above the earth, would have to go around this 'debt stack'"

Phew. Well, fortunately for the astronauts, our $7.6 trillion national debt is money the government doesn't have, and therefore would be unable to tightly pack into a dangerous "debt stack." Thanks, W!