While I well understand that things were a little tense when President Obama spoke at Notre Dame’s commencement, one would think that grads at this level might have put a little more thought into the counter-protest:

Obama entered the arena to thunderous applause and a standing ovation from many in the crowd of 12,000. But as the president began his commencement address, at least three protesters interrupted it. One yelled, “Stop killing our children.”

The graduates responded by chanting “Yes we can,” the slogan that became synonymous with Obama’s presidential campaign.

OK, folks. This will take about one minute and you don’t need your thinking cap. It’s about budgets and stimulus and stuff.

• Total U. S. Population: $280,000,000
• Proposed 2010 U.S. spending: $3,400,000,000,000
• So, 2010 per person (man, woman, and child) spending: $12,000
• Average number of people in a family: 3.1
• So, 2010 per family spending average: $37,200
• Average per family household income: $50,233
• (All numbers found at census or Wikipedia and rounded to put spending in best light)

So, the government is planning to spend 74% of the average family’s household income this year.

With the remaining 26% you may pay for your food and clothes, your bills and mortgage.

Oh, I know, no one’s taking all of that money from us right now. It’s on credit; the government is borrowing the rest on your behalf. But don’t be fooled; this one year the government wants to spend that much. Next year will be something similar. And so on. There’s no extra paycheck coming. No catch-up year with no spending. They want to spend something like 3/4 of the money an average family makes in one year. Spent. Gone.

And if there’s anything the current financial crisis has taught us, it’s that if you’re facing an uncertain future, the best thing to do is borrow a whole bunch of money.

I’m just sayin’.