I've just been reading about the new 2009 budget numbers. George Bush is asking for $515,000,000,000+ in government spending for the Pentagon. It occurred to me as I was thinking about this gargantuan number, how come we're constantly hearing about the tiny amounts being proposed for broadband, yet huge numbers like these barely raise an eyebrow.

So I thought I'd break down the numbers to drive home my point. Assuming 300,000,000 Americans, every man, woman and child will be paying a bit over $1,700 to support the Pentagon's budget. Which ends up being about three times as much as people pay for their broadband at home... but wait, people buy broadband for their household -- so I needed to find out how many households there are in the US. According to 2004 census numbers, there's a bit under 115 million households -- so once one makes the adjustment, the per household Pentagon allotment hefts in at roughly $4,500 for the year.

As we ponder where our money is going this next year, remember, broadband isn't really the big ticket item, it's not even close. Recent estimates have claimed that $150 billion (a bit under 30% of the proposed Pentagon budget) would provide universal fiber broadband connectivity to every household in the United States.