DPP = Dollars per person.

If you went to trade in your car and the salesman said he would give you 82% of the bluebook MSRP would you be satisfied with that answer? Of course not, the first thing you would say is how much is that? But politicians and elected leaders love to throw around numbers that are impossible to decipher in relatable terms. They throw around billions of dollars like poker chips. This is a fundamental problem that undermines how our country is governed. And when these numbers are relayed to our citizens they are without context or perspective.

The2020plan proposes a simple fix. It suggests that government adds the acronym DPP – Dollars per person – to its daily dialog when discussing all economic activities. The calculation is simple – just divide the expenditure amount by our population. 14 billion now becomes $46 DPP. Now we know how much each of us paid to pay Goldman Sachs in the 2008 financial crisis so they could give bonuses to their employees. You’re welcome.

The2020plan doesn’t micromanage the governing process but feels that a component to its success is for our citizens to understand their expenditures in relatable terms.

For example, we should know that our national debt of $18 trillion equates to $60,000 per person. And we should know that a family of four is spending $430 per month to pay the interest on that debt. We should know that the $600 billion defense department costs each of us about $ 2000 per year. And we should know the operating the government costs each of us $12,300 per year. Isn’t that more helpful than hearing $3.7 trillion?

This is not for any political reasons but to give us all a more relatable perspective to what is being spent and achieved.

This will also help our elected leaders understand the impact of their decisions on individuals. Seeing them toss around billion dollar numbers without regard to their effect shows that either they don’t care or they don’t realize the connection themselves.

Government requires easy- to- understand disclosures from many industries when dealing with the public. Shouldn’t they follow their own advice? I’ll bet it would cost less than a one DPP to implement this program. And that’s 300 million dollars!