The late senator Everett Dirksen is sometimes credited with saying, “A billion here, a billion there, pretty soon, you’re talking real money.” That was in the 20th century. In the 21st century, government spending is in the trillions. Today’s Washington Post has a front-page story on President Bush’s proposed budget of nearly $3 trillion. It inspired me to take a look at other Washington Post stories on Bush budgets. Let’s take a walk down memory lane:

February 28, 2001: “In his first address to Congress, Bush likened his $ 1.9 trillion budget to a family budget…”

February 5, 2002: “President Bush yesterday proposed a $ 2.13 trillion budget for next year…”

February 4, 2003: “President Bush announced a $ 2.23 trillion budget for fiscal 2004 yesterday…”

February 3, 2004: “President Bush sent Congress a $2.4 trillion spending plan yesterday…”

February 13, 2005: “President Bush sent Congress a $2.57 trillion budget…”

February 5, 2006: “President Bush plans to propose a $2.7 trillion budget tomorrow…”

Today: “President Bush took aim yesterday at domestic spending as part of a plan to balance the budget in five years without raising taxes while increasing funding for the Iraq war and permanently expanding the military. With the $2.9 trillion budget he submitted to Congress…”

If you’re keeping score at home, $1.9 trillion to $2.9 trillion is an increase of more than 52 percent.