10 things we could buy with the $4 billion we spent on the 2014 election (infographic)

What would you buy with $4 billion? USA Today reports this year’s election was on track to cost nearly $4 billion.

That’s right. The corporate plutocrats, the NRA, and other special interests — plus those of us desperately pitching in small contributions to give our “free speech” even the slightest chance of being heard — spent FOUR BILLION DOLLARS on just one election.

Thanks, Citizens United.

What would you do with $4 billion?

Coffee Party USA imagines 10 exciting possibilities for that $4 billion, in the above infographic from their Facebook page. Even if we don’t agree on everything, we certainly can no longer claim lack of money as an excuse for failing to address our society’s most urgent problems.

1. Housing and social services for 397,970 homeless people for a year at $10,051 each. It currently costs $31,065 per person to keep chronically homeless people homeless. (source: Central Florida Commission on Homelessness via Think Progress).

2. Smaller class sizes in public schools for two and a half years (at $1.5 billion annually, source: NEA).

3. Pay 133,333 low-wage, American workers a living wage of $15 per hour.

4. Install solar systems in 391,772 homes (at $10,210 each, source: Wholesale Solar.Com).

5. 100 Ebola treatment centers in West Africa (source: 12NewsNow).

6. Put 536,315 more kids in Head Start. $7,600. per child (Source: OHS)

7. 10 years of water services for impoverished Detroit residents, at an annual cost: $363,771,200 (Source:DWDS).

8. Spay/Neuter 71,428,571 feral cats, at an average cost $56.oo per cat (Source: Wikipedia).

9. Start 2,000,000 community gardens with $2,000 apiece (community gardens cost between $1,000 and $4,000 to start, according to The Greenest Dollar).

10. Feed 3,753,049 more low-income children free lunches all year long. At $2.93 per lunch x 365 days per year, that’s $1065.80 per child. The USDA works with local food banks to provide children with meals when school is out, but some communities are under-served.  (Source: USDA).

Featured image: Adapted version of the original “What could we do with $4 billion?” infographic. Coffee Party USA, via Facebook. h/t:  12NewsNow | This originally appeared on Nov. 4, 2014 in If You Only News.