We’ve all heard about economic stimulus packages, and, really, the big ones, like the $700 billion package or the housing rescue package are being talked about quite a bit. But there are smaller packages — like the student loan guarantees and the unemployment benefit extensions — that we don’t really know about. And then there are the huge expenditures that get brief coverage in the news: Commercial paper funding ($1.4 trillion) and money market guarantees ($719 billion).

When you think about it, even the $1 trillion economic stimulus being considered right now is really a drop in the bucket. It’s exceptionally hard to keep track of how much all of this economic stimulus is costing the country. The national deficit is going to be massive. Happily, though, CNN Money has created this handy economic stimulus chart:

It’s depressing, but it really gives you an idea of the scope of the spending we’re talking about. In fact, it’s the sort of numbing amounts that make you say to yourself, “It doesn’t matter how much more we spend now, we’re in so deep.” Deficits of this magnitude really make me wonder how anyone could be considering an income tax holiday. I don’t think the government could afford it.