Last Saturday, while President Barack Obama was delivering his health care speech to thundering applause at the Target Center in Minneapolis, a larger rally was underway in Washington D.C. The Taxpayer March on Washington brought politically diverse demonstrators from across the country to the capital in protest of out-of-control spending. Headcounts have been as varied as the political ideologies of those in attendance. The Week magazine estimates the crowd totaled 70,000, while Michael Laprarie of Wizbang, âÄúknown for its solid workâÄù according to NPR, put âÄúreasonable estimates âĦ between 500,000 and one million.âÄù It is extremely unlikely that hundreds of thousands were in attendance, but what the varying accounts of participation illustrate is just how political numbers can be. If LaprarieâÄôs numbers are correct, these protesters could represent the most dangerous political faction in decades, and thatâÄôs exactly the message Wizbang wants to send. During his speech Saturday, Obama guaranteed that he âÄúwill not sign a plan that adds one dime to our deficits.âÄù He also pledged not to lower benefits to senior citizens currently covered by Medicare. But according to Medicare trustees in a 2008 Wall Street Journal article, MedicareâÄôs unfunded liabilities (guarantees of future coverage) total $74 trillion. Exactly how $74 trillion in costs can be accounted for without lowering benefits amounts to one grand mystery. Obama, like President Bob Bruininks when he quotes this yearâÄôs tuition increase at 3 percent, must be using some very convenient numbers.