The Budget Made Simple

On the wall behind my desk, I have a poster called "Death and Taxes: A Visual Guide to Where Your Federal Tax Dollars Go." A year ago, Karen Rutzick wrote about the poster and the Jess Bachman, the guy who created it, in a piece in Government Executive.

Karen reported that Bachman's success in designing and selling the posters had enabled him to quit his job in retail. Now, BoingBoing reports, business is doing even better. In an e-mail to BoingBoing blogger Xeni Jardin, Bachman writes:

As a full time (well, almost full time) budget poster maker, I was able to develop the 2008 version of the poster along with the website TheBudgetGraph.com which has had over 1/2 million visits. Sales from the poster now support me and my family, and I have sold thousands of posters to schools and concerned citizens, even 40 members of congress. I have been in magazines, art galleries, and national television. Last month I was on the Martha Stewart Show to talk about the poster and taxes, it was surreal.

And now the 2009 edition is out.