Since trillion is apparently the new billion, I suppose we're going to have to learn how to grasp that scary number. This is an interesting use of time some people point to to make the comparison:
A million seconds is 12 days.
A billion seconds is 31 years.
A trillion seconds is 31,688 years.
If you just say "a million, a billion, a trillion," it's a safe-enough-sounding progression -- hey, it's just math. But when you see that actual enormous leap between a billion and a trillion, what the government is doing gets really scary.
