Feeling like a million bucks?

You may not feel like a million bucks, certainly not in today's economy. But according to MSNBC, the Bush administration figures your life is worth that and more.

The networks' Rachel Maddow reports in her Countdown segment that for the purpose of evaluating the benefit of federal regulations -- say, those intended to protect the environment -- versus the cost to the economy and government of the regulation itself, the government places a value on the average life: the current figure, she reported, is $6.9 million.

So, sure, you should by that account feel like more than a million bucks as the Bush administration nears its end.

Trouble is, that figure, Maddow reports, is down from nearly $8 million five years ago.

--James Gerstenzang