Congress has passed yet another continuing resolution to fund the government on a temporary basis—this time through March 3, 2011. The bill is H.R. 3082, which has had as many different versions as Elizabeth Taylor has had marriages.

According to a Senate Appropriations Committee summary, the CR continues funding at something close to 2010 levels. It spends at a rate just $1.6 billion over the 2010 rate, freezing the pay of federal civilian employees for two years, starting in 2011. (That’ll be a morale boost!)

Total cost of this bill per U.S. family: just under $7,500.

To calculate the cost of this bill—passed in a few fleeting hours the week before Christmas—we took FY 2010 spending as estimated by the White House, added in that $1.6 billion, then divided by 365 and multiplied by the 73 days this one funds the government. Pretty sharp methodology, huh? Well, we want you to know how we come up with these numbers, OK?…

Congress will be winding down now. We’ll all wind down—for just a few weeks, anyway, before some new craziness kicks up!