I.O.U.S.A. - National debt documentary a horror story

[WhiskeyGirl]

National debt documentary a horror story

The Washington Post

A private-equity billionaire, a former government official and a newsletter editor have made a documentary they hope can do what an endless parade of policy papers has not: convince Americans that debt has created a looming economic crisis that would make the Great Depression look like a market correction.

The movie, I.O.U.S.A., debuting Thursday, is an 87-minute call-to-arms on the tsunami of debt bearing down on the United States' future, caused by the rising national deficit, the trade imbalance and the pending costs of baby boomers cashing in on entitlements.

The film is to debut in 400 theaters across the country Thursday, followed by a live video town hall meeting from Omaha, Neb., featuring Warren Buffet and filmmakers Dave Walker and Pete Peterson. On Friday, the film opens in 10 cities.

Early reviewers have dubbed the film An Inconvenient Truth for the economy, meaning it's not exactly the feel-good movie of 2008.

(snip)

A year ago, he compared the U.S. to the final days of ancient Rome, which he said was militarily overextended and fiscally irresponsible. Since 2005, he has traveled the country on the Fiscal Wake-up Tour, preaching his apocalyptic message to half-empty rooms, at least at the start. The tour picked up steam after Mr. Walker's message was featured in a 60 Minutes piece in March 2007.

(snip)

Their message: You probably know that the national deficit stands at $9.6 trillion and rising. What you don't know is how bad things really are. If you include all the unfunded entitlement obligations – Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and so forth – we are actually in a $53 trillion hole, Mr. Walker says.

And it will only get deeper as we get older.

The nation's debt now accounts for 66 percent of the gross national product. Unless things change, the film says, the cost of baby boomers will push that proportion to 244 percent by 2040, twice what it was at the end of World War II, our highest level of national debt. A debt that high, even superinvestor Mr. Buffett says in the film, "could create real political instability."

The film skirts specific solutions but suggests broad entitlement overhaul, tough budget controls, conservation of energy and, at the no-duh level, not buying things you can't afford.

In an interview, Mr. Walker said tax deductions and exemptions need to be reduced, and a national consumption tax should be considered.

"It's inevitable there will be some tax increases on fat cats like myself," Mr. Peterson said in an interview. "But any idea you're going to solve most of this problem with taxes is not realistic."

Not everyone agrees that the U.S. is headed off a credit cliff.

There's Arthur Laffer, creator of the Laffer Curve, which says that if taxes rise too high, people lose incentive to work. Mr. Laffer argues that as long as the debt level stays where it is, it can be financed down over time, like a homeowner with a mortgage.

Showing in Texas -

Where to see the film
Dallas: Cinemark 17, Galaxy Theatre and AMC Northpark Center 15

Arlington: AMC Parks at Arlington 18

Fort Worth: Fossil Creek

Grapevine: Tinseltown Movies 17

Highland Village: AMC Highland Village 12

Lewisville: Vista Ridge Mall

Mesquite: AMC Mesquite 30

Plano: Cinemark 24 and Tinseltown USA

read the rest of the story here -

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/bus/stories/DN-aug21debtfilm_17bus.ART.State.Edition1.21a9da0.html

[WhiskeyGirl]

Here is a site with a zip code lookup for theaters -

http://www.fathomevents.com/news/default.aspx?newsid=144

You can also click for a complete list.

[WhiskeyGirl]

The critically-acclaimed documentary film I.O.U.S.A. was concieved of, co-written and executive produced by Agora Financial's Addison Wiggin. In July 2008, the film was acquired by The Peter G. Peterson Foundation. It will be featured in a Live Premier with Warren Buffet, Pete Peterson and David Walker in 400 theatres around the nation on August 21st, 2008. To find out more visit the film's official site or click here to locate a theater near you.

Click here for your personal invitation from Dave Walker to attend the premier on August 21st.

Dear Friends,

Some of you have heard me mention our forthcoming feature documentary, "I.O.U.S.A."  A few of you may have even had the chance to see an early version of it. The film tells the story of America's large and growing fiscal challenge, how the richest country in the world came to be in the position we are in today, and what could happen to us if we don't do something about it soon. It covers our nation's four key deficits: budget, savings, balance of payments/trade, and worst of all, our leadership deficit.

The film is fact-based, nonpartisan and nonideological, and it features a number of candid appearances, including by Warren Buffett, Alan Greenspan, Paul Volcker, my Foundation's chairman Pete Peterson, Sens. Kent Conrad and Judd Gregg, former Treasury Secretaries Paul O'Neill and Robert Rubin, former CBO chief Alice Rivlin, Rep. Ron Paul, my Fiscal Wake-Up Tour colleague Bob Bixby, and myself.

For one night, August 21, the film will show in about 400 theaters around the country — with our own special version of a "bonus track!" Immediately following the movie itself, audience members everywhere will be treated to a 45-minute town meeting on the US economy with Buffett, Bill Novelli of AARP, Bill Niskanen of the CATO Institute, Pete and I. We'll be coming to you live by satellite from Omaha. You can find out more about this very special town meeting, submit your own question to the participants, and locate the showing in a theater near you at www.IOUSAtheMovie.com.

Starting on August 22, the film will run in 10 cities for at least one week. Those cities also are listed on the movie's website.

I hope you will take the time — and take your family and friends! — to see the film. It's as clear an explanation of the four deficits threatening our economic future as you'll find anywhere. Nothing is more important than educating the public about this looming crisis and building the political will in Washington to enact change.

Anything that you're willing to do to spread the word about the film would be greatly appreciated.

All the best,
Dave

David M. Walker
President & CEO
Peter G. Peterson Foundation 
P.S. If you haven't seen it already, the following is the trailer we've been showing before movie's such as the Dark Night in theatres since July. Click to watch.

preview -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HBo2xQIWHiM
 

I.O.U.S.A. picks up where Addison Wiggin and Bill Bonner’s New York Times best-selling Empire of Debt  left off. It will feature stories about the people involved in making decisions about the four major deficits in the country (federal deficit, trade deficit, savings deficit, and leadership deficit). Complete transcripts of interviews conducted with Warren Buffet, Alan Greenspan, Paul Volcker, Robert Rubin, Alice Rivlin, Pete Peterson, David Walker, Paul O'Neill, James Areddy, Arthur Laffer, Steve Forbes and Bill Bonner will accompany the book.

I.O.U.S.A. boldly examines the rapidly growing national debt and its consequences for the United States and its citizens. As the Baby Boomer generation prepares to retire, will there even be any Social Security benefits left to collect? Burdened with an ever-expanding government and military, increased international competition, overextended entitlement programs, and debts to foreign countries that are becoming impossible to honor, America must mend its spendthrift ways or face an economic disaster of epic proportions.

Throughout history, the American government has found it nearly impossible to spend only what has been raised through taxes. Wielding candid interviews with both average American taxpayers and government officials, Sundance veteran Patrick Creadon (Wordplay) helps demystify the nation’s financial practices and policies. The film follows U.S. Comptroller General David Walker as he crisscrosses the country explaining America’s unsustainable fiscal policies to its citizens.

http://www.agorafinancial.com/iousa.html

[WhiskeyGirl]

I saw the documentary last night.  It was good and not as scary as I thought - there is hope.

It shows that the four challenges facing the U.S. are budget, savings, trade and leadership.

From memory -

The solution needs to be bipartisan.  The movie shows how at the end of the Clinton years, the budget was balanced.  During the "Bush43" years, it seems like the national debt more than doubled.  The doubling was in part due to tax cuts which seemed to undo the Clinton balanced budget, Medicare Prescription Drug Coverage, and a number of other items.  In my opinion, it did not show the current president in a favorable way.  It made Bush/Cheney look like the anti-Christ brothers, and brings to mind all the things I read and heard about Bush being a "puppet" of someone else, imho.

Ending the war in Iraq, tax increases, and other items currently under consideration are not enough to fix the long term problem.  In the near future, healthcare costs threaten to bankrupt the nation.  There were a number of graphics that showed that Medicaid and Medicare will be a much greater part of the budget than Social Security.  The U.S. is the only country that does have a budget for healthcare.  There is a need to control healthcare inflation.

Today, the country is broke.  There is no money to add folks to the healthcare system. Healthcare is the biggest concern for the future, largest increasing catetory (Medicaid & Medicare).

The panel also suggested that people need to start saving for a rainy day.  They should not expect the government to protect them from any and all financial losses.  That protection is paid for by tax dollars, and the country is broke.

There is hope.  Among the suggestions -

Politicians need to tell the truth about the fiscal mess.  It needs to be a priority.  Politicians should not undo the financial stability/accountability created by previous administrations.  Politicians need to think about the future stability of the country, and the debt that is being passed on to future generations, generations that do not have a vote on the debt that is accumulating today.  Tell the truth to the folks back home.

Voters need to show politicians that they will be held accountable for addressing these problems.  Special interest groups may give money, but voters are can show their displeasure using their vote.

Here is a transcript of the town hall meeting -

http://www.pgpf.org/resources.dyn/IOUSA_OmahaTownhall_Transcript.pdf

There were some lighter moments -

The youngest 'looking' of the panelists seemed to be the guy from AARP, and then the bean counter - jmho.  All were intelligent and articulate and they had white hair.

Someone suggested that the phrase "trust fund" is an oxymoron.  There is no trust, and there is no fund.

MR. NISKANEN:  I'm the only economist in this distinguished panel. And I was most concerned initially that my comments would prove the common perception that economists are people who are good with numbers but without-- without enough personality to become accountants.

WARREN BUFFETT:  Well, I would just say, this sort of echoes Pete's view. If I were being born today and I was in the womb, exactly the DNA I got but I had an identical twin right next to me, same exact
DNA, and a genie appeared and he said, "We've got a problem. There's only room for one more in the United States. And the other one is going to have to go to Bangladesh. But I've got wonderful news for you. If you go to Bangladesh, you'll never pay a dime of taxes in the rest of your life. You can work there for nothing-- for no taxes whatsoever.

"And I'm going to give the right to be born in the United States to whichever one of you will bid the highest percentage of your income over the rest of your life to be in the United States." It would be one hell of a bidding war. (LAUGHTER) And you can replace Bangladesh with country after country after country, and the truth is the prospects of being born in the United States are still better than being born in anyplace in the world. And, you know, I feel very fortunate that I was born here.

It was a good use of my time and money.  The above are from memory, opinion, and perception.

Anyone else see the documentary?

[WhiskeyGirl]

Citizen's Guide for download here -

http://www.iousathemovie.com/download/

This Citizen's Guide is intended to provide a clear and concise summary of where our nation stands financially and where it is headed fiscally. The facts are clear and compelling--the federal government's financial condition is worse than advertised and we are on an imprudent, irresponsible and unfair path. Washington policy makers are mortgaging the future of our country, children and grandchildren. As the graph on this cover demonstrates, tough choices will be required sooner rather than later because time is not currently on our side.

What do we as a country need to do? We need to: stop digging our fiscal hole; reform Social Security, Medicare and other entitlement programs to reflect Americans' longer lifespans and economic realities; constrain other spending growth; reform our tax system while generating more revenue; engage in comprehensive health care reform; increase national saving; and elect responsible leaders.

This guide is intended is to help inform you of the nature and seriousness of our nation's fiscal challenge. On pages 21-24, you will find a description of what's at stake, a proposed path forward, and a series of actions you can take.

Only you, the voters, can hold current and prospective elected officials accountable for taking steps that will help to ensure that our collective future is better than our past.

There was an interesting person in the documentary...a thin man that reminded me of my cat (an orange tabby) that drank "Tab".  Does anyone remember Tab in the pink cans? 

One interesting piece about the federal budget.  One person showed an old one, a book of numbers.  Easy to see where the money goes, one bound book. 

The newer one from 2005 IIRC, was multiple bound editions, filled with text and color pictures, made it much harder to determine where the money was going.  mo

[nonesuche]

Whiskygirl I remember Tab 

THank you for posting this, I've been away with my Mother as she recuperates from two surgeries so no, I wasn't able to see the documentary but this follows many of the predictions tylergal made regarding what the two party system and deep partisanship would eventually do to our economy.

We are well on our way to becoming a third world country if this continues and Barack doesn't seem to have much to say about righting our economy, just about how he will help the poor and the middle class. The right path is to generate growth first and that is capital investment to drive economic expansion which then creates jobs.

[WhiskeyGirl]

Here is a direct PDF link to the ideas -

http://www.pgpf.org/resources.dyn/PGPFCitizensGuide.pdf

I had trouble opening the pdf.  I copied/pasted the link into my browser.

http://www.cato.org/

http://www.aarp.org/

Sounding the Alarm on Debt - a broadcast -

In a recent interview with Prime Time Radio’s Mike Cuthbert, former U.S. Comptroller General David Walker, who is in the documentary, said that when compared to other countries, the United States is “below average” in education, health care, and in saving money. He argued that Americans are “addicted to debt.”
http://www.aarp.org/money/personal/articles/former_comptroller_sounds_alarm_on_debt.html

[WhiskeyGirl]

One of the things the documentary talked about was leadership.  Where have the leaders been for the past thirty years?

For a brief point in time, the budget was balanced.  The future was looking good.

From memory and the movie - In the beginning, the founding fathers envisioned that Congress would be a part time activity.  Congressmen would return to their occupations/professions when not needed to run the country.  Today, elected officials are full-time politicians and need large staffs to take care of business.  What exactly do they do all day?  Vote present?  Are they more concerned with the nation's business or the business of special interests?

Where are the leaders that tell the truth?  I don't see a president in the two candidates - Obama or McCain.  I see someone looking for a very expensive temporary job.  Where is the leader in this election?

The documentary suggested that a leader, in difficult times, will tell the truth to the American people.  A leader will risk losing an election, and a job, because they tell the truth.  Where is the leader in this election?

Did we lose leaders because they stepped up to the plate and told the truth to the public?  The country is broke.  There is still time to repair the damage of the past.

It's one thing to cut taxes, but did the leaders cut spending to?  Did the leaders return more to the voters than they will receive in the future?  Is the U.S. just another Enron? 

Keep pumping up the big balloon, and waiting for it to burst?  Let the hot air out?  What happened to the substance of this nation?  Will the Chinese and others be clear cutting our old growth forrests in ten years to pay off the spending of the current president and the next president?  Will we lose all the good government land to pay for irresponsibility? 

What will the current Bush and the next president leave to the next generation?  An ever increasing debt?

Where is the leader in this mess?  Who is willing to step up to the plate and tell the American public the truth?

jmho

[WhiskeyGirl]

How will tomorrow's children pay for the increasing national debt due to the 'tax cuts',  'stimulus', and increased programs of the current and future administrations?

I remember when "Tax and Spend Democrats" was a negative campaign slogan.  After seeing the documentary, I think it shows that someone understood the nature of increasing revenue and increasing taxes when spending increases.  There are only so many straws before the camel's back is broken.  Instead of adding to the burden of the taxpayer, the government just borrows money.  This is a terrible debt to leave future generations.  Generations to young to vote, and those not yet born.  In a nutshell, taxation without representation.

In today's political campaign, the focus seems to be on taxing some less, and spending more.  In my simple mind, it should not be a question of how much each candidates budget will return to voters or increase their taxes.  What should matter is the damage, in the form of increased national debt, that may be attributed to each candidates proposal for the future of the United States.  How much will the Democratic and Republican platforms in 2008 cost tomorrow's taxpayers?  The taxpayers of 2030?

What part do these candidates feel they play in America's future?  They have the eyes of the nation upon them.  Will they tell Americans the truth?  Will they sell lower tax rates and new spending programs to get elected?  How do they want future generations to see their administration?  I got a little peek at how future generations might view the current Bush administration, and it isn't pretty.  It's downright ugly.

Who is willing to send the message to the American people that the future is now?  We can't burden our children, and the children of tomorrow with an increasing debt?

How long before the Chinese and others come to collect?  What will be left to give them? 

Will the old growth forrests be clear cut to pay for the excesses of past and future government spending?  Will American's be forced to give away their fresh water supply to others in exchange for debt relief? 

What is the future cost of all that debt?

jmho