I.O.U.S.A.
UVU is showing an important (although significantly flawed) documentary tonight. “I.O.U.S.A.” is important because it highlights just how bankrupt we are as a country. It describes how our current debt and obligations (unless significantly curtailed) will enslave future generations for years to come, essentially charging the cost of our glut to our children’s and grandchildren’s credit cards.
“I.O.U.S.A” is seriously flawed because it entirely ignores the very central role the Federal Reserve has played in enabling this glut. But it’s still important to see nonetheless. Here are the details:
OREM, UTAH — UVU Student Government, many UVU clubs, and the Concord Coalition are hosting a screening of the free full-length featured documentary titled “I.O.U.S.A.” The critically-acclaimed “I.O.U.S.A.” documentary, directed by Patrick Creadon (”Wordplay”), follows The Concord Coalition’s “Fiscal Wake-Up Tour” and tells the story of America’s four key deficits — budget, savings, balance of payments and leadership — and their implications for the nation and U.S. citizens. The movie, an official selection of the 2008 Sundance Film Festival, features Concord Coalition Executive Director Robert Bixby and Fiscal Wake-Up Tour keynote speaker, former Comptroller General of the U.S. David Walker. It contains interviews with Concord Coalition President Peter G. Peterson and Concord Board members Robert Rubin and Paul Volcker.
Democrats, Republicans, Independents, and Third Party members all agree that something must be done about the nation’s growing deficits and accumulating national debt. The topic of debt is too often ignored by the media and misunderstood by citizens. However, the national debt affects us all. This movie will leave you stunned and wondering why nobody is doing anything about it. The movie will cover the debts’ history and what can happen if we don’t immediately address the issue. The will be shown on November 3rd and held at the UVU Ragan Theater in the Student Center and is movie is free and open to the public. UVU is located at 800 West University Parkway Way, in Orem, UT. Doors open at 6:30 pm and the movie will begin promptly at 7:00 pm. For more information please visit www.iousathemovie.com or email Tyler at petersty[at]uvu.edu.
You can also view the condensed version of I.O.U.S.A. online.
On this election day eve, it’s important that we understand the fiscal crises facing Americal so we can take the steps necessary to correct our “leadership deficit” and get ourselves out of this mess before it’s too late. There is an alarming silence in Washington on the precient issues of over-spending and inflationary debt. I hope you watch this film so we can correct those issues before the price of our glut tears our country and families and apart.
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Tags: Concord Coalition, David Walker, Documentary, Economics, Federal Reserve, Financial Slavery, Fiscal Wake-Up Tour, I.O.U.S.A, National Debt, Peter G. Peterson Foundation, Politics, Robert Bixby, Taxation
November 4th, 2008 at 11:22 am
Jordy,
Thanks for sharing this. I will tell more people about this so that we can save America’s future.
Tristan
November 13th, 2008 at 1:24 pm
This movie is really good at scaring you. Some of the projections are absolutely bone-chilling. But it largely overstates the problem — the deficit is currently at a manageable level of 3% of GDP. And we need to run a deficit in this economic downturn to ensure we don’t have skyrocketing rates of unemployment. The flim also ignores one of the best solutions to the “problem” — health care reform. If our health care system were as efficient as other industrialized nations, and if Medicare/Medicaid were able to take advantage of these lower costs, then our deficit problem would basically disappear. Check out the Center for Economic and Policy Research, they have a nice graphic that demonstrates this well: http://www.cepr.net/calculators/iousadeficit/calc_iousa_deficit.html
November 13th, 2008 at 11:01 pm
@ Matt -
This deficit was around well before the downturn: it was around during the glut. And to say that running a deficit is shore off unemployment is silly. Is to pay for programs.
Also, this film does not ignore health care reform; in fact it says there will need to be substantial changes to Medicare. I know that’s probably not the reform you’re looking for, but there you go.
I have to say I’m pretty darn nervous about the upcoming “health care reform”. I’m skeptical that government intervention will be positive; in fact, I suspect that market interventionism may be one of the reasons we’re having problems in the first place.