Last night my wife and I saw I.O.U.S.A., a documentary that wants to be the Inconvenient Truth of the federal deficit. The event was a nationally syndicated showing of the film followed by a town hall style meeting (meaning a bunch of folks in an Omaha auditorium got to ask questions of Warren Buffett, Pete Peterson, Bill Novelli, William Niskanen, and Dave Walker while people in movie theatres around America watched). I was there because back in the day I was a regional field director for The Concord Coalition which was a focus of the film, and the federal budget deficit remains one of the issues about which I am most passionate.
The film is compelling and entertaining, mostly because the two people who get the most screen time – the Concord Coalition’s Bob Bixby and former U.S. Comptroller Dave Walker – are a fun team. I.O.U.S.A. explains the history, impact and threats posed by chronic deficits and federal debt. It makes a pretty compelling case that we’re pretty screwed if we don’t fix this thing.
But.
After nearly 90 minutes of doom I am convinced that the federal debt is a huge deal. But I am never given specific steps to solve the problem
A problem this big, second only in magnitude to Islamic extremists smuggling weapons of mass destruction into the U.S. (an argument made by a member of Congress in the film), surely has solutions that I can begin to implement. And indeed there are. I can “hold elected officials accountable.” The problem is I’m not sure what that means. If getting out of the Iraq, banning earmarks and rolling back the tax cuts only solves 13% of the problem (according to the film) then what will? You can’t tell legislators to “end bad stuff” and expect to by happy with the results. I am told I can learn about the problem; I just spent 90 minutes doing that, what more do I need to know? Several people in the film said solving the problem will take political leadership and a president willing to do what’s right even if it means losing an election – setting aside the political silliness of that assertion, if it’s up the president then why should I do anything? Other solutions include better energy policy – seems like a good idea, but the connection is never made in the film, and transitioning to a non-carbon economy will cost a lot up front which seems to run counter to the message of the film. Another solution is fixing health care – again, seems like a good idea that isn’t connected to anything in the film and that most folks agree will cost a ton.
So what do I do? Unfortunately I’m never told, and as such probably won’t do anything and the problem will continue to get worse.
Stay tuned for Episode Two: Unsolicited Advice and Solutions
