ALL DU MEMBERS: Go see I.O.U.S.A In Theatres This Weekend!!!!

[KansasVoter]

Just saw it at 10:00am here in Kansas and it is scary and amazing. Very good documentary that makes the GOP current leaders look like the idiots that they are. It also jumps on the Dems for not taking action also which we deserve. It is scarier than any movie I have ever seen! Please go see it!!!

http://www.iousathemovie.com/

Please bump and recommend this post!

[BrklynLiberal]

1. Watched the trailer...and am sending this message to everyone I know.

[SlipperySlope]

2. Isn't it propaganda?

I thought that movie was all conservative propaganda about reducing or limiting Social Security and Medicaid?

[StoryTeller]

13. No, it isn't

In the film, they actually show that Social Security plays a small role in our total debt. Medicaid is a bigger problem because of the amount of unfunded liabilities it represents in the future. But the film doesn't ever even suggest getting rid of it. It just points out that in the next 20-30 years or so, that unfunded hole (which includes more than just Medicaid) we're digging is going to become a HUGE problem for the country. And they're right.

Even in the panel discussion afterwards, there was only one person on the panel who thought privatizing Social Security was a good idea. The other four (including several who were featured in the film) all said there are other better solutions that wouldn't introduce that level of risk into the system.

I posted later in this thread my thoughts on the film after attending the premier in Omaha--but I found it to be quite non-partisan in its approach. I think it's a film well-worth seeing.

[givemebackmycountry]

3. NINE POINT FIVE TRILLION DOLLARS -

9.5 Trillion is what we OWE.

The next person that says the words "tax and spend liberal" to me, is going to be doing two things immediately after-wards.
Running around in circles, and holding their swollen lip.

[CrispyQ]

11. Retort with "Tax cut & spend conservatives."

Wish I could take credit for that. Got it from Lee Iacocca's book, "Where Have All the Leaders Gone?" Great book btw.

Also ask them if they think "Deficits don't matter" Cheney applies that philosophy to his personal finances.

[Barack_America]

4. What do you think about this movie and Biden as VP?

Given his banking industry connections?

Could it hurt us?

I just found out about this movie today and it has me a bit uneasy.

[archiemo]

5. I saw this movie...doesn't look good for ANYONE

I just saw this movie as well and think that every American should be required to see it. I didn't take it as propaganda at all against social programs but more as a wake-up call to all of us that it's going to require a heck of a lot more than reducing social programs. The movie really shows how inept our leadership has been these last 8 years. Very short-sighted and I don't even think it classifies as leadership.

[global1]

6. I Went Last Night To See It And Concur - Every American Should See This Film......

We are really in bad shape economically.

The message this film is attempting to convey to the American people is "Wake up, America! We’re on the brink of a financial meltdown."

I.O.U.S.A. boldly examines the rapidly growing national debt and its consequences for the United States and its citizens.
This movie paints a picture of catastrophic future for this country.

After last nights showing which was the premiere - there was a live 45-minute town-hall meeting broadcast from Omaha on the US economy with Warren Buffett, Bill Novelli of AARP, Bill Niskanen of the CATO Institute(must be a Repug), Peter G Peterson and David M Walker, the former Comptroller General, U.S. General Accounting Office (GAO)

This David M. Walker really impressed me and if I were Obama - I'd want him on my team. This guy has seen the problem first hand during his tenure at the GAO and from listening to him talk - he really doesn't like what goes on in D.C. He is now the President & CEO of the Peter G. Peterson Foundation - Mr. Peterson was also on the panel.

Near the end of the movie - they really did a well deserved hatchet job on G.W. Bush.

This film is like An Inconvenient Truth. What IT did for global warming - IOUSA will do for the state of our economy. It pulled no punches. Scary like a horror film.

Here is a website you can go to and learn more: http://www.agorafinancial.com/iousa.html

All Americans need to see this movie. It should be required.

I too recommend it to all of DU.

The only guy I didn't like in the Town Hall meeting was this guy from the Cato Institute. He was the one that was talking about privatizing Social Security. I want to research the Cato Institute - but from the comments this guy was making - I took the Cato Institute as a Repug think tank.

David M. Walker though should have been in Obama's pool for VP. This guy is spot on.

[KansasVoter]

7. Nice post!!

[bbgrunt]

9. Cato and Niskanen are libertarians. Peterson has

been pushing insolvency of SS for years.

I will be interested in seeing the movie, but am wary of its use as validation of the need to cut social programs to the bone. It sounds like it proves that the idea of creating a huge national debt problem will provide the impetus to strangle the government in a bathtub.

[Vote2008]

8. I saw it last night. Pretty good crowd. And we are all in bad shape!

[Triana]

10. It's not playing anywhere near here! ARghh! n/t

[StoryTeller]

12. I attended the premier in Omaha

I thought it was an EXCELLENT film. It was very non-partisan. The most political it got was the section at the end that lambasted Bush's economic policies the past 8 years--which was well-deserved and well-done.

And actually, when they were on the section about the budget and reviewing the history of recent presidents and their promises, they showed mostly Republican presidents--and not in what I felt was a flattering light at all.

The film does NOT advocate for a reduction in any social services--they actually don't get into specific policies at all. They covered four areas: Budget, Trade Deficit, Leadership Deficit, and ...ohh, can't remember the fourth one right now. Savings Deficit, I think.

It was actually very informative. They showed the history of debt in the U.S. (and I learned that the 1830's was the only point in our history where our government actually paid off all its debt). They also explained clearly what inflation was, the problems with it, defined "trade deficit" and explained in understandable ways WHY all this is a problem--in terms of national security, standard of living, etc.

The film focuses primarily on the role of the government, but it also gives some very honest critique of the debt mentality that the American public has as well. We DON'T save, we DO spend money we don't have, we DON'T have a lot of fiscal understanding. And they showed what the consequences will be if we don't change our ways.

I think it's a film we all need to see. I don't want to see our country cut programs--I think we have a moral responsibility to take care of the less fortunate and the people who need help. But we also have a moral responsibility to steward our resources wisely. Debt is not wise. Debt is stupid and dangerous, and that's the main message of this film. It presents the problem, and I think its goal is to get people to wake up and start discussing and demanding solutions.

If it's showing near you, GO SEE IT!!!

[WillyT]

14. Kick !!!

:kick:

[KansasVoter]

15. Kick! Please see this movie!

[City Lights]

16. I definitely want to see it. Unfortunately, it's not playing anywhere near me.

:argh:

On edit: Can't recommend...too late. :-(