Another Inconvenient Truth
Published by Bob Foster
I had heard of this documentary film about America’s fiscal problems, and then a friend just sent me a short version of the movie. I think we all have our own ideas about what the current economic situation means, but this is the only place I have seen the actual fiscal facts pulled together. It was produced by Christine O’Malley, an Academy Award nominee, and directed by Patrick Creadon, of Sundance fame. The full-length movie is a nonpartisan film that follows former U.S. Comptroller General, David Walker, as he crisscrosses the country explaining America’s unsustainable fiscal policies to its citizens. It was made prior to the election, bailouts, and the stimulus bill, so some of the current conditions are now even more dramatic.
The facts presented in this shortened video affect every small business and individual in the U.S.–probably the world. Although the video is about 30 minutes long, I think, like Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth, it is important enough that, hopefully, readers would set aside the time to take a look at it.
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With so much doom and gloom, and misinformation coming out of the Eastern press, it is good to see exactly what lies ahead of us, so we can act accordingly. We will know how to plan for our future business, and what we have to do to make our businesses successful. The U.S. may no longer be the industrial giant of the world, but we certainly are a large community of entrepreneurs that work in our homes, in garages, in forest cabins, in university dorms, and in every block of every city of America. With our innate spirit of innovation, we can overcome the fiscal problems of America–and we will.
If anyone spent the time to view this documentary, I would appreciate your thoughts.
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10 Responses to “Another Inconvenient Truth”
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I’m actually quite speechless after watching this.
Is there really any hope to get out of this? Can we once again start producing more in this country than we consume?
Jeff – I think that is the question of the day. This film was made last year, when the national debt was only $8.7 trillion. That number has climbed substantially since then–and is still climbing. I think you can see why there is a number of people who were against the stimulus package…which may reach $2 trillion before the dust settles.
Any hope of getting out of this? When the U.S. traded its manufacturing base for quick profits (by importing cheap everything), it pretty much sealed our fate–we no longer produce much of anything. If we don’t produce anything, we have nothing to sell…other than information technology, which many other countries are catching up on. That may be why the U.S. is dead last in exports by exporting countries.
However, President Obama says he will cut the deficit in half by the end of his first term. Unfortunately, the only way he can do that is with massive tax increases–and not just on the rich!
I think the President, and every citizen in the U.S. has some tough sledding ahead.
Bob Foster’s last blog post..Small Business–Caught in the Middle
Bob – What a sobering incredibly important piece. I think it should run three times a week on all TV outlets for a solid month during primetime. I just wished I would have watched a bit earlier. It’s nearly 1:40 AM here and I hope I will be able to get to sleep. WOW!
A few of the most sobering facts is that even if we ended the war, rolled back the Bush tax cuts and eliminated earmarks and pork barrel spending, our problems will not be solved. Another very very sobering fact is the trade deficit. This is simply outrageous!
I also found it incredibly hypocritical that those who are screaming about the deficit and tax cuts have had the largest deficit spending, both the Regan and Bush W were the worst and yet we still hear these guys in Congress today railing for more of the same. The deficit increased tremendously through the Regan administration and we were not even in a war. I guess those tax cuts did not work at planned, eh?
What about the trade deficit? There are so many outrageous things in the video that it’s simply mind boggling that we could have allowed us to get there. Who could have ever thought that we could have two wars, tax cuts, and personal debt spending and there not be a perfect storm? It was no secret why Secretary State Clinton did not harp on China’s human rights issues. They are now I believe 1st and not 2nd with regarding to holding our T-Bills.
We most certainly have a leadership problem. To think that Paul O’Neil was asked to lie because he brought the truth about where we were heading is an amazing omission. How shameful the former President and Vice-President should be if what Mr. O’Neil said was true and there is no reason to disbelieve. He seems like an honorable man indeed. I guess Paulson was more to their liking for whatever reason.
At the end my question was not when but how we were going to get out of this. The suggestions above are encouraging, as well as the necessity of each of us to sacrifice and pull together. But we really must know how bad it really is. I didn’t know to this extent. I think this is what the President was chided for about sobering Inaugural Speech and and tone thereafter. Because he is so hopeful, I knew he was bracing us for something huge! This is HUGE!
Thanks again, Bob, for this very important video –much appreciated. Now, it has to be seen in every household in America. How can we get this done as a first step of community activism?
Judith Ellis’s last blog post..Being Leontyne Price
Judith – I wish we could get more people to realize just how deep the country’s financial problems are, but I am discouraged when I think of what Al Gore has gone through to get his message across about Global Warming—and he is a celebrity.
Sadly, the I.O.U.S.A. movie, and the information contained in it, has raised the ire of many naysayers, and unbelieving pundits…they must be students of Dick Cheney when he told Paul O’Neil to forget about deficits. Apparently, there are many people out there who still believe that, when the U.S. needs more money, all they have to do is print it. They are like many of the people in the film who have little knowledge of how our government even works.
Personally, I intend to start by watching the full-length version of the movie right away. I found a download of the regular movie that runs 1 hour and 24 minutes. Here is the link http://tinyurl.com/dkajfv if you have an interest (the DVD is also for sale on Amazon). What to do after that? We’ll have to see.
The “how are we going to get out of this mess” issue is a major problem. In the recessions prior to 1980, we could still rely on our manufacturing might to build things that people in other countries wanted, and pull ourselves up through exports. Now we build very little—even for ourselves—and import most of what we buy and consume. Big business not only cannot help us out of our problems now—they are a contributing factor to how we got in trouble in the first place.
But, here’s a thought. We still have some of the greatest minds in the world, and small businesses are the backbone of our economy. So, what if the federal government supported our small businesses better, and maybe even sent out trade missions to the 223 countries that export more than the U.S., to find out what it is they need (every country needs something they don’t produce). Then come back and ask our small businesses to produce those goods and services, as well as perhaps providing R&D money to help them get up to speed quickly. With almost 30 million small businesses in the U.S., if each of them exported just one small product, or service—think what the sum could be.
Just some thoughts out loud, but we have to start somewhere—otherwise, our children, and our children’s children will have no future.
Bob Foster’s last blog post..Small Change for Small Business
Bob – I literally laughed out loud when I read your second paragraph, though I understand its gravitas. I come here frequently precisely for the beauty of this comment. What a thoughtful comment indeed. Please continue to think aloud. Thank you–much appreciated.
Judith Ellis’s last blog post..Being Words
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Bob Foster’s last blog post..U.S. Falling Behind in Innovation–Part II
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