National Debt, Says I.O.U.S.A.: $10.7 Trillion and Rising

It's the second Saturday afternoon in January, and the topic is a documentary movie called I.O.U.S.A.

Who wants to focus on a documentary movie called I.O.U.S.A.? Do we even understand the title, which means the U.S.A. has a tremendous I.O.U. to foreign nations such as China and Japan? Who on a Saturday wants to think about the budget deficit or the national debt? This is the weekend. We are preparing for a pair of NFL playoff games, or other Saturday entertainment.

Who wants to think about the budget deficit or the national debt when a pair of NFL playoff games are upcoming?

Well, if we tune into CNN, we can either tune out or face the facts. CNN is doing a two-hour program featuring I.O.U.S.A., regarding the budget deficit and the national debt.

As we await today and tonight's NFL playoff games, do we want to face up to the I.O.U.S.A. statements regarding the budget deficit and the national debt? Such as:

- "It's fundamentally wrong, and mean, for our generation's government to spend the next generation's money."

- "If budgeting is like a diet, why do we break the scale?"

- "Is this country like the Roman Empire before the fall?"

Actually, the documentary movie called I.O.U.S.A., the movie that should shock us out of our NFL playoffs fixation, was made before the news media declared an economic crisis on September 15, when the stock market began to nosedive.

The movie I.O.U.S.A. asserts that the first perceived crisis with national debt took place after the Revolutionary War, and that the revolutionary governments took action under George Washington and John Adams and Thomas Jefferson.

Budget deficits and national debt remained under control through many years, even during the Civil War, even during World War I and World War II. There really wasn't a problem until the 1980s, with Ronald Reagan's huge tax cuts, and then early this decade, with George W. Bush's huge tax cuts.

The national debt now is $10.7 trillion, or about $35,000 for every American man, woman and child. The annual budget deficit for the past year is $1.2 trillion, or about $4,000 added for each American citizen in just one year. This doesn't count all of the $700 billion Wall Street bailout for last fall, or the $775 billion economic stimulus that President-elect Barack Obama is proposing.

China already owns $1 trillion in United States assets. Another CNN commentator regarding I.O.U.S.A. stated, "This isn't just about economic security, this is about national security."

Yet, all we do is selfishly complain about our taxes, not thinking about the debt our children and grandchildren will pay for our self-centered generation.

Okay. As we write, 4:30 p.m. Eastern Standard Time is approaching. It's time for the NFL playoffs.

SOURCES

CNN

http://www.iousathemovie.com/