If the newest movie I.O.U.S.A., directed by Patrick Creadon, does not scare the living daylights out of you, nothing will. This documentary chronicles America's national debt throughout the ages and predicts dire consequences for our Country's future unless immediate action takes place.

At the forefront of movie is David Walker, former head of the Government Accountability Office who champions the need for fiscal responsibility in Washington, D.C.. For a little over an hour, Walker brilliantly explains the issues pertaining to the National Debt in ways that any non-economist can understand. Consider it your civic duty to see I.O.U.S.A. before you vote this November.

As a fiscal conservative, I always watch documentaries regarding public issues with skepticism. Too often in the past, Michael Moore had used pure demagoguery to convey an agenda rather than the truth. This movie is nothing but straight talk, and is the most balanced argument for fiscal discipline in Washington that I have ever seen.

Allow me briefly to qualify what I just stated above. Supply-side economic supporters, like myself, may be slightly upset that the Laffer Curve is completely ignored in the movie. We are led to believe that raising taxes always raises revenue. While I believe the facts of history demonstrate that this is not the case, the makers of this film sufficiently convey to the audience that spending must be cut in order to solve this problem. It was a compromise I was willing to make; if they would have debated supply-side economics, it could have taken three additional hours and also it would have detracted from the main message.

Nevertheless, one of the greatest aspects of the film (see video below), was that the audience is clearly told that the largest liabilities of our Federal Budget each year are Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and Medicare Part D. Military spending, which accounts for $607 billion a year is only a fraction of total the liabilities compared to our healthcare costs.

In fact, even if we got out of Iraq right now, that would account for 3% of our total debt and less than 10% of our total debt if the Bush Tax cuts were repealed (Again, assuming the Laffer curve was irrelevant). Therefore, the answer is clearly cutting Medicare, Medicaid, and Medicare Part D. We have no other choice.

Overall, this is a movie that will explain everything you want to know about spending in Washington. After leaving the theaters you hopefully will understand that we cannot afford Socialized Medicine, or any of the other trillions of dollars that bleeding-heart politicians want to spend. The choices are tough, but the consequences will be tougher if we do not do something now.







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