Friday, August 22, 2008

I.O.U.S.A.

If you haven't seen I.U.O.S.A., get your butt to a theater. I throughly enjoyed it.

I knew we, the USA, were overextended. I knew we were in a trade deficit. I knew we were facing real trouble with Social Security. I knew it all, but this movie places it in a nice little package for you and slaps you in the face with the facts. Our debt to foreign countries was the biggest shocker for me. A total and utter wake up call.

A few parts of the film felt sensationalist(ic?). Even though the film was billed as non-partisan, there were also a couple of points that felt party or campaign-ish. Overall, a great film to see.

We saw the film last night in Huntington Beach. After the film there was broadcast (from Omaha, Nebraska) Q&A session with:
Warren Buffet (thought to be one of the world's greatest investors),
Peter Peterson (once the US Secretary of Commerce, and has served under various Presidents),
William Niskanen (Chairmen of the CATO Institute & was on Reagan's Council of Economic Advisors), &
Bill Novelli (Chairman of AARP & creator of the Divided We Fail campaign)

During the Q&A session we picked up the fact that the four other men seemed hesitant to disagree with Buffet. I mean, who in their right mind is going to disagree with a man that's been heralded as such a "genius"?

I developed a secret crush,
or not so secret now, on David Walker. He seemed very passionate.

If you're interested, here's the PDF transcript from last night Q&A session. Happy reading!

Speaking of reading... I actually finished my reading for my book club on time!


3 comments:

Shelley E said...

sounds interesting- but depressing...I want to read the link- when I get some time- it is 66 pages!!

Anonymous said...

Wow, I just don't think I could handle that reality now. My own reality sucks enough!

Temeculamom said...

Cristina, I just heard an interview on NPR this afternoon (well, part of one at least) on my way to pick up the kids. Sounded fascinating but as Shelley said, depressing! I am busy worrying about everything that needs fixing/maintaining around here, and hate to think that the federal government is even worse off!