TIME-BOMB: America's Debt Crises (youtube)

[Evander]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SYK5JuAMkvo

This is a FANTASTIC documentary that covers the national debt and what will happen if we do nothing about it. In that sense it is very similar to I.O.U.S.A. But unlike I.O.U.S.A., Time-Bomb also covers the risks of inflation, and what will happen to the US if foreigners decide to stop supporting the dollar b/c of a lack of confidence in the US economy and its massive debt. Other topics include:
a) How the US has transitioned from a creditor nation to a debtor nation, and how history has not been kind to the debtors
b) The risk of hyperinflation
c) cooking the books - Accounting fraud committed by the US government
d) Wealth is created by savings and investment, not spending (it's pathetic that this even has to be covered, but look at the state of affairs today)
e) How future generations will see their payroll taxes DOUBLE if nothing is done
f) Derivatives: legalized fraud (too bad nobody listened...)
g) The Founding Father's opinions on debt
f) The only realistic solutions are increasing taxes or cutting spending (and I know how government will only waste the money it gets from tax increases, so really there's only 1 realistic solution).

You hear from the man on the street, major economists, and government big wigs. Bottom line - excellent documentary. Wish I had seen it sooner

 

[Pocatello]

There is a big train wreck ahead. All the government wants to do is borrow money that we don't have and spend it on grandiose projects . The Republicans had their chance and now it's the Democrats, both parties are bringing this country into a downward spiral with uncontrolled spending.

 

[StageLeft]

Either the video is more BS in which case it's a waste of time or it's not BS in which case I don't want to start my day on a downward note and would rather drink coffee and read the onion

 

[LegendKiller]

Originally posted by: Skoorb
Either the video is more BS in which case it's a waste of time or it's not BS in which case I don't want to start my day on a downward note and would rather drink coffee and read the onion

It's actually not that bad of a video, although it gets some things wrong and is very alarmist. It's like watching a Michael Moore movie, it has to be taken with a lot of skepticism and with the realization that everybody has a motive. You're only getting the agenda they want to pimp, not the 360 view.

 

[sandorski]

It seems like one of these is coming out every few months now. Not that I disagree with what they are saying, it just seems to be falling onto deaf ears.

 

[Craig234]

Originally posted by: LegendKiller

It's actually not that bad of a video, although it gets some things wrong and is very alarmist. It's like watching a Michael Moore movie, it has to be taken with a lot of skepticism and with the realization that everybody has a motive. You're only getting the agenda they want to pimp, not the 360 view.

Specifics would improve your post. What are the main 3 things they right, and the 3 they get wrong, in your opinion?

Edit: to do a bit of 'live commentary' as I watch at least part of the video:

I don't care for the intro talking to the two college kids. Seems pointless to me, weak as a style for making a point. You can get two college kids who say about anything.

The style isn't just 'alarmist', but 'cheesy alarmist', reddish colors, tense music, a few words at a time flying at you on the screen. The editing is too disjointed with dozens of interruptions aback and forth with the 'alarmist text andmusic' often with just a sentence between them.

It asked one of the college kids at what point the deficit becomes "dangerous". That's the sort of nebulous question that has little use - define 'dangerous'? There clearly isn't a firm line, because there are many policies that can affect where the 'line' is, and other factors like what the spending of used for. All it does is put the word 'dangerous' into the message.

More cheesy: interviewing a guy sitting on a lake doc, with him taking up a corner of the screen, as the wind blows making noise competing with his speech...

So far several minutes in, the 'substance' has been 'our borrowing from foreign countries is huge'.

There was one decent interview with a guy who discussed how American's power base is increasingly exclusive our military strength (though he doesn't go into the terrible moral ramifications of that), and the it's following with a too-long segment of random people to make the point many don't know the size of the debt.

The 'random person' interviews are still going on for more minutes, and I'll stop the 'live commentary' for now at the 18 minute point.

Adding this point later: one disappointment is the 'hit and miss' on some issues. For example, it touches on the Medicare actuary who was threatened if he revealed to Congress the real cost of the Medicare Drug Bill. But here's a partial list of how it told only part of the story, it didn't list:

- The drug industry was the top donors for Republicans, who ran all branches.

- A Republican congressman was appointed to 'drive the bill through', and shortly after it was passed, he resigned to take a well compensated position in the drug industry.

Who was he really representing while serving as a Congressman?

- The bill had a key feature, a line barring the government from negotiating prices like the VA does, which was estimated to add $150 in profit to the industry.

- The bill was only passed with extreme arm twisting, in an unprecedented extension of the vote after they first lost, keeping the vote all open all night as Republican leaders walked the floor of Congress to pressure Republicans who had voted no, until enough had switched their votes.

I'd rather see the real story of that bill explained when it's brought up.

The way the documentary did it had a somewhat paranoid style to it.

It goes on to make a very good point mentioning the unregulated derivatives situation - then goes into a maudlin, muddled segment of song and a smalltown parade and still photos of various 'scenes of America', intermixed with graphics of debt charts. I don't care for it.

So, some nuggets of good info, with IMO poor production values/style. The solutions don't seem to take into consideration the politicial situation of concentrated power and wealth.

 

[soccerballtux]

I'm going to check it out, the cliffs sound good so far.

A, B, & C are what I'm most interested in.

edit: No I'm not going to check it out.

Craig234, to me, for once, you are making a lot of sense, and I have absolutely no problem with what you said. All very factual, unbiased. Good thoughts. Kudos, please keep up this new posting style of yours!

 

[First]

Their hyperinflation reasoning makes no sense, especially since so many major world economies are buying up dollars in arbitrage. What some people don't understand about inflation is that a currency would first have to be insignificant relative to other nations' fiat first and foremost. Since most countries are in significant debt relative to their GDP (some much, much worse than the U.S.), it's difficult to claim the U.S. will see hyperinflation with a trillion dollar influx of dollars in the world supply of money considering transactions per dollars are probably increasing at a similar pace with that money supply increase anyway.