New Documentary I.O.U.S.A Brings Attention to Growing National Debt

The national debt has always been a big issue, yet one not often discussed in elections or campaigns. With terrorism, the economy and a billion other issues highlighting the election, the national debt is usually on the sidelines. I.O.U.S.A seeks to change that, along with a few people that know a thing or two about wealth and economics. I.O.U.S.A is a documentary about the national debt, the size of it and how it got so high, financed by billionaires Warren Buffet and Pete Peterson. I.O.U.S.A, to use an extremely obvious comparison, seeks to put the national debt on the movie map like Al Gore did for global warming.

Opening in select theaters on Friday, I.O.U.S.A explains the origins and increased problems of the $9.6 trillion dollar national debt of the United States. Conversations about China and the Olympic Games have sometimes mentioned the United States's heavy debt to China over the years. But I.O.U.S.A goes beyond the debt to one nation and explains the debt to the entire world that the U.S would collapse under if it ever had to pay up.

The movie is funded by Buffett and Peterson, who have criticized the debt and various other economic problems for years. I.O.U.S.A is directed, however, by David Walker, the former head of the Government Accountability Office. While not using Al Gore's famous Powerpoints, I.O.U.S.A and Walker use graphs, numbers and interviews with people in the know to educate viewers about the national debt.

The U.S economy itself has dominated headlines all year, with rising costs and gas prices heavily impacting Americans and the direction of the Presidential election. However, the national debt still remains on the backburner in economic debates, or is at least less talked about than gas and food costs.

Buffett, Peterson and Walker have spent the past year touring the country to get footage for the movie and to hold forums talking about the debt. According to Walker, every single person in the United States would have to invest $175,000 to pay off the national debt.