There is a scene in Patrick Creadon’s I.O.U.S.A. where a team of financial experts, who have gone on a bi-partisan speaking tour to alert Americans to the dire financial straits our country is in, are ignored by local media. Mind you, this occurred long before recent events brought the subject to the forefront via a political election. These experts foresaw the current crisis and were trying to warn Americans. They were interviewed by an ABC news affiliate in New Hampshire. The reporter admits that the story might run in the middle of the broadcast, and indeed, the show leads with an important story about a man who swallowed a diamond ring. The financial experts who came just to speak with citizens about an important subject weren’t included in the broadcast at all.

This illustrates one point in sharp relief: our news media are failing us miserably and have been for years. I.O.U.S.A. is hopefully the first of many films that will help us get a handle on how serious our financial situation is, and while the subject matter is tough to watch, viewing it and understanding it is imperative. We literally can’t afford to continue to be ignorant and apathetic about the challenges we are facing, even if the nightly news refuses to bring these subjects to our attention in a meaningful way.

The other day, I was reading a Times article that said that Obama would be using his campaign fundraising machine again to help cover the cost of that shiny new economic crisis team. When I read that, I was annoyed. Why should we have to pay again for a team of consultants, made up largely of corporate giants who can afford to donate some of their time to public service? And, while I was interested in giving money to the campaign, I really didn’t expect that they would keep hitting me up once Obama had control of the federal budget.

What I.O.U.S.A. makes clear is that we all are going to have to tighten our belts. Obama made it plain that he would hit the wealthiest first, but what the film makes clear is that none will come out untapped. This is simply too bad for every American not to pitch in. We’ve been buying our way of life on credit as a society, and while numbers in the trillions are inconceivable and exactly when the credit line will dry up is unclear, it is obvious that we are putting our very freedom at risk. I say all of this not to frighten you but to ask that you please see this movie, and hopefully more like it, to get yourself informed. Creadon makes sure that you don’t need an MBA to understand the issues.

Someone recently asked me where I was after September 11. I was in New Jersey and the thing I remember most vividly is that after the shock and sadness, was an amazing outpouring of love and support between neighbors. We need to call upon that now because this situation is going to get much worse before it gets better. The medicine for what ails our country will be bitter, but we can figure it out if we work together and realize that we are all in this together. Start paying off your debts and saving your money (no one will convince me that continuing to spend money we don’t have, a/k/a economic stimulus, will make this go away). And while it’s tempting to blame it all on W., he merely exacerbated an already impossible situation.

When Obama takes office, I hope that he and his fancy-pants team will roll up their sleeves, put the country first and tell us honestly what we need to do without regard to elections or re-elections, and that we will do what needs to be done because we understand the severity of the situation.

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