I.O.U.S.A.

As has been widely reported, Congress last week passed H.R. 3221, a "comprehensive" housing bill, with our favorite fiscally irresponsible 4th District representative voting in favor of it. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that the bill will cost about $37 billion next year, and it provides $25 billion over the next two years in "relief" for failed semi-governmental institutions Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. However, the CBO states that the cost of this "bailout" for Fannie and Freddie could be as high as $100 billion. These estimates do not even include the $300 billion that the bill authorizes the Federal Housing Administration to spend on guaranteeing loans through 2011. This bill ultimately could cost as much as $500 billion.

Never mind the considerable cost of the bill and the borrowing it will entail at a time when the Administration projects the budget deficit next year to be near $500 billion. Or the fact that, by allowing Fannie and Freddie to purchase mortgages as high as $625,000 and giving borrowers and lenders alike a free ride, the bill will do absolutely nothing to address the problems in our mortgage markets and our financial markets in general. The real shame about this horrendous piece of legislation is a provision that has absolutely nothing to do with mortgages at all, but does have everything to do with the most pressing economic issue we face. The bill increases the public debt ceiling, which is the amount of debt that the government can "legally" have, to $10.6 trillion.

This limit has had no real meaning historically, as Congress has increased it periodically from $43 billion in 1940 to now $10.6 trillion. This trend over time reflects an absolute lack of willingness of our representatives in Washington to stop increasing spending at such a blinding rate and to make the hard decisions necessary to reduce the debt and prevent the economic collapse it will bring if left unchecked. In addition to the economic issue at hand, the debt and the conscious increasing of its limit by our representatives is a moral issue. In pushing more and more of the costs of their excesses on to future generations, our representatives, including David Price, show themselves to be individuals of truly repugnant moral character.

But while our representatives are to blame for their behavior, we the people are to blame for electing them and not holding them accountable for their behavior. Much of this is likely due to what appears to be a genuine lack of concern for the debt, as a recent Pew Research Poll finds that deficits rank behind the economy, education, jobs, health care, energy, Social Security and Iraq. What many voters fail to realize is that most of these issues are directly tied to the deficit and our future fiscal outlook, particularly the health of the economy. It is absolutely essential that voters learn about deficits, debt, our long-term imbalances, and their horrifying consequences, so that we may elect responsible representatives who will take action to resolve what has truly become a crisis.

Thankfully, we have a golden opportunity before us to educate voters on the issues. Documentary films have shown to have tremendous impact in raising awareness and public profiles of issues, and a new documentary about the debt will be released in August. The film is appropriately titled I.O.U.S.A. and will be debuting on August 22. There will be a special screening the night before on August 21, which will be accompanied by a live discussion featuring former Comptroller of the Currency David Walker, Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffet, and Blackstone Group Chairman and former Commerce Secretary Peter Peterson. As the trailer states, "You can't afford to miss this film."