I.O.U.S.A - Addison Wiggin [3]
If a four - year - old can get it, then why is so hard for a vast majority of current federal elected offi cials? Are they in denial or just happy to kick the can down the road while they leave key sustainability challenges for someone else?
In large part, I believe the greatest defi cit that the United States has right now is a leadership defi cit. You ’ ll hear more about this and our nation ’ s other defi cits in this book and in the fi lm.
Subsequent to our Phoenix trip, my offi ce at the GAO
was contacted by the fi lm crew who requested to meet with me about a documentary they were planning to do on federal defi cits and debt. Since I had done a number of electronic interviews and was obviously interested in the topic, I agreed.
The meeting was attended by Patrick Creadon, Addison Wiggin, Kate Incontrera, and others from Agora Financial.
They provided an overview of the planned documentary, and when they had fi nished I said, “ Does this have anything to do with the book Empire of Debt ? ” Addison and Patrick looked at each other and hesitated to speak. Evidently, they didn ’ t know whether I liked the book or not. Once they acknowledge that it did, I noted that I had read it and liked it. After that point, things went well and it was the beginning of a great adventure.
While the book was the initial basis for the documentary, over time it evolved to concentrate more on our efforts in the Fiscal Wake - Up Tour. That Tour is coordinated by the nonpartisan Concord Coalition and it also involves scholars from the Brookings Institution, the Heritage Foundation, and me. Successful documentaries, Patrick explained to me early on, usually have one or more persons to focus on in order to flast.indd xiii
8/26/08 6:27:21 PM
xiv Foreword
help personalize the fi lm. I was fortunate to be selected as one such person.
Patrick, Addison, and their crew followed the Tour to several locations across America, including Omaha, Nebraska; Des Moines, Iowa; Manchester, New Hampshire; Los Angeles, California; and Madison, Wisconsin. They also fi lmed many other subjects
The Fiscal Wake - Up Tour also took on extra notoriety after the CBS 60 Minutes program decided to do a segment on it. The program helped increase attendance at our events outside Washington as well as the attention paid to our efforts inside Washington ’ s Beltway. The 60 Minutes segment also paved the way for a timely introduction to our work in the documentary.
We found in our many Town Hall meetings that the American people were smarter than many politicians realized.
Once you state the facts and speak the truth, people get the message. At the same time, the American people are distrustful of Washington. They ’ re starved for two things: truth and leadership.
In November 2007, after many Tour stops, I was fortunate to be recognized as the Concord Coalition ’ s Economic Patriot of the Year. Prior recipients included former president of the United States Bill Clinton, former Treasury secretary Bob Rubin, and former chairman of the Federal Reserve Paul Volcker. Little did I know that in accepting that award, my career path would change once again.
During that evening I made a brief yet substantive acceptance speech. I also had the opportunity to participate in a substantive panel discussion with Rubin, Volcker, former senators Rudman and Kerrey, and the president of the Concord Coalition, Pete Peterson. I must have done all right because about a week later, I received a call from Pete Peterson.
Pete called under the pretense that he wanted my input on his plans to start a new foundation dedicated to trying to address the budget and other key sustainability challenges.