“We have met the enemy and he is us!” Pogo Possum as told to Walt Kelly.

Can you imagine a documentary about the good things the government does being a hit? Maybe winning an academy award? Me neither.

But how about a documentary detailing how federal entitlement programs (like Social Security and your retirement plan) are going to bankrupt the nation? That could be bigger than An Inconvenient Truth, or The Day The Earth Stood Still. A well-credentialed report that would rattle both the political left and right, and get the attention of the two major presidential candidates. Maybe even become part of the when-I-am-elected agenda.

The documentary in question is ready for prime time. It’s called I.O.U.S.A.. It is supposed to premier this Thursday at 400 theaters around the country. The largest number of theaters is in California and Florida. Only a couple in D.C’s Maryland and Virginia suburbs (and one in the city itself) are showing it.

Folks who have seen the hour-and-twenty-some minute film (I haven’t) say it will shiver your timbers. It goes into great detail about how much Uncle Sam (and that includes you as a taxpayer) owes now, what it means to be a debtor nation, and how it is only going to get worse if entitlement programs aren’t cut by the next Congress and President.

Former Comptroller General David Walker, now CEO of the Peter G. Peterson Foundation is associated with the documentary. The former head of the Government Accountability Office has been making the rounds speaking out about the need for entitlement reform. Legendary financier Warren Buffett is a believer. He’s scheduled to speak when the film premiers in his home town of Omaha.

So what’s in it for you? Maybe plenty, both as a fed and as a taxpayer.

Equally important: what influence, if any, will it have on the candidates?

To check it out, click here: ttp://www.iousathemovie.com/

Japan Studies

Five American feds have won the prestigious Mansfield Awards for two years study of, and in, Japan. The first year will be spent learning Japanese customs and language. The second year is spent working inside a government ministry in that country.

The winners are:

• Janet Won Cho, Asia Pacific Regional Specialist, Department of Defense;
• Michael Louis Clark, Fishery Management Specialist, National Marine Fisheries Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration;
• Patrick Robert Hollen, Commander, United States Navy;
• Douglas Ryan Jacobson, International Trade Specialist, U.S. and Foreign Commercial Service, International Trade Administration;
• Elizabeth Curtis Machek, Community Planner, Research and Innovative Technology Administration, Department of Transportation

The awards honor the late Mike Mansfield , and his wife Maureen. He was a Democratic Senator from Montana and Senate Majority Leader. He’s considered one of the straightest-shooters, ever, in American politics. The pipe-smoking Mansfield, a former Marine enlisted man, was famous for giving one or two word answers – like “yes” or “no” – to particularly dumb or simple questions from the media. He once told me that providing sound bites was not his mission in life. After his time in the Senate he was U.S. Ambassador to Japan. For more informaton about the program, check out http://mansfieldfdn.org/

Nearly Useless Factoid

The pace of life may be faster in the United States than in more laid-back countries in Europe and elsewhere, but our average Internet speed is way lower. Scripps Howard reports “according to a study of 230,000 Internet users, the median real-time download speed in the U.S. is just 2.3 megabits per second. Japan users download at 63 mbps, South Koreans at 49 mbps and the French at 17 mbps, said the report by the Communications Workers of America’s Speed Matters Speed Test.”

To reach me: mcausey@federalnewsradio.com

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