Michael Moore // Current

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'Capitalism: A Love Story': Michael Moore's New Movie

Michael Moore's latest documentary now has a title _ and a theme that resonates with recession-weary audiences.... more

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For The Love Of Money - Michael Moore Reveals Title of New Film

Michael Moore has just confirmed the name of his new movie, Capitalism: A Love Story, which will explore the evils of corporate... more

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Michael Moore wants to make a Vampire Movie....

lol apparently everyone wants to do a vampire movie! Michael Moore is making a new documentary that will be less of an... more

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Teaser For Untitled Michael Moore Bailout Doc

Here it is...

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Michael Moore's next target: Wall Street

"The movie is not going to be an economics lesson; it's going to be more like a vampire movie," the filmmaker... more

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Michael Moore on Wall Street in next film

"The movie is not going to be an economics lesson; it's going to be more like a vampire movie," the filmmaker... more

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Voters To Congress: What's Wrong With Single-Payer Health Care?

Give voters a voice in the debate over health care reform and they ask about the one thing most lawmakers decided from the start would not be considered: "Why not a single-payer program?"

That was by far the most popular question posed to members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus Thursday night, when they took questions on the House floor that had been submitted and voted for online -- something of a first for Congress.

The question-and-answer hour was expected to focus on public health care options as part of a health care landscape that would still be dominated by private insurance companies. But online voters, who cast almost 30,000 votes at progressivecaucus.org between Tuesday night and Thursday, hijacked the session, demanding to know why a single-payer program is not being considered.

Though only five of more than 750 questions were chosen to be asked at the event, some proved far more popular than others. The top questions included how much influence the insurance companies have had on the reform debate and why the public can't have a level of health care comparable to that of the assembled congressmen.

"What is it going to take for you to WAKE UP and smell the catastrophe that for-profit healthcare is?" read the fifth most popular question, the last on the list asked of the caucus members.

The novelty of the forum created a sense of actual dialogue between the legislators and their constituents, said Darcy Burner, the executive director of the nonprofit Progressive Caucus Policy Foundation, which advises the caucus and organized the discussion.

"Part of what we're trying to do is help build relationships between members of Congress and the grassroots such that there is more mutual trust than exists right now, so it didn't surprise me at all that the questions were somewhat adversarial," she said.

The legislators overwhelmingly support a single-payer program, Burner said, but don't consider it feasible. At this point, they're pulling for "a robust public plan that will provide real competition," she said.

The Progressive Caucus includes some 71 House Democrats, but only four made it to Thursday night's session: Caucus co-chair Lynn Woolsey (D-Calif.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) and Keith Ellison (D-Minn.), who moderated the forum.

"For decades, Americans' calls for health care reform have fallen on deaf ears in Congress," Ellison said during the meeting. As for Ellison's missing colleagues, Burner blamed delays that kept them from starting before 9 p.m., but she lauded the participation of the four who attended. Both the foundation and the caucus will continue to press for greater interaction with the public, she said.

"It's the people's House. It'd be nice if the people had more input," Burner said. "The more people who are participating, I think, the more valuable the dialogue's going to be."Give voters a voice in the debate over health care reform and they ask about the one thing most lawmakers decided from the start... more

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1 month ago

Michael Moore Blogs: " Goodbye, GM"

Michael Moore has something to say about American cars and the fate of GM. Here is an excerpt:

"At the deathbed of General Motors, I find myself filled with—dare I say it—joy. Here are my nine suggestions for transforming the company.

I write this on the morning of the end of the once-mighty General Motors. By high noon, the president of the United States will have made it official: General Motors, as we know it, has been totaled.

As I sit here in GM's birthplace, Flint, Michigan, I am surrounded by friends and family who are filled with anxiety about what will happen to them and to the town. Forty percent of the homes and businesses in the city have been abandoned. Imagine what it would be like if you lived in a city where almost every other house is empty. What would be your state of mind?

Who among us wants $50 billion of our tax dollars thrown down the rat hole of still trying to save GM?

It is with sad irony that the company which invented "planned obsolescence"—the decision to build cars that would fall apart after a few years so that the customer would then have to buy a new one—has now made itself obsolete. It refused to build automobiles that the public wanted, cars that got great gas mileage, were as safe as they could be, and were exceedingly comfortable to drive. Oh—and that wouldn't start falling apart after two years. GM stubbornly fought environmental and safety regulations. Its executives arrogantly ignored the "inferior" Japanese and German cars, cars which would become the gold standard for automobile buyers. And it was hell-bent on punishing its unionized workforce, lopping off thousands of workers for no good reason other than to "improve" the short-term bottom line of the corporation. Beginning in the 1980s, when GM was posting record profits, it moved countless jobs to Mexico and elsewhere, thus destroying the lives of tens of thousands of hard-working Americans. The glaring stupidity of this policy was that, when they eliminated the income of so many middle-class families, who did they think was going to be able to afford to buy their cars? History will record this blunder in the same way it now writes about the French building the Maginot Line or how the Romans cluelessly poisoned their own water system with lethal lead in its pipes..."Michael Moore has something to say about American cars and the fate of GM. Here is an excerpt: "At the deathbed of General... more

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1 month ago

Michael Moore doc about the economy coming this fall

Mark your calendars for October 2nd! "The film is described as "a comical look at the corporate and political... more

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2 months ago

"God," "Genius," or Black "Swine"?

The following piece written by Michael Moore appears in this week's Time magazine (and in full at Time.com) as part of their annual "Time 100" issue highlighting their choices for "The World's Most Influential People."

Elie Wiesel called him a "God." His investors called him a "genius." But, proving correct that old adage from the country and western song, you never really know what goes on behind closed doors.

Bernie Madoff, for at least 20 years, ran a Ponzi scheme on thousands of clients, among them the people you and I would consider the best and brightest. Business leaders, celebrities, charities, even some of his own relatives and his defense attorney were taken for a ride (this has to be the first time a lawyer was hosed by the client).

We're clearly in one of those historic, game changing years: up is down, red is blue and black is President. Aside from Obama himself, no person will provide a more iconic face of this end-of-capitalism-as-we-know-it year than Bernard Lawrence Madoff.

Which is too bad. Yes, he stole $65 billion from some already quite wealthy people. I know that's upsetting to them because rich guys like Bernie are not supposed to be stealing from their own kind. Crime, thievery, looting — that's what happens on the other side of town. The rules of the money game on Park Avenue and Wall Street are comprised of things like charging the public 29% credit card interest, tricking people into taking out a second mortgage they can't afford, and concocting a student loan system that has graduates in hock for the next 20 years. Now that's smart business! And it's legal. That's where Bernie went wrong — his scheming, his trickery was an outrage both because it was illegal and because he preyed on his side of the tracks.

Had Mr. Madoff just followed the example of his fellow top one-percenters, there were many ways he could have legally multiplied his wealth many times over. Here's how it's done. First, threaten your workers that you'll move their jobs offshore if they don't agree to reduce their pay and benefits. Then move those jobs offshore. Then place that income on the shores of the Cayman Islands and pay no taxes. Don't put the money back into your company. Put it into your pocket and the pockets of your shareholders. There! Done! Legal!

But Bernie wanted to play X-games Capitalism, run by the mantra that's at the core of all capitalistic endeavors: Enough Is Never Enough. You have the right to make as much as you can, and if people are too stupid to read the fine print of their health insurance policy or their GM "100,000-mile warranty," well, tough luck, losers. Buyers beware!

It would be too easy — and the wrong lesson learned — to put Bernie on TIME's list all by himself. If Ponzi schemes are such a bad thing, then why have we allowed all of our top banks to deal in credit default swaps and other make-believe rackets? Why did we allow those same banks to create the scam of a sub-prime mortgage? And instead of putting the people responsible in the cell block in Lower Manhattan, where Bernie now resides, why did we give them huge sums of our hard-earned tax dollars to bail them out of their self-inflicted troubles? Bernard Madoff is nothing more than the scab on the wound. He's also a most-needed and convenient distraction. Where's the photo on this list of the ex-chairmen of AIG, Merrill Lynch and Citigroup? Where's the mug shot of Phil Gramm, the senator who wrote the bill to strip the system of its regulations, or of the President who signed that bill? And how 'bout those who ran the fake numbers at the ratings agencies, the lobbyists who succeeded in making sleazy accounting a lawful practice, or the stock market itself — an institution that's treated like the Holy Sepulchre instead of the casino that it is (and, like all other casinos, the house eventually wins).

And what of Madoff's clients themselves? What did they think was going on to guarantee them incredible returns on their investmentsThe following piece written by Michael Moore appears in this week's Time magazine (and in full at Time.com) as part of their... more

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3 months ago

Michael Moore VS Westboro Baptist Church [Owned]

I saw Phelps protesting in Sacramento California and this guy is officially ignorant. Thanks Michael Moore for your wit and... more

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5 months ago

Michael Moore reaches out to bankers

"Filmmaker Michael Moore, who says the Wall Street bailout is “the biggest swindle in American history,” is... more

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5 months ago

African American Wallet Exchange

Michael Moore sheds light on the fact that some cops have a hard time distinguishing a wallet from a gun.

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6 months ago

Review: An American Carol

It's certainly not the worst film released this year, but that doesn't mean it's all that good. My CINEFANTASTIQUE... more

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7 months ago

Citizen Journalism and THE IFC MEDIA PROJECT: Air America Interviews Meghan O'Hara

A little skepticism is always good. Hell, sometimes a lot of skepticism is good. Meghan O'Hara helped produce such Michael... more

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7 months ago

Senate to middle class: drop dead

Michael Moore on the US auto bailout ...

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7 months ago

Michael Moore talks about the Auto Bailout on COUNTDOWN with Keith Olbermann

Bailout madness. Who wants some money? Tell us if you carpooled here or not. . .! GM wants $18billion - the total worth of... more

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7 months ago

Saving the Big 3 for You and Me ...a message from Michael Moore

So what to do? Members of Congress, here's what I propose:

1. Transporting Americans is and should be one of the most important functions our government must address. And because we are facing a massive economic, energy and environmental crisis, the new president and Congress must do what Franklin Roosevelt did when he was faced with a crisis (and ordered the auto industry to stop building cars and instead build tanks and planes): The Big 3 are, from this point forward, to build only cars that are not primarily dependent on oil and, more importantly to build trains, buses, subways and light rail (a corresponding public works project across the country will build the rail lines and tracks). This will not only save jobs, but create millions of new ones.

2. You could buy ALL the common shares of stock in General Motors for less than $3 billion. Why should we give GM $18 billion or $25 billion or anything? Take the money and buy the company! (You're going to demand collateral anyway if you give them the "loan," and because we know they will default on that loan, you're going to own the company in the end as it is. So why wait? Just buy them out now.)

3. None of us want government officials running a car company, but there are some very smart transportation geniuses who could be hired to do this. We need a Marshall Plan to switch us off oil-dependent vehicles and get us into the 21st century.

This proposal is not radical or rocket science. It just takes one of the smartest people ever to run for the presidency to pull it off. What I'm proposing has worked before. The national rail system was in shambles in the '70s. The government took it over. A decade later it was turning a profit, so the government returned it to private/public hands, and got a couple billion dollars put back in the treasury.

This proposal will save our industrial infrastructure -- and millions of jobs. More importantly, it will create millions more. It literally could pull us out of this recession.

In contrast, yesterday General Motors presented its restructuring proposal to Congress. They promised, if Congress gave them $18 billion now, they would, in turn, eliminate around 20,000 jobs. You read that right. We give them billions so they can throw more Americans out of work. That's been their Big Idea for the last 30 years -- layoff thousands in order to protect profits. But no one ever stopped to ask this question: If you throw everyone out of work, who's going to have the money to go out and buy a car?

These idiots don't deserve a dime. Fire all of them, and take over the industry for the good of the workers, the country and the planet.

What's good for General Motors IS good for the country. Once the country is calling the shots.

More at website.So what to do? Members of Congress, here's what I propose: 1. Transporting Americans is and should be one of the most... more