Letter from Mike Moore

[osu99jp]

Friends,

Let me cut to the chase. The biggest robbery in the history of this country is taking place as you read this. Though no guns are being used, 300 million hostages are being taken. Make no mistake about it: After stealing a half trillion dollars to line the pockets of their war-profiteering backers for the past five years, after lining the pockets of their fellow oilmen to the tune of over a hundred billion dollars in just the last two years, Bush and his cronies -- who must soon vacate the White House -- are looting the U.S. Treasury of every dollar they can grab. They are swiping as much of the silverware as they can on their way out the door.

No matter what they say, no matter how many scare words they use, they are up to their old tricks of creating fear and confusion in order to make and keep themselves and the upper one percent filthy rich. Just read the first four paragraphs of the lead story in last Monday's New York Times and you can see what the real deal is:


"Even as policy makers worked on details of a $700 billion bailout of the financial industry, Wall Street began looking for ways to profit from it.

"Financial firms were lobbying to have all manner of troubled investments covered, not just those related to mortgages.

"At the same time, investment firms were jockeying to oversee all the assets that Treasury plans to take off the books of financial institutions, a role that could earn them hundreds of millions of dollars a year in fees.

"Nobody wants to be left out of Treasury's proposal to buy up bad assets of financial institutions."

Unbelievable. Wall Street and its backers created this mess and now they are going to clean up like bandits. Even Rudy Giuliani is lobbying for his firm to be hired (and paid) to "consult" in the bailout.

The problem is, nobody truly knows what this "collapse" is all about. Even Treasury Secretary Paulson admitted he doesn't know the exact amount that is needed (he just picked the $700 billion number out of his head!). The head of the congressional budget office said he can't figure it out nor can he explain it to anyone.

And yet, they are screeching about how the end is near! Panic! Recession! The Great Depression! Y2K! Bird flu! Killer bees! We must pass the bailout bill today!! The sky is falling! The sky is falling!

Falling for whom? NOTHING in this "bailout" package will lower the price of the gas you have to put in your car to get to work. NOTHING in this bill will protect you from losing your home. NOTHING in this bill will give you health insurance.

Health insurance? Mike, why are you bringing this up? What's this got to do with the Wall Street collapse?

It has everything to do with it. This so-called "collapse" was triggered by the massive defaulting and foreclosures going on with people's home mortgages. Do you know why so many Americans are losing their homes? To hear the Republicans describe it, it's because too many working class idiots were given mortgages that they really couldn't afford. Here's the truth: The number one cause of people declaring bankruptcy is because of medical bills. Let me state this simply: If we had had universal health coverage, this mortgage "crisis" may never have happened.

This bailout's mission is to protect the obscene amount of wealth that has been accumulated in the last eight years. It's to protect the top shareholders who own and control corporate America. It's to make sure their yachts and mansions and "way of life" go uninterrupted while the rest of America suffers and struggles to pay the bills. Let the rich suffer for once. Let them pay for the bailout. We are spending 400 million dollars a day on the war in Iraq. Let them end the war immediately and save us all another half-trillion dollars!

I have to stop writing this and you have to stop reading it. They are staging a financial coup this morning in our country. They are hoping Congress will act fast before they stop to think, before we have a chance to stop them ourselves. So stop reading this and do something -- NOW! Here's what you can do immediately:

1. Call or e-mail Senator Obama. Tell him he does not need to be sitting there trying to help prop up Bush and Cheney and the mess they've made. Tell him we know he has the smarts to slow this thing down and figure out what's the best route to take. Tell him the rich have to pay for whatever help is offered. Use the leverage we have now to insist on a moratorium on home foreclosures, to insist on a move to universal health coverage, and tell him that we the people need to be in charge of the economic decisions that affect our lives, not the barons of Wall Street.

2. Take to the streets. Participate in one of the hundreds of quickly-called demonstrations that are taking place all over the country (especially those near Wall Street and DC).

3. Call your Representative in Congress and your Senators. (click here to find their phone numbers). Tell them what you told Senator Obama.

When you screw up in life, there is hell to pay. Each and every one of you reading this knows that basic lesson and has paid the consequences of your actions at some point. In this great democracy, we cannot let there be one set of rules for the vast majority of hard-working citizens, and another set of rules for the elite, who, when they screw up, are handed one more gift on a silver platter. No more! Not again!

Yours,
Michael Moore
MMFlint@aol.com
MichaelMoore.com

P.S. Having read further the details of this bailout bill, you need to know you are being lied to. They talk about how they will prevent golden parachutes. It says NOTHING about what these executives and fat cats will make in SALARY. According to Rep. Brad Sherman of California, these top managers will continue to receive million-dollar-a-month paychecks under this new bill. There is no direct ownership given to the American people for the money being handed over. Foreign banks and investors will be allowed to receive billion-dollar handouts. A large chunk of this $700 billion is going to be given directly to Chinese and Middle Eastern banks. There is NO guarantee of ever seeing that money again.

P.P.S. From talking to people I know in DC, they say the reason so many Dems are behind this is because Wall Street this weekend put a gun to their heads and said either turn over the $700 billion or the first thing we'll start blowing up are the pension funds and 401(k)s of your middle class constituents. The Dems are scared they may make good on their threat. But this is not the time to back down or act like the typical Democrat we have witnessed for the last eight years. The Dems handed a stolen election over to Bush. The Dems gave Bush the votes he needed to invade a sovereign country. Once they took over Congress in 2007, they refused to pull the plug on the war. And now they have been cowered into being accomplices in the crime of the century. You have to call them now and say "NO!" If we let them do this, just imagine how hard it will be to get anything good done when President Obama is in the White House. THESE DEMOCRATS ARE ONLY AS STRONG AS THE BACKBONE WE GIVE THEM. CALL CONGRESS NOW.

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[Franny]

Interesting Read... Everything always comes back to Healthcare with Moore. Having known someone who did go bankrupt because of medical bills, I don't necessarily disagree with the theory altogether, but he should probably provide some statistical data to back up his claim.

Even if the thought of Universal Healthcare scares the bejesus out of you, I recommend watching Sicko.

[osu99jp]

I meant to say that if you go to his website and read his letter, some of the words are hyperlinked to sources.

[shantyman]

Not a surprise, but I agree completely.

The more I think of this bailout the more angry I get about it. Despite it failing today we all know it or a close variation will be written into law.

[master_of_muppets]

what strange friends have formed on this one event! i find myself agreeing with the end-result of moore's letter: do not let this bailout pass.

i disagree with him on he arrived at the same point, though.

he's a man who chooses to be fat, and believes that my taxes should pay for his self-inflicted medical bills. no thanks.

[bearcat428]

Originally Posted by master_of_muppets

what strange friends have formed on this one event!

well put, i've been thinking the same thing all along. bush and the dems are the main partners at the start of this bail out. i've had mixed emotions about it all along....and still do. mainly because my business depends on credit. i suppose i'm against it with the dems who are responsible for this mess being the ones pushing the bailout. why have there been no hearings from independent private sector individuals on their opinion of what to do? at least i'm hearing cutting capital gains is becoming more of a reality. as i've said before, eliminate capital gains and cut the corporate tax and stand back. let the economy bail us out, not god damn wall street funded with inflationary dollars.

[master_of_muppets]

Originally Posted by bearcat428

let the economy bail us out, not god damn wall street funded with inflationary dollars.

dittos to that, brotha.

this is all so timely for me because last friday the business i co-own applied for our first line of credit. we have been operating 100% self-financed, but want to make a few growth opportunities happen, which need credit if they are to happen now.

add to it that i'm also trying to sell my house so as to relocate to the family mecca of anderson twp., and this whole mess is very timely.

the one thing that prevents me from investing more of the money my business makes is taxes. if my taxes were cut in half i'd be able to hire 3-4 freelancers per month for projects… most likely college kids who would be working their way through school, and learning real branding stuff while doing it.

govt. is the problem, not the solution.

[bearcat428]

Originally Posted by master_of_muppets

the one thing that prevents me from investing more of the money my business makes is taxes. if my taxes were cut in half i'd be able to hire 3-4 freelancers per month for projects… most likely college kids who would be working their way through school, and learning real branding stuff while doing it.

govt. is the problem, not the solution.

i'm in the same boat. taxes hamper my growth. i'm in the 3rd year of a business i started and i'm trying to expand on credit established in my first 2 years in business. i just launched a new dba last week, so i will soon know if i'm in trouble or not. had i had more capital to spend, i would have been able to do things a little differently/better and certainly would have reduced the stress level i'm going through now.

i have a new home on 1 acre in anderson twp that i hope to have on the market in a few months....and it's just down the street from one of the fine forest hills grade schools

[master_of_muppets]

interesting about your place in anderson. shoot me a message when it's on the market, and i'll have my CEO (wife) put it on her list to look at.

when we called our bank to check in on our status today, we were given a blunt "we're waiting to see what happens" line. it's a bit nerve-wracking but i trust that if we can't get what we need from a bank right now, we'll just plan our growth accordingly and continue to self-fund. not the biggest setback - i think perspective is what keeps a lot of business owners motivated.

[HilltopperRuss]

This may come as a surprise to some people but what MOM and bearcat are talking about is not a new problem

Been self employed for forty years and the same problems have been around all that time. Businesses think they should get special treatment.

MOM said the thinking of a lot of businesses well. I deserve a break but don't give a break to the common person.

[Franny]

Originally Posted by master_of_muppets

what strange friends have formed on this one event! i find myself agreeing with the end-result of moore's letter: do not let this bailout pass.

The bailout is hard for anyone to swallow... but I'd rather pony up the money for 2,200 McDonalds Apple Pies rather than watch the DOW dip down to 8000 which is where it is headed if this thing doesn't pass. That would basically cut everyone's investments in half compared to this time last year. Warren Buffett has said it would take 10 years to get that money back. On top of that, your house will be worthless. Businesses won't be able to get any credit so they can't pay anyone.

And yes MOM, just because you started a business doesn't mean you get a free ride.

[master_of_muppets]

Originally Posted by Franny

And yes MOM, just because you started a business doesn't mean you get a free ride.

before i assume anything and take you the wrong way, what did i write that gave you the impression i was looking for a free ride?

i chose to live in wyoming (though trying to move away) which has some of the highest taxes in the cincy area, both for homeowners and business owners! i am a lot of things, but a slacker i am not.

[V3n0M]

Originally Posted by Franny

The bailout is hard for anyone to swallow... but I'd rather pony up the money for 2,200 McDonalds Apple Pies rather than watch the DOW dip down to 8000 which is where it is headed if this thing doesn't pass. That would basically cut everyone's investments in half compared to this time last year. Warren Buffett has said it would take 10 years to get that money back. On top of that, your house will be worthless. Businesses won't be able to get any credit so they can't pay anyone.

And yes MOM, just because you started a business doesn't mean you get a free ride.

But you won't be buying those apple pies, your children and your grandchildren will, only by the time it gets to them, we'll have bailed out 20,000 worth of apple pies, and your kids won't have the dough!

It's better to take the hits, suffer a bit now, and let things straighten themselves out - it wasn't the free market that caused the problem - it was the Fed keeping the rates low and the gov't sponsored institutions Fanny Mae and Freddy Mac who were taking orders from the gov't to put families in homes so the establishment could boast on how many home owners there are in America. The government started the problem, getting the government OUT OF THE MARKET will solve the problem.

There are viable banks and investments that have good leadership - these will be discovered by the market and invested in, as they should - let the failed companies with the failed leadership fail, as they should.

[Franny]

Trust me,

I certainly agree that all these people who bought these homes and can't pay the mortgage should lose their homes. They can go rent. But, apparently things are so bad - the entire economy crumbles if this emergency bailout isn't passed. If you support America, you need to support the bill.

[master_of_muppets]

Originally Posted by Franny

Trust me,

I certainly agree that all these people who bought these homes and can't pay the mortgage should lose their homes. They can go rent. But, apparently things are so bad - the entire economy crumbles if this emergency bailout isn't passed. If you support America, you need to support the bill.

i don't buy this. the reasoning is too esoteric and draped in patriotism. fuck that. give me the reasoning behind it, factually speaking. so far i've only heard hype, fear, and the sound of two hands wringing.