Bailout Watch 227: Michael Moore Votes Nay
Liberal bomb-thrower and “Roger & Me” documentarian Michael Moore described his “mixed feelings” about a proposed Detroit bailout in a CNN interview with Larry King, accusing automakers of ignoring workers and customers. The Detroit News was apparently more than a little surprised by the revelation, kicking off its coverage of the interview with its most wounded tone, saying “If you thought a high-profile, avowed fan of the Michigan autoworker would leap at the chance to support the Big Three’s clamor for a Washington bailout, think again.” Of course, if you aren’t emotionaly invested in a bailout, quotes like “I don’t think these companies, with these management people, should be given a dime, because that’s just going to be money going up in smoke or off to other countries,” shouldn’t be too surprising. Actually, Moore’s comments aren’t particularly interesting or substantive, thanks in large part to King’s softball, ego-boosting questions. Oh yeah, and the fact that Moore knows more about courting media attention than the auto industry. We just really wanted to post another picture of Halle.
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Well said, Mr. Horner. Cognitive dissonance indeed. Lumbergh21, the US military base I am on right now was built through a government seizure of private property for the good of the people (to fight Hitler). The aircraft that fly out of here provide the blanket of security you sleep under at night. Funny how things work. Given Detroit's complete failure to operate in the black, I cannot see where government direction could be worse. 'Beggars cannot be choosers', as I recall.
Back when Roger & Me came out I remember many respected film-critics dumped on it because it wasn't objective, it wasn't showing the good side of GM etc. I think today Roger & Me can be thought of as the GM Death Watch # 0, 20 years ahead of its time. All parties in the bailout before doing anything else should see the movie to get a bit of historical perspective on the roots of GM downfall. I think Moore's views closely align with TTAC as far as I can tell; US needs a viable domestic car industry, but any help needs to be conditioned on new management and new business direction for all companies.
Morea, to be fair to Mr. Horner there are many military expenditures that fall outside of the published and public annual Dept. of Defense budget. For example, for a multitude of years now supplemental funding bills has been provided to fight the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan independent of the annual submitted DOD budget. Some acquisition and modernization programs also fall outside this umbrella. Funding for military retirement, military housing, and longterm injured soldier care also come through other channels, as does (as you have noted) funding for Homeland Security and the related programs that go with it. Here at DOD we often refer to the "many colors of money" based on where and how it is allocated, and what can be done with it. Quasi-defense related departments, such as the CIA and NSA programs, and parts of NASA's budget related to R&D, military satellite launches, etc are also not accounted for under the umbrella, and any covert or "black programs" will not be found listed either. Even the operation of cafeteria here on base is not funded directly through the DOD, but through NAF (non-appropriate funds). It's quite a spiderweb, so Mr. Horner is closer to being accurate than some might be led to believe at first glance.