A Bum Steer...Michael Moore on the Auto Crisis

Forget about understanding the arcane intricacies of the Wall Street bailout... that Gordian knot of lies, scams and greed that is our stock market must, like divine mystery, be taken on faith as we worship before it on bleeding knees, tithing, double-tithing, and triple-tithing to save our financial souls.

But the American auto industry is a different matter. We know people on its payrolls. We see (and smell) the vehicles it manufactures everywhere we go. Some of us even drive them, if we aren't sensitive to ridicule. So, we should be able to understand what it wants and needs from Congress, as well as how this this will benefit Main Street... right?

TA-DA! Yes we can! Thanks to the genius of America's most undersung hero, Michael Moore! Here is the Great One's' take on the polluting, gas-guzzling, stinking mess that is the Big 3 Auto crisis, and I quote:

"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 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. But... 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."

Thank you, Michael! To read more of Moore's ideas on this subject, visit MichaelMoore.com. You can also watch him expound tonight on the Keith Olbermann Show.