Michael Moore, Blowhard

John Stossel has a great article about Michael Moore's new movie and starts with a single observation: "Michael Moore is confused."

Some problems that Stossel points out are:

• Moore says our problems began with Reagan but by the end of the movie he is saying it's because FDR didn't get to pass his Second Bill of Rights, which promised everything to everyone.


• He lavishes praise on Barack Obama and his "spread the wealth around" rhetoric. But Moore also demonizes as symbols of capitalism Clinton Treasury secretaries Robert Rubin (formerly of Goldman Sachs) and Lawrence Summers, and former New York Fed President Timothy Geithner without mentioning that Rubin has been Obama's adviser and that Summers and Geithner are, respectively, his chief economic guru and treasury secretary.


• He fails to acknowledge that Obama continued the bailout policies of George W. Bush.


• Moore declares capitalism evil, but he's never clear about what "capitalism" means.


• He uses the term "free market" as a synonym for what he doesn't like.

He also fails to define capitalism or socialism and asks Bernie Sanders, the only admitted communist in Congress, who gives a shifty answer about a government that represents the middle class.

Another excellent read from John Stossel.

You can find Stossel's article here.

Fact Checking Michael Moore's New Movie

Rachel Beck at The Associated Press fact checks Michael Moore's new movie, Capitalism: A Love Story. You might think from the title it's about his love of capitalism, but if you have seen Michael Moore's movies you know right away it isn't.

It's about how capitalism is bad and brings out the worst in people. Her fact checking shows:

Myth: Wall Street robbed taxpayers.
Fact: Goldman Sachs was one of 10 large banks that repaid in June some $68 billion they received from the $700 billion Troubled Assets Relief Program. Since then other large financial companies have repaid funds, too, including Chrysler Financial and American Express Co.

Myth: You're better off dead - at least that's how some companies view their workers.
Fact: Moore highlights an ugly truth about insurance policies that benefit companies, not the employees, when workers die. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is scathed for its use of such "dead peasant" policies. Moore notes how the sudden death of a 26-year-old former Wal-Mart worker resulted in a $81,000 life insurance payout to the retailer. But it's never mentioned in the body of the film that in 2000 the world's largest retailer canceled all 350,000 of these policies it took out on employees between 1993 and 1995.

Myth: Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., and other government officials unfairly and hypocritically benefited from financial programs not available to all.
Fact: Dodd has acknowledged that he participated in a VIP program at Countrywide, refinancing loans on two homes in 2003. One was a 30-year adjustable rate loan for $506,000 with an interest rate of 4.25 percent and a fee of 0.45 percent. He also got a 30-year adjustable rate mortgage for $275,042 with an interest rate of 4.5 percent and a fee of 0.73 percent. Both interest rates and fees were within industry norms for that time, according to data provided to the AP by Bankrate.com.

There's more, including Moore's responses to the fact checking.

The original article can be found here.