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Screw You, GM
Rebecca Cook / Reuters
After decades of treating its workers miserably, GM got exactly what it deserved.
Friends,
Nothing like it has ever happened. The president of the United States, the elected representative of the people, has just told the head of General Motors—a company that's spent more years at No. 1 on the Fortune 500 list than anyone else—"You're fired!"
I simply can't believe it. This stunning, unprecedented action has left me speechless for the past two days. I keep saying, "Did Obama really fire the chairman of General Motors? The wealthiest and most powerful corporation of the 20th century? Can he do that? Really? Well, damn! What else can he do?!"
I write this letter to you in memory of the hundreds of thousands of workers who have been tossed into the trash heap by General Motors.
This bold move has sent the heads of corporate America spinning and spewing pea soup. Obama has issued this edict: The government of, by, and for the people is in charge here, not big business. John McCain got it. On the floor of the Senate he asked, "What does this signal send to other corporations and financial institutions about whether the federal government will fire them as well?" Senator Bob Corker said it "should send a chill through all Americans who believe in free enterprise." The stock market plunged as the masters of the universe asked themselves, "Am I next?" And they whispered to each other, "What are we going to do about this Obama?"
Not much, fellows. He has the massive will of the American people behind him—and he has been granted permission by us to do what he sees fit. If you liked this week's all-net three-pointer, stay tuned.
I write this letter to you in memory of the hundreds of thousands of workers over the past 25-plus years who have been tossed into the trash heap by General Motors. Many saw their lives ruined for good. They turned to alcohol or drugs, their marriages fell apart, some took their own lives. Most moved on, moved out, moved over, moved away. They ended up working two jobs for half the pay they were getting at GM. And they cursed the CEO of GM for bringing ruin to their lives.
Not one of them ever thought that one day they would witness the CEO receive the same treatment. Of course, Chairman Wagoner will not have to sign up for food stamps or be evicted from his home or tell his kids they'll be going to the community college, not the university. Instead, he will get a $23 million golden parachute. But the slip in his hands is still pink, just like the hundreds of thousands that others received—except his was issued by us, via the Obama-man. Here's the door, buster. See ya. Don't wanna be ya.
I began my day today in Washington, D.C. I went to the U.S. Senate and got into their Finance Committee's hearing on the Wall Street bailout. The overseers wanted to know how the banks spent the money. And many of these banks won't tell them. They've taken trillions of dollars and nobody knows where the money went. It certainly didn't go to create jobs, relieve mortgage holders, or free up loans that people need. It was so shocking to listen to this, I had to leave before it was over. But it gave me an idea for the movie I was shooting.
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Jacob Bernstein is a senior reporter at The Daily Beast. Previously, he was a features writer at WWD and W Magazine. He has also written for New York magazine, Paper, and The Huffington Post.
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Lloyd Grove is editor at large for The Daily Beast. He is also a frequent contributor to New York magazine and was a contributing editor for Condé Nast Portfolio. He wrote a gossip column for the New York Daily News from 2003 to 2006. Prior to that, he wrote the Reliable Source column for the Washington Post, where he spent 23 years covering politics, the media, and other subjects.
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Michael Moore is an Academy Award-winning filmmaker and author. He directed and produced Roger & Me, Bowling for Columbine, Fahrenheit 9/11, and Sicko. He has also written seven books, most recently, Mike’s Election Guide 2008.
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You know, if GM just cut it's product lines that were losing the most money, they wouldn't be doing so bad. I mean they have 48 vehicles across all of their 'Brands' it's ridiculous, it's simple, cut the brands that are costing you money keep the brands that are losing you money.
I agree with this analysis jaguarxjs. BUT, if it were this simple, why didn't Wagoner think of it?????????
Your reflection is as one sided as the current situation.
While thousands of hard working Americans were being laid off, executives gave themselves million dollar bonuses.
Now the executives are getting laid off, and what happens?
Those same executives get those same multi-million dollar golden parachutes! HAHAHAHA!!! What a JOKE!
And then there is you.....
Years ago you were painted as a fictitious film maker, your movies are accused of containing 'lies' and fancy editing.
And now, that the truth is revealed in the near destruction of America's financial and manufacturing system, are you finally hailed as the working man's hero? .......no!
Life's not fair, Mike!
But hang in there.....WE NEED YOU!!!!!
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"Later, I stopped by the National Archives to stand in line to see the original copy of our Constitution."
Did it say anything about the president being in charge of all corporations and responsible for the welfare of all citizens? Have you even read the constitution?
"thanks to General Motors and an economic system rigged against them."
General Motors gave into unions, which distorted the labor supply, in return for government handouts and less regulation. 2 against 1. The threat of strikes and regulation is part of their demise. You idiot. You'd rather the whole company go under just so everyone would be equal. You want Obama to rig the economy for the little guy, ignoring the fact that the big guys ACTUALLY supply the jobs.
Ever consider not rigging the economy at all? I suppose your friends in Washington wouldn't have much to do it that ever happened.
Time to hang it up Moore. There is no conspiracy against you or the little guy. There is just human behavior - greed (wall street fat cats AND power hungry politicians - Dodd, Frank) - imprudence (mortgage brokers ignoring income b/c they thought home prices would rise forever AND people buying homes they couldn't afford).
You can't regulate human behavior just like you can't regulate gravity. When will you and your ilk ever learn?
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What a strange reading of the situation. Obama fired Wagoner precisely because he had not laid off enough people, cut enough brands, closed enough plants, and so forth. You can blame Wagoner, to some degree, for taking the business in a direction that was not sustainable or profitable, and thus caused workers to be in a worse position. But this isn't why he was fired--he was let go because he wasn't able to create a plan that would make the company profitable. And by any account, this kind of plan would involve making union members' lives a great deal worse, at least in the short term.
Was this article sarcastic? Am I missing something here? Making workers' lives better in terms of job security and salary, as you seem to advocate here, would have driven GM to bankruptcy even quicker.
I applaud probably 80% of your films, but this piece just seems way off base.
I agree with wbishop12 (minus perhaps the profanity). I find it appalling that GM spent a $23 million golden parachute for its CEO while tottering on the edge of bankruptcy and threatening to throw out its workers' contracts. Why on earth spend that much money rewarding the incompetence of a departed CEO instead of the hard work of employees who still work there?
But whatever, I understand your sentiment anyway. Great job (Michael) for hanging in there despite the criticism through the years - you've been fighting for the little guy and warning us for years. Haha and on the "painted as a fictitious film maker," in the same vein as Stephen Colbert's quote "Reality has a well-known liberal bias," in the Bush-administration world we're hopefully leaving behind, the [factual] product of hard work and meticulous research, vetted by (I'm guessing) anal-retentive lawyers (if they're anything like ours) is "fiction" - and very dangerous fiction at that.
wbiship12, and your ignorance is surpassed only by your homophobia. "MarineLtFAG??" Really?
I am a democrat, but Mike's nonsense makes me sick. He puts no blame on the unions that got the workers $70 an hour for assembly line work. How was that supposed to be sustainable? No matter, just blame management. I am embarrassed to him as a member of my party.
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[Was this article sarcastic? Am I missing something here? Making workers' lives better in terms of job security and salary, as you seem to advocate here, would have driven GM to bankruptcy even quicker.] is what Maverick.
That is Michael for you, get everyone wound up but no solution. I don't think he shares the profits he makes from his movies, with the people he interviews in his movies.
Profit sharing may have worked, along with sticking with the money making brands.
[The price of GM's credit-default swaps, which are insurance in case the carmaker can't pay back its loans, have soared in the past month. They now cost a premium of 12 percentage points of the value of the debt that they insure, four times what they cost in January.] http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/05_50/b3963114.htm?campaign_id =rss_topStories
I would have been more impressed if he fired him before he gave the auto companies $26 billion.
[What would a GM bankruptcy look like? It probably would be the most massive Chapter 11 filing of all time -- a watershed moment in the history of American business, with far-reaching consequences for all of GM's stakeholders. While the direct impact on the national economy would be relatively modest, the Midwest would be hit hard by the combination of job losses at GM and its suppliers and benefits cuts for the company's retirees.] http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/05_50/b3963114.htm?campaign_id =rss_topStories
I went to college in a GM town, and I am sure this will devastate the town. All kinds of people will wonder about their future, their kids future, their pension plans.
Chapter 11 offers protection to GM, to a degree, it is the little person who always gets hurt.
From that perspective, you think Michael Moore could have come up with a better article than this, with such a childish title. This will be devastating for a lot of people, and he is sort of acting like a yuppie, disconnected from people both beneath him and above him, pretending to help, people he possibly would never even have coffee with, let alone share his profits with. I hope I am wrong.
I may have buried this point. I think this must have been the big reason for seeking chapter 11 protection.
There is always someone profiting from someone's failure, all the time. And never the little guy.
[The price of GM's credit-default swaps, which are insurance in case the carmaker can't pay back its loans, have soared in the past month. They now cost a premium of 12 percentage points of the value of the debt that they insure, four times what they cost in January.] http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/05_50/b3963114.htm?campaign_id =rss_topStories
Look at all these people, especially the health fund, and the best Michail Moore could come up with for a title was Screw you GM.
[GM owes roughly $28 billion to bondholders. Chrysler owes about $7 billion in first- and second-term debt, mainly to banks. GM owes about $20 billion to its retiree health care trust, while Chrysler owes $10.6 billion.]....
[One last point: This will be a "credit event" triggering payouts on credit default swap bets.
I have reported before that GM has a $trillion or so in credit default swaps written on it (but my information on this is well over a year old). If banks stocks rally tomorrow (or even if they simply do not collapse), you will know that banks are fully hedged or on the right side of those swaps.
However, given the swaps dwarf GM bonds, it is virtually guaranteed that someone is on the wrong side of them.]
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com/2009/03/obama-denies-funding- to-automakers-what.html.
That is where the story is, in the 5% unknown, because Micheal Moore acts like they are telling the whole story, obviously the gains traders are the ones that may be winning in this, obviously not the workers. This is no celebration for workers. I couldn't imagine the people in the GM town I went to college in, celebrating right now.
Actually, I blame all this situation on our lack of universal health care and the inadequacy of social security. Manufacturers in Japan, Germany, and even Canada don't even have to put health and pension benefits on the table in negotiations with unions, because it's a national civic issue, not an employment issue.
GM used pension and retirement health benefits to mollify the UAW, which was only too happy to accept. This shifted a big chunk of the real "cost" of labor off into some distant future... and now that the future is here, and thanks to rewritten accounting rules those costs can no longer be hidden off-balance sheet, the automakers are going under.
I'm sure anti-labor types see this as a validation of their viewpoints (ooh! evil greedy unions!), but anyone with a heart and a brain, who understands that it's not in our national interest to lower labor standards to chinese prison-level, can see that this means just one thing:
The tragedy is not that the auto unions got so much, but rather that without strong unions, the rest of us got so little.
It could be the banks that won in this, or who ever are the ones who could be cashing in the credit swaps, apparently over a trillion dollars of them.
Which comes back to the big question again, why is Obama so harsh with the auto sector and so lenient with the financial sector, maybe it has to do with the credit swaps, maybe there are no super heroes after all.
Right on Michael! The arrogance and stupidity of the GM leadership are staggering.
sonofloud wrote: "I would have been more impressed if he fired him before he gave the auto companies $26 billion."
That was Bush.
I am constantly amused by the die-hards conservatives who don't have a problem when a Republican Administration gives over a trillion dollars of taxpayer money with no strings attached to failing private industry, and that's somehow not socialism, but the moment a Democrat asserts the taxpayers right as effectively the new controlling shareholder of the same dud companies, only still in existence due to the taxpayer funding, they are socialist and anti-capitalists. The hypocrisy is astounding. The moment these companies accepted a taxpayer handout, the President not only had the right but frankly the obligation to act in the interest of taxpayers. As Moore points out, what's really got the conservatives worked up is that Obama is treating the failed CEO's the same way as everyone else. Conservatives apparently have no problem with handing out free money to a company that turns around and uses it to pay for executives ongoing largess while laying off and destroying the lives of tens-of-thousands of workers, but God forbid the executives be vulnerable.
For common sense and a viable explanation, please refer to idiotking's post.
The Industry-Union relationship was a mutually parasitic one and the house od cards has come tumbling down.
For such an "important" film maker, about to do a movie on banks, you would think, for a moment, that he would have mentioned that little credit swap thingy, worth possibly over a trillion dollars, possibly to the banks.
If you think what you read is stupid, consider what you are not reading.
"Michael Moore is the center of the universe". A new movie written and directed,by Michael Moore. Starring Michael Moore. Moore is more.
Thank you.
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