Micheal is a good guy and gives a lot to charity. And he doesn't biatch about paying his taxes. here's a diary of his that was posted at Kos.

Life in the 1%

Twenty-two years ago this coming Tuesday, I stood with a group of factory workers, students and the unemployed in the middle of the downtown of my birthplace, Flint, Michigan, to announce that the Hollywood studio, Warner Bros., had purchased the world rights to distribute my first movie, 'Roger & Me.' A reporter asked me, "How much did you sell it for?"

"Three million dollars!" I proudly exclaimed. A cheer went up from the union guys surrounding me. It was absolutely unheard of for one of us in the working class of Flint (or anywhere) to receive such a sum of money unless one of us had either robbed a bank or, by luck, won the Michigan lottery. On that sunny November day in 1989, it was like I had won the lottery -- and the people I had lived and struggled with in Michigan were thrilled with my success. It was like, one of us had made it, one of us finally had good fortune smile upon us. The day was filled with high-fives and "Way-ta-go Mike!"s. When you are from the working class you root for each other, and when one of you does well, the others are beaming with pride -- not just for that one person's success, but for the fact that the team had somehow won, beating the system that was brutal and unforgiving and which ran a game that was rigged against us. We knew the rules, and those rules said that we factory town rats do not get to make movies or be on TV talk shows or have our voice heard on any national stage. We were to shut up, keep our heads down, and get back to work. If by some miracle one of us escaped and commandeered a mass audience and some loot to boot -- well, holy mother of God, watch out! A bully pulpit and enough cash to raise a ruckus -- that was an incendiary combination, and it only spelled trouble for those at the top.

Until that point I had been barely getting by on unemployment, collecting $98 a week. Welfare. The dole. My car had died back in April so I had gone seven months with no vehicle. Friends would take me out to dinner, always coming up with an excuse to celebrate or commemorate something and then picking up the check so I would not have to feel the shame of not being able to afford it.

And now, all of a sudden, I had three million bucks! What would I do with it? There were men in suits making many suggestions to me, and I could see how those without a strong moral sense of social responsibility could be easily lead down the "ME" path and quickly forget about the "WE."

So I made some easy decisions back in 1989:

1. I would first pay all my taxes. I told the guy who did my 1040 not to declare any deductions other than the mortgage and to pay the full federal, state and city tax rate. I proudly contributed nearly 1 million dollars for the privilege of being a citizen of this great country.

2. Of the remaining $2 million, I decided to divide it up the way I once heard the folksinger/activist Harry Chapin tell me how he lived: "One for me, one for the other guy." So I took half the money -- $1 million -- and established a foundation to give it all away.

3. The remaining million went like this: I paid off all my debts, paid off the debts of some friends and family members, bought my parents a new refrigerator, set up college funds for our nieces and nephews, helped rebuild a black church that had been burned down in Flint, gave out a thousand turkeys at Thanksgiving, bought filmmaking equipment to send to the Vietnamese (my own personal reparations for a country we had ravaged), annually bought 10,000 toys to give to Toys for Tots at Christmas, got myself a new American-made Honda, and took out a mortgage on an apartment above a Baby Gap in New York City.

4. What remained went into a simple, low-interest savings account. I made the decision that I would never buy a share of stock (I didn't understand the casino known as the New York Stock Exchange and I did not believe in investing in a system I did not agree with).

5. Finally, I believed the concept of making money off your money had created a greedy, lazy class who didn't produce any product, just misery and fear among the populace. They invented ways to buy out companies and then shut them down. They dreamed up schemes to play with people's pension funds as if it were their own money. They demanded companies keep posting record profits (which was accomplished by firing thousands and eliminating health benefits for those who remained). I made the decision that if I was going to earn a living, it would be done from my own sweat and ideas and creativity. I would produce something tangible, something others could own or be entertained by or learn from. My work would create employment for others, good employment with middle class wages and full health benefits.

I went on to make more movies, produce TV series and write books. I never started a project with the thought, "I wonder how much money I can make at this?" And by never letting money be the motivating force for anything, I simply did exactly what I wanted to do. That attitude kept the work honest and unflinching -- and that, in turn I believe, resulted in millions of people buying tickets to these films, tuning in to my TV shows, and buying my books.

Which is exactly what has driven the Right crazy when it comes to me. How did someone from the left get such a wide mainstream audience?! This just isn't supposed to happen (Noam Chomsky, sadly, will not be booked on The View today, and Howard Zinn, shockingly, didn't make the New York Times bestseller list until after he died). That's how the media machine is rigged -- you are not supposed to hear from those who would completely change the system to something much better. Only wimpy liberals who urge caution and compromise and mild reforms get to have their say on the op-ed pages or Sunday morning chat shows.

Somehow, I found a crack through the wall and made it through. I feel very blessed that I have this life -- and I take none of it for granted. I believe in the lessons I was taught back in Catholic school -- that if you end up doing well, you have an even greater responsibility to those who don't fare the same. "The last shall be first and the first shall be last." Kinda commie, I know, but the idea was that the human family was supposed to divide up the earth's riches in a fair manner so that all of God's children would have a life with less suffering.

I do very well -- and for a documentary filmmaker, I do extremely well. That, too, drives conservatives bonkers. "You're rich because of capitalism!" they scream at me. Um, no. Didn't you take Econ 101? Capitalism is a system, a pyramid scheme of sorts, that exploits the vast majority so that the few at the top can enrich themselves more. I make my money the old school, honest way by making things. Some years I earn a boatload of cash. Other years, like last year, I don't have a job (no movie, no book) and so I make a lot less. "How can you claim to be for the poor when you are the opposite of poor?!" It's like asking: "You've never had sex with another man -- how can you be for gay marriage?!" I guess the same way that an all-male Congress voted to give women the vote, or scores of white people marched with Martin Luther Ling, Jr. (I can hear these righties yelling back through history: "Hey! You're not black! You're not being lynched! Why are you with the blacks?!"). It is precisely this disconnect that prevents Republicans from understanding why anyone would give of their time or money to help out those less fortunate. It is simply something their brain cannot process. "Kanye West makes millions! What's he doing at Occupy Wall Street?!" Exactly -- he's down there demanding that his taxes be raised. That, to a right-winger, is the definition of insanity. To everyone else, we are grateful that people like him stand up, even if and especially because it is against his own personal financial interest. It is specifically what that Bible those conservatives wave around demands of those who are well off.

Back on that November day in 1989 when I sold my first film, a good friend of mine said this to me: "They have made a huge mistake giving someone like you a big check. This will make you a very dangerous man. And it proves that old saying right: 'The capitalist will sell you the rope to hang himself with if he thinks he can make a buck off it.'"

Hobodeluxe: Back on that November day in 1989 when I sold my first film, a good friend of mine said this to me: "They have made a huge mistake giving someone like you a big check. This will make you a very dangerous man. And it proves that old saying right: 'The capitalist will sell you the rope to hang himself with if he thinks he can make a buck off it.'"

Like he was the first and only liberal to get a check for $3m or get a platform....

Funny that someone who made a career of ambushing people with a camera and a microphone doesn't know how to deal when it happens to him. He could have just answered the question politely, said he wasn't worth anything like $50m and been reasonable. But he had to throw accusations of lying.

skinnycatullus: Hobodeluxe: Life in the 1%

Thanks for posting that. I always kinda liked him, but have let the relentless drone of attacks poison my view of him a bit. No more. Fark that.

How about "attacks" based on provable, documentable, facts?

Now a new book, "Do As I Say (Not As I Do) -- Profiles in Liberal Hypocrisy," by the right-wing commentator Peter Schweizer, criticizes Moore for not living up to the high moral standards he claims to espouse. The author, a research fellow at the Hoover Institution, went through publicly available IRS documents to discover that Moore's foundation bought shares in some of the companies he has spent a career in the media attacking.
Not just a few shares either. Don't forget Moore has always said he doesn't own any stock and doesn't have a broker. But his foundation owns tens of thousands of shares in Boeing, Sonoco, Eli Lilly and Halliburton, the same defense company that "Fahrenheit 9/11" attacked for making huge profits out of rebuilding such countries as Afghanistan and Iraq after U.S. military intervention.
Even more damaging, try logging on to the Name the Hypocrite Web site and read claims that Moore, who says conservatives are racist because they don't support affirmative action, has managed to employ only three black people out of a work force of 135 working on his books, television shows and radio projects. Moore, who says Americans who live in white neighborhoods are racist, has lived for the past seven years in a waterfront home in Central Lake, Mich., a community of 2,600 residents. The 2000 Census records that the number of black people living there is zero.

Source.

Those are very specific allegations. If they are wrong Moore would easily have grounds to sue. Has he done so?

cameroncrazy1984: Flint Ironstag: Those are very specific allegations

Those are very generalized accusations. Where has he said "Americans who live in white neighborhoods are racist"? I see no citation there. Where has he said that conservatives who don't support affirmative action are racist? I don't see a citation there either.

Where are the specifics?

In the long post by Hobodelux he specifically stated he would never buy shares. This article, and book, states he has shares in many of the companies he has criticized, and not just a token shareholding to gain access to the annual shareholders meeting which would be perfectly justifiable.

He has directly called him a liar. He had directly said he has shares in corporations he has attacked. To Moore professionally that would be very damaging.

So why hasn't he sued?

Those records are public records. Why has no one else looked them up and said he is wrong?

GAT_00: You know, the only people I ever see talking about Michael Moore are Republicans. Why are you so fascinated with the guy?

Because, as someone who has walked the picket lines against some very big corporations, I agree with some of his views. But he is such a hypocrite who cannot resist wild exaggerations and distortions that he does more damage than good. many thought Sen Joe Mccarthy was actually working for the Russians because he was so over the top he did more benefit to the communists than harm.
Michael Moore is the same.

GAT_00: You know, the only people I ever see talking about Michael Moore are Republicans. Why are you so fascinated with the guy?

They are probably jealous of his wealth and success.

GreenAdder: This just proves how farked up the political system is. If you have a pair of breasts, it's like they don't take you seriously.

HA

cameroncrazy1984: Flint Ironstag: . This article, and book, states he has shares in many of the companies he has criticized

No, he doesn't. His foundation apparently does.

And if someone Moore was investigation or reporting on made such a claim using such semantics what do you think Moore would say? "I don't own shares because I think they are morally wrong, but I'm happy for a foundation that I own to buy shares" Are they morally wrong or not?

That book makes accusation that Moore's charity actually pays out very little and then to friends of Moore and pet projects.

If these are lies then Moore would have everything to gain by suing, publicity, vindication, money (that he could donate to charity). It would be just as big a coup for him as his movies and help him go on to make more and be trusted.

Unless the allegations are correct of course.....

Flint Ironstag: skinnycatullus: Hobodeluxe: Life in the 1%

Thanks for posting that. I always kinda liked him, but have let the relentless drone of attacks poison my view of him a bit. No more. Fark that.

How about "attacks" based on provable, documentable, facts?

Now a new book, "Do As I Say (Not As I Do) -- Profiles in Liberal Hypocrisy," by the right-wing commentator Peter Schweizer, criticizes Moore for not living up to the high moral standards he claims to espouse. The author, a research fellow at the Hoover Institution, went through publicly available IRS documents to discover that Moore's foundation bought shares in some of the companies he has spent a career in the media attacking.
Not just a few shares either. Don't forget Moore has always said he doesn't own any stock and doesn't have a broker. But his foundation owns tens of thousands of shares in Boeing, Sonoco, Eli Lilly and Halliburton, the same defense company that "Fahrenheit 9/11" attacked for making huge profits out of rebuilding such countries as Afghanistan and Iraq after U.S. military intervention.
Even more damaging, try logging on to the Name the Hypocrite Web site and read claims that Moore, who says conservatives are racist because they don't support affirmative action, has managed to employ only three black people out of a work force of 135 working on his books, television shows and radio projects. Moore, who says Americans who live in white neighborhoods are racist, has lived for the past seven years in a waterfront home in Central Lake, Mich., a community of 2,600 residents. The 2000 Census records that the number of black people living there is zero.

Source.

Those are very specific allegations. If they are wrong Moore would easily have grounds to sue. Has he done so?

maybe he has better things to do with his money than pay lawyers to go after partisan hacks? His foundation takes that money and uses it to help people. People are going to attack him no matter what he does. Why pay a lawyer a lot of money and tie up the courts when that money could help people who need it. He could heal the sick and feed the poor and his political opponents would still write crap about him. It's what they do . It's all they know. They are pure partisan political mudslingers.

Flint Ironstag: cameroncrazy1984: Flint Ironstag: . This article, and book, states he has shares in many of the companies he has criticized

No, he doesn't. His foundation apparently does.

And if someone Moore was investigation or reporting on made such a claim using such semantics what do you think Moore would say? "I don't own shares because I think they are morally wrong, but I'm happy for a foundation that I own to buy shares" Are they morally wrong or not?

That book makes accusation that Moore's charity actually pays out very little and then to friends of Moore and pet projects.

If these are lies then Moore would have everything to gain by suing, publicity, vindication, money (that he could donate to charity). It would be just as big a coup for him as his movies and help him go on to make more and be trusted.

Unless the allegations are correct of course.....

it's nearly impossible to get any kind of settlement from a slander suit like that. you'd have to prove damages. it's a near impossible task and you always end up spending more than you get if you win.

cameroncrazy1984: Flint Ironstag: cameroncrazy1984: Flint Ironstag: . This article, and book, states he has shares in many of the companies he has criticized

No, he doesn't. His foundation apparently does.

And if someone Moore was investigation or reporting on made such a claim using such semantics what do you think Moore would say? "I don't own shares because I think they are morally wrong, but I'm happy for a foundation that I own to buy shares" Are they morally wrong or not?

That book makes accusation that Moore's charity actually pays out very little and then to friends of Moore and pet projects.

If these are lies then Moore would have everything to gain by suing, publicity, vindication, money (that he could donate to charity). It would be just as big a coup for him as his movies and help him go on to make more and be trusted.

Unless the allegations are correct of course.....

So, I guess Glenn Beck DID rape and murder a young girl in 1990. I mean, he would have everything to gain by suing the guy who put up that website, right? Why hasn't he done so? Unless the allegations are correct...

Because the Glen Bech "allegations" specifically use the same loophole that Beck, Fox, etc use. They do not allege, they "ask". "Did Glenn Beck rape and murder..."

That's kinda the whole point of it.....

cameroncrazy1984: Flint Ironstag: Because the Glen Bech "allegations" specifically use the same loophole that Beck, Fox, etc use. They do not allege, they "ask". "Did Glenn Beck rape and murder..."

That's kinda the whole point of it...

Thank you for proving my point. Why would this be any different?

Because this book does not "ask"
This book states the allegations as fact.

The whole point of the "Did Glenn Beck rape etc" thing was to expose that "ask the question" tactic. This is very specifically not what the author of this book does. He does not hide behind such tactics. He said "I have looked up public records and they say..."

"I do very well," he replied, "Because I do well, I want taxes raised on people who do well, including mine."

Funny how b*tchmitter leaves this little quote out of his idealized worldview.

/hot like the pizzas Michael Moore shoves down his fat face.

birchman: GAT_00: You know, the only people I ever see talking about Michael Moore are Republicans. Why are you so fascinated with the guy?

They are probably jealous of his wealth and success.

They're also jealous of teachers' salaries. Instead of trying to get their own wages up to a comparable level, they're trying to tear the teacher's wages down to theirs. And the descent of the middle class continues...

whidbey: "I do very well," he replied, "Because I do well, I want taxes raised on people who do well, including mine."

Funny how b*tchmitter leaves this little quote out of his idealized worldview.

funny how the mainstream MSM media is now the enemy of the left...

How dare that man make movies that I don't agree with....

Now, when's the next ACORN undercover sting happening...

Reporter: So are you part of the 1% or not?

Michael Moore: Stop lying Stop lying Stop lying Stop lying Stop lying Stop lying Stop lying Stop lying Stop lying Stop lying Stop lying Stop lying, ok?

The Dog Ate The Constitution Add Favorite User Quote 2011-11-04 11:41:40 PM


Take your own advice, shill.

whidbey: The Dog Ate The Constitution Add Favorite User Quote 2011-11-04 11:41:40 PM


Take your own advice, shill.

Sorry. My making fun of Michale Moore for saying the reporter was a liar 4 times in 2 seconds was too mean. I didn't mean to offend you.

"I do very well," he replied, "Because I do well, I want taxes raised on people who do well, including mine."

Funny yesterday I was told by the derp squad Moore was saying that he wanted everyone else rich to pay but HIM.

You mean they were lying to me?

The Dog Ate The Constitution Quote 2011-11-04 11:45:03 PM

No, Skippy.

Your comment was both stupid and disingenuous and I am calling you out for it AGAIN.

whidbey: The Dog Ate The Constitution Add Favorite User Quote 2011-11-04 11:41:40 PM


Take your own advice, shill.

ignoring the fact that Michael Moore probably won't fark you... why do you want him to? You may be old and little soft in the head but you can score better man ass than that W!

MIchael Moore is fat. Thus, liberals are idiots.

/Conservative "logic."

what is most interesting is that this is from a CBS affiliate - not Fox.

if you lose CBS, not much left.

He's the rare rich guy that didn't have to become a psychopath and/or an egomaniac to get that way.

The problem isn't necessarily that the top 1% owns 50% of the wealth; the problem is a) how they got it and b) what they do with it.

Try reading "Free Lunch" by David Kay Johnston to see how they got it and what they do with it. Short summary: they spend their time and money getting gov't to give them wads of cash, which they then re-invest to get even larger wads of cash.

:shrug:

If you want to puke, read the chapter on professional sports (Bush and the Texas Rangers, Steinbrenner and the Yankees, Steinbrenner and his "shipyard" in Florida)

It makes perfect business sense. One dollar of lobbying can yield dozens or hundreds of dollars of return, far higher than a legitimate business would if they were involved in, say, health insurance or petroleum.

Conservative philosophers have been worrying incessantly about the masses (the 99%) simply voting themselves largess from the federal, state, and city treasuries. Funny how they never worry about the wealthy, powerful, and connected BUYING themselves largess from the federal state, and city treasuries.

$$$=Free speech, so sayeth the Supreme Court. If the top 1% has 50% of the wealth, then by definition they have 50% of the free speech, which is what the politicians hear.

tenpoundsofcheese: what is most interesting is that this is from a CBS affiliate - not Fox.

if you lose CBS, not much left.

CBS are just a bunch of shils. Just ask Whidbey.

cameroncrazy1984: Flint Ironstag: Hobodeluxe: Back on that November day in 1989 when I sold my first film, a good friend of mine said this to me: "They have made a huge mistake giving someone like you a big check. This will make you a very dangerous man. And it proves that old saying right: 'The capitalist will sell you the rope to hang himself with if he thinks he can make a buck off it.'"

Like he was the first and only liberal to get a check for $3m or get a platform....

Funny that someone who made a career of ambushing people with a camera and a microphone doesn't know how to deal when it happens to him. He could have just answered the question politely, said he wasn't worth anything like $50m and been reasonable. But he had to throw accusations of lying.

If he's not worth $50m, isn't the person lying? I don't see the problem, here.

Well, sure. If it turns out he is worth $60M, the person is technically lying.

He got paid $20M for Fahrenheit 911 (but the actors got a lot less, as did the key grips - big issue with income disparity)

skullkrusher: whidbey: The Dog Ate The Constitution Add Favorite User Quote 2011-11-04 11:41:40 PM


Take your own advice, shill.

ignoring the fact that Michael Moore probably won't fark you... why do you want him to? You may be old and little soft in the head but you can score better man ass than that W!

You're on a roll tonight, funnyman...

whidbey: The Dog Ate The Constitution Quote 2011-11-04 11:45:03 PM

No, Skippy.

Your comment was both stupid and disingenuous and I am calling you out for it AGAIN.

Calling me out, are you? I'll see you by the tetherball poles after lunch. Be there or be square, my friend.

whidbey: skullkrusher: whidbey: The Dog Ate The Constitution Add Favorite User Quote 2011-11-04 11:41:40 PM


Take your own advice, shill.

ignoring the fact that Michael Moore probably won't fark you... why do you want him to? You may be old and little soft in the head but you can score better man ass than that W!

You're on a roll tonight, funnyman...

I'm just getting started, skookums

krispos42: He's the rare rich guy that didn't have to become a psychopath and/or an egomaniac to get that way.
.

citation? you think he isn't an egomaniac??? haa! have you listened to the guy?