Elizabeth Warren, World's #2 Most Influential Thinker
You'd think a soft-spoken, straight-shooting woman who grew up in a small town on the Great Plains would not want anything to do with a thankless high-profile government position overseeing the $700 billion taxpayer bailout of the U.S. financial industry. If you were like me and grew up in Independence, ...
Banks receiving government aid cut loans
Banks that received federal assistance during the financial crisis reduced lending more aggressively and gave bigger pay raises to employees than institutions that didn't get aid, a USA TODAY/American University review found.The reduction of credit during the worst of the recession raises questions about whether the $247 billion assistance program ...
Goldman earns $3.3B in 1Q as fraud case looms
NEW YORK — Goldman Sachs reaffirmed its leadership among Wall Street banks as it reported its first-quarter profits doubled. But the news was overshadowed by the investment bank's growing legal problems.As Goldman Sachs Group Inc. executives held conference calls with banking industry analysts and reporters Tuesday, the questions focused more ...
Bank of America, Wells Fargo probably won't pay income tax for 2009
This tax season will be kind to Bank of America and Wells Fargo: It appears that neither bank will have to pay federal income taxes for 2009. Bank of America probably won't pay federal taxes because it lost money in the U.S. for the year. Wells Fargo was profitable, but ...
Goldman Sachs sued by big pension fund over pay
(Reuters) - Goldman Sachs Group Inc was sued on Monday by a large union pension fund that accused the Wall Street investment bank of overpaying its executives.The International Brotherhood of Electric Workers fund filed the lawsuit in Delaware Chancery Court, seeking to recover money for the company on behalf of ...
Obama on financial reform: Fee on big banks, consumer protection
Obama promised financial reform in his State of the Union, saying he wanted a fee on the biggest banks to recover the rest of the bailout money and would veto any reform bill that didn't meet his standards. He said consumers should "have the information they need to make financial ...
Group demands banks give up bonuses to fill state budget gap
Hundreds of sign-toting members of Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement (CCI) stormed the lobbies of two downtown Des Moines banks Tuesday afternoon, temporarily halting business activities to demand the banks give up their employee bonuses to help pare down Iowa’s projected $1 billion budget shortfall.While customers and bank employees looked ...
Hugh Espey is the Executive Director of Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement.
January 25th, 2010
The Big Banks Broke Our Economy – Now They Need to Fix It!
We invite you to join us Tuesday, Jan. 26 as we take our message of Enough is Enough! – Put the People First! to the doorsteps of Wells Fargo – one of the big banks that crashed our economy and state budgets. We will demand they change the way they ...
ON THE day after Tuesday’s electoral loss, the Obama administration brought an unfamiliar face to the White House - Elizabeth Warren, the Harvard Law professor noted for her staunch advocacy on behalf the middle class and fierce criticism of the bank bailouts. Perhaps the administration will take a more aggressive ...
Why Obama Must Take On Wall Street
It has been more than a year since all hell broke loose on Wall Street and, remarkably, almost nothing has been done to prevent all hell from breaking loose again.In fact, close your eyes and you could be back in the wilds of 2007. Bankers are still making wild bets, ...
Obama tells banks: 'We want our money back'
WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama said Thursday he wants to tax banks to recoup the public bailout of foundering firms at the height of the financial crisis. "We want our money back," he said.In a brief appearance with advisers at the White House, Obama branded the latest round of bank ...
Embattled Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd (D) has scheduled a press conference at his home in Connecticut Wednesday at which he is expected to announce he will not seek re-election, according to sources familiar with his plans.Dodd's retirement comes after months of speculation about his political future, and amid faltering polling ...
AIG executives' promises to return bonuses have gone largely unfulfilled
When word spread earlier this year that American International Group had paid more than $165 million in retention bonuses at the division that had precipitated the company's downfall, outrage erupted, with employees getting death threats and President Obama urging that every legal avenue be pursued to block the payments.New York ...
The Watchdog: Elizabeth Warren
There are many ways to become our Bostonian of the Year. You could be one of the nation’s preeminent bankruptcy scholars, and a tenured professor of law at Harvard University, and a talking head for Frontline specials and Michael Moore’s latest documentary, and a leading voice decrying the human cost ...
Obama calls on banks to ramp up lending
President Obama exhorted the nation's biggest banks on Monday to make "extraordinary" efforts to increase lending, even as some of those firms are racing to distance themselves from government control. The nation's most powerful bankers sat in the Roosevelt Room at the White House and nodded as the president spoke, ...
The Return of the TARP Hostage Takers
When Congress debated the TARP last fall, the political elites insisted that the bill must be passed immediately or the economy would collapse. For example, Federal Reserve Board President Ben Bernanke told Congress that the commercial paper market was shutting down, which meant that the country's largest companies would soon ...
IMF warns second bailout would 'threaten democracy'
The public will not bail out the financial services sector for a second time if another global crisis blows up in four or five years time, the managing-director of the International Monetary Fund warned this morning. Dominique Strauss-Kahn told the CBI annual conference of business leaders that another huge call ...
One year later, gov't can't track TARP
CHARLOTTE, NC (WBTV) - One year ago, America's biggest banks were failing. And the government was more than willing to bail them out.We now know it as TARP.But at the time it was called the "Healthy Banks Program."Wheel barrows full of cash - billions of taxpayer dollars - were spent ...
Your choice - the film or the fundraiser?
I saw Michael Moore's new film Capitalism - A Love Story last week and readers of this blog won't be surprised I'm giving it a five-star rating.It's in the same style as his previous films Bowling for Columbine and Sicko as he picks apart the economic crisis and the greatest ...
'America's Mayor' Calls for a Moratorium on Home Foreclosures
Thursday, November 12th, on MSNBC's 'The Ed Show,' Virg Bernero, Mayor of Lansing, Michigan, calls for a moratorium on home foreclosures:ED SCHULTZ, MSNBC HOST: I know the housing market is still not stable for a lot of Americans. What -- have we done enough there? What would you do if ...
Veterans: Lip Service, Bankers: Billions & America: Foreclosures - Here’s The Fix
One thing about doing a two hour show that heavily covers both the financial crisis and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan is that you notice on a daily basis the shocking juxtaposition between the lucky Wall Streeters and the unlucky soldiers. We all know at this point that our ...
Report: AIG CEO ready to quit over pay constraints
NEW YORK — After just three months as head of embattled insurer American International Group, Robert Benmosche has threatened to leave his post as he struggles to deal with heavy government oversight and restrictions on what the bailed-out company can pay employees, according to a published report.Citing unnamed people familiar ...
I recall that September day like it was yesterday—the explosion so stunning, so memorable. It wasn’t 9/11/01, it was 9/29/08—a moment when a rare blast of populist democracy briefly singed the economic terrorists who hold the Capitol hostage. It had been a dark and stormy month of financial collapse, culminating ...
It’s as if last year’s meltdown—causing a $16 trillion bailout of the financial industry, the doubling of America’s unemployment rate and the loss of 2 million manufacturing jobs in 2008—had never taken place. Two of the five biggest investment banks, Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers, have bitten the dust, but ...
TARP-Loving Joe Loves Bailing Out Banks but Not Providing Healthcare
Are we to believe Senator Joe Lieberman objects to a public health insurance plan because he's a raging believer in the free market or in protecting taxpayers funds? That's just not true Joe. You're a TARP-lover, aren't you? Come on, tell the truth.Joe loved voting for the Troubled Asset Relief ...
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June 5th, 2013
Here's How We Built a Movie Theater for the People – and Why the MPAA Says It's #1 in the World
This past week, the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), the main federation of Hollywood's six major studios, posted on their web site a list of what they believe ...
March 23rd, 2013
This evening is going be a big moment in turning our country around on the issue of gun violence. That's why I desperately want you ...
March 21st, 2013
I am hosting a nationwide series of house parties this Saturday night where tens of thousands of people will gather together in living rooms to ...
March 15th, 2013
The response to my Newtown letter this week has been overwhelming. It is so very clear to everyone that the majority of Americans have had ...
March 13th, 2013
America, You Must Not Look Away (How to Finish Off the NRA)
The year was 1955. Emmett Till was a young African American boy from Chicago visiting relatives in Mississippi. One day Emmett was seen "flirting" with ...
February 26th, 2013
My Final Word on Buzzfeed and Emad Burnat's Detention at LAX
Thanks to everyone for bearing with me as I spend so much time on what happened to Emad Burnat. It's important to me because he's ...
February 26th, 2013
Michael Moore Responds to Buzzfeed Story on '5 Broken Cameras' Co-Director Emad Burnat
On Tuesday, February 19th, Emad Burnat, the Palestianian co-director of the Oscar-nominated documentary '5 Broken Cameras,' was detained with his wife and son at Los ...
September 11th, 2010
If the 'Mosque' Isn't Built, This Is No Longer America
OpenMike 9/11/10 Michael Moore's daily blog I am opposed to the building of the "mosque" two blocks from Ground Zero. I want it built on ...
December 14th, 2010
Why I'm Posting Bail Money for Julian Assange
Yesterday, in the Westminster Magistrates Court in London, the lawyers for WikiLeaks co-founder Julian Assange presented to the judge a document from me stating that ...
May 12th, 2011
Some Final Thoughts on the Death of Osama bin Laden
"The Nazis killed tens of MILLIONS. They got a trial. Why? Because we're not like them. We're Americans. We roll different." – Michael Moore in ...
November 22nd, 2011
Where Does Occupy Wall Street Go From Here?
This past weekend I participated in a four-hour meeting of Occupy Wall Street activists whose job it is to come up with the vision and ...
September 22nd, 2011
A STATEMENT FROM MICHAEL MOORE ON THE EXECUTION OF TROY DAVIS
I encourage everyone I know to never travel to Georgia, never buy anything made in Georgia, to never do business in Georgia. I will ask ...
December 16th, 2010
Dear Swedish Government: Hi there -- or as you all say, Hallå! You know, all of us here in the U.S. love your country. Your ...
November 2nd, 2010
This letter contains (almost) no criticisms of how the Democrats have brought this day of reckoning upon themselves. That -- and where to go from ...
'The East'
Why have you started a comedy festival in northern Michigan in the middle of winter?
Because if you were here in the dead of winter in the middle of nowhere (which is actually somewhere to us), you'd need a few laughs too ... Continue Reading
Michael Moore on MSNBC with Michael Eric Dyson, 3/22/13
Michael Moore on Democracy Now!, 6/28/12
Michael Moore on the Rachel Maddow Show, 5/11/12
Michael Moore on MSNBC, Super Tuesday, 3/6/12
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Michael Moore on the Rachel Maddow Show, 2/27/12
