Michael Moore's terrific plan for rescuing GM

This morning, Michael Moore wrote a terrific piece on General Motors which appeared in Huffington Post. It's the best, most readable, and most interesting plan I've ever heard for reviving American manufacturing and rescuing the midwest from the economic downturn. I highly suggest that any and everyone read it.

Moore begins his argument by pointing out that, as a result of the restructuring/bankruptcy deal reached between GM, the UAW, its creditors, and the governments of the U.S. and Canada, you, I, and every American taxpayer now own a controlling stake in General Motors. That's right, the American taxpayers now own 60% of GM. Of course, this is not a particularly exciting prospect for many Americans, who likely aren't thrilled that they now own a piece of a bankrupt, highly indebted company. However, Moore rightly argues that our principle concern should not be returning GM to profitability as soon as possible (which has, incidentally, been the government's focus thus far). Some have floated ideas about building a smaller, more profitable GM under the government's watch and then spinning it off to private investors. Moore believes we should discard those ideas and I agree with him. Instead, we should take advantage of the unused industrial capacity and unemployed, skilled manufacturing workers made available by the collapse of GM to solve our pressing social needs. And of those needs, shifting to a green, energy efficient economy is among the most pressing. As such, GM factories should be retooled to build trains, windmills, hybrid/electric buses, and other machines to put America on the path to breaking our dependence on dirty oil.

Such a strategy will proably involve significant investment of taxpayer dollars, which the bailout-weary public likely wouldn't find especially appealing. However, the investments Moore recommends will yield amazing returns in the future, if not in economic profits then in the form of a cleaner, healthier planet, improved transportation infrastructure, and good paying jobs for depressed communities.

It would be a shame if the government approached the GM situation with only short term profits in mind. The collapse of the Detroit auto industry has wrought devastation on many communities, but the bankruptcy and effective nationalization of GM should be seen as a great opportunity. We can turn the tragedy of the bankruptcy of what was once the quintessential symbol of America's prosperity and economic might into a blessing by moving right now to address transportation, energy, environmental, and social problems which have been festering for far too long.

It will be incredibly hard to convince the White House and Congress to heed Moore's advise. Every day our leaders in Washington provide more evidence of the unfortunate fact that the banks "frankly own the place," in the words of Dick Durbin. Nonetheless, we cannot forget that we frankly own GM now. It should be up to us what the government does with it. Without a doubt, we have been presented with an opportunity as a country. An opportunity which the labor movement, environmental movement, and all concerned citizens ought to band together and seize. That, my friends, would be change we can believe in.