Michael Moore Denies Owning Halliburton

~~~the IRS doesn't lie?
Source: http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=47662

Michael Moore denies owning Halliburton!
But author who made charge
answers tax returns don't lie
Posted: December 1, 2005
1:00 a.m. Eastern


� 2005 WorldNetDaily.com


Michael Moore

In a nationally televised speech, filmmaker Michael Moore told a college
audience he absolutely does not own any Halliburton stock ? or any other
stock for that matter ? a charge leveled at him by author Peter
Schweizer in the best-seller book "Do As I Say (Not As I Do)."

There's just one problem with that denial, says Schweizer. He's got the
tax returns of Moore's non-profit foundation to prove it ? a non-profit
foundation for which there are only two officers, Moore and his wife.

"I think people find that stuff funny ? Michael Moore owns Halliburton
stock," said Moore in the Nov. 23 Mott College speech carried by C-SPAN.
"That's like a great comedy line. I know it's not true. I've never owned
a share of stock in my life -- anything. Did anyone see that a couple
weeks ago? Somebody was yakking away. And I just thought, uh, that's
funny, I guess. Anyone who knows me is not going to believe that. Who's
going to believe that? Just crazy people are going to believe it."


It must be the definition of the word "own" that is the source of
controversy, suggests Schweizer, the author of a book on liberal
hypocrisy. Moore has emphatically made the claim repeatedly over the
years: "I don't own a single share of stock!"

He's right. He doesn't own a single share. He owns tens of thousands of
shares ? including nearly 2,000 shares of Boeing, nearly 1,000 of
Sonoco, more than 4,000 of Best Foods, more than 3,000 of Eli Lilly,
more than 8,000 of Bank One and more than 2,000 of Halliburton, the
company most vilified by Moore in "Fahrenheit 9/11," according to
Schweizer's book.

In fact, the Schedule D form declaring his capital gains and losses
where his stock ownership is listed, it's emblazoned on the cover of
Schweizer's book.

But Moore's loophole may be that the stock is actually owned by his
non-profit foundation ? not him personally. However, Moore signed the
return personally and controls the activity of the corporation.

It's just one of the titillating, startling revelations by Schweizer,
famous for his previous works, "Reagan's War" and "The Bushes."

Other examples:

* House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, who proclaims her support for
unions, yet the luxury resort, the vineyard and the restaurants she
partly owns are strictly non-union. While she advocates tough new laws
enforcing environmental regulations on the private sector, the exclusive
country club she partly owns failed to comply with existing
environmental regulations for the past eight years ? including a failure
to protect endangered species.

* Noam Chomsky has made a reputation for calling America a police state
and branding the Pentagon "the most hideous institution on earth," yet
his entire academic career, writes Schweizer, has been subsidized by the
U.S. military.

* Barbra Streisand is another proponent of environmentalism, yet she
drives an SUV, lives in a mansion and has a $22,000 annual water bill.
In the past, she has driven to appointments in Beverly Hills in a motor
home because of her aversion to using public bathrooms.

* Ralph Nader plays the role of the citizen avenger ? the populist
uninterested in wealth and materialism, pretending to live in a modest
apartment. In fact, he lives in fancy homes registered in the names of
his siblings.

This is not just a book of "gotcha" journalism, explains Schweizer. He
says the dozens and dozens of examples of "liberal hypocrisy" he cites
in his book "are of central importance in evaluating the validity and
usefulness of liberal ideas."

"Using IRS records, court depositions, news reports, financial
disclosures and their own statements, I sought to answer a particular
question: Do these liberal leaders and activists practice what they
preach?" he writes. "What I found was a stunning record of open and
shameless hypocrisy. Those who champion the cause of organized labor had
developed various methods to avoid paying union wages or shunned unions
altogether. Those who believe that the rich need to pay more in taxes
proved especially adept at avoiding taxes themselves. Critics of
capitalism and corporate enterprise frequently invested in the very
companies they denounced. Those who espouse strict environmental
regulations worked vigorously to sidestep them when it came to their own
businesses and properties. Those who advocate steep inheritance taxes to
promote fairer income distribution hid their investments in trusts or
exotic overseas locales to reduce their own tax liability. Those who are
strong proponents of affirmative action rarely practiced it themselves,
and some had abysmal records when it came to hiring minorities. Those
who proclaim themselves champions of civil liberties when it comes to
criminal or terrorist cases went to extraordinary lengths to curtail the
civil liberties of others when they felt threatened or just
inconvenienced. Advocates of gun control had no problem making sure that
an arsenal of weapons was available to protect them from dangerous
criminals."

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