Posted on 07/08/2007 5:05:36 AM PDT by radar101
Newman is a good actor. I really liked him in "The Sting" when I was a high school kid. I didn't get to many movies at that age, what with football, baseball, basketball and chores, but that movie is one I'll never forget. Great ending.
"Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" was another of his better efforts. "Cool Hand Luke," "Fort Apache, the Bronx," "The Towering Inferno," "Slap Shot," all good stuff. He makes a tasty salad dressing, too.
But Newman's politics aren't nearly as appetizing. I wish he'd stick to what he knows.
The legendary star of the silver screen wrote a fundraising letter and recorded a message recently for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. In his letter, he accuses Republicans in general -- and the president in particular -- of "fear mongering." He then proceeds to monger fear within the hearts and minds of the recipients of his letter.
"I am proud now to stand with a new generation of Democrats against a president who poses what I believe to be the biggest internal threat to American democracy in my lifetime," said Newman.
Wow! That's scary.
"You can take your pick of issues where Republicans are seriously damaging this country," he continued. "Iraq, global warming, civil liberties. But I resent them most for how they've destroyed the American spirit by using xenophobia and fear to hold onto power."
He resents them most for using xenophobia and fear to hold onto power. Hmm ... I'm glad Mr. Newman chose to set aside fear himself in his appeal to raise a few additional dollars for his favorite charity.
I've used this space freely in past weeks to pass my own judgment on the Bush administration. They've committed more than their share of missteps over the past months and years, but let's give them their due when they've earned it.
Predictably, I also heard Newman attack the administration on the economy. That's right out of the Democrat playbook. Demagogue the economy and invoke class warfare. Any acknowledgment of a robust economy includes the assertion that only "the rich" are benefiting. Newman, who has read a lot of scripts in his lifetime, was faithful to the Democrat script.
But I was talking with a friend just the other day who commented on the fact that he resides on the opposite end of the financial scale from the likes of Paul Newman, yet his humble portfolio is "sizzling" in this economy, as I recall his description.
Sizzling, indeed. If Bill Clinton were president today, I have no doubt the media would proudly trumpet this era as the "Clinton Economy" and extol the glories of the Clinton economic team every chance they got.
Criticizing this administration on this economy is a sham. The truth is, that's one of the things Bush has done pretty well. The economy is strong, the Dow Jones is at a record high, inflation is down. Deficits are down to their lowest level in many years. More than 5.5 million new jobs created over the past three years. Our economy is rolling.
Be honest, Democrats and media. If you are going to refer to Iraq as "Bush's war," then you are honor-bound to refer to the marketplace today as "Bush's economy."
Democrats don't want to acknowledge the strong economy, because that would detract from their message and their full intent to raise your taxes. In fact, today's economic boom is due entirely to the tax relief George Bush and the Republican Congress enacted after his election.
The Democrats want to rescind that tax relief. Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are building their campaigns on that pledge.
(Side note: Democrat presidential candidates are sounding so much alike, it's hard to tell them apart. In the interest of time and efficiency, rather than referring to Hillary or Obama or the others, we will forthwith christen the generic Democrat presidential candidate as "Hillarama." End of side note.)
And when they do rescind tax relief, with the help of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Hillarama will have effectively raised your taxes to the tune of $900 billion. And that's without actually raising the other taxes they promise to raise.
Hillarama are talking about free health care for all Americans. Who's going to pay for that? If you think health care is costly now, wait until you get it for free. The taxes you'll be paying will really make you sick.
Tax increases are not the answer, and tax relief doesn't create deficits. Big spenders create deficits.
In 2008, it's buyer beware. Keep your hands on your wallets, my friends.
J.C. Watts (JCWatts01@jcwatts.com) is chairman of J.C. Watts Companies, a business consulting group. He is former chairman of the Republican Conference of the U.S. House, where he served as an Oklahoma representative from 1995 to 2002. He writes twice monthly for the Review-Journal.
Paul Newman has outlived his days.
I don’t have the least bit of respect for him or his damn gawd awful tasting Spaghetti Sauce.
It damn sure isn’t Newman's Best unless your thinking Alfred E. Newman. LOL
I’m not in the same economic sphere as Newman either but my stocks are doing just fine, thank you.
As a matter of fact, I’m one of the “rich” people that Hillary wants to raise taxes on. I have an income that doesn’t come from the government dole.
Ditto his buddy Redford and the new breeder Clooney.
What makes them think we care about thier personal viewpoints?
His memory must be going if he thinks Pres. Bush "poses what I believe to be the biggest internal threat to American democracy in my lifetime."
He was alive when Hitler, Mussolini, Tojo, Stalin et al were posing their real threats.
I watched Melissa Ethridge during Live Earth claim that we almost lost "democracy" right before she introduced Al Borebbels, the master propagandist.
He is a moron but at the same time his Newman’s Own has provided hundreds of thousands of dollars for Fisher House, a charity which exclusively helps the military. I am sure he is not the one deciding where the profits from the sales go I will continue to buy the products for this single reason alone. Other than that Newman is history. I feel the same about Redford and really, it’s such a shame such an actor can be so narrow minded and not see the truht, he is such a an awesome actor. This proves, again, that acting talent does not equal intelligence.
How do you know his spaghetti sauce is awful tasting?
J.C. Bump
BINGO!
Paul Newman is immune to any alterations in the tax code, as he has, by now, accumulated a sizable amount of wealth, far more than he shall ever spend in the rest of his life.
He does not care about “inheritance” taxes, or more properly, death taxes, as his estate will take care of that contingency, and it shall not be his personal responsibility. Whether his current income is taxed at 35% o4 10%, is a matter of indifference, except that less would be showered on various charities or pet projects at the higher rate as compared to the lower rate. He will not miss any opportunities of diversion or self-satisfaction as a result.
But for the rest of us, a difference in tax rates between 10% and 15%, or 25%, or 60%, makes a HUGE difference. Most of us have not gone far into accumulation of wealth, and of those who have, the wealth, while it exists as a cushion, was never the end in itself. You only sell one thing in this world, your time, and you only buy one thing, satisfaction. When you cannot buy satisfaction, it is because: a) you are underpaid; or b) you are overtaxed.
Most of us, by any objective standard, are not underpaid. Yet many of us are dissatisfied, which may be attributed almost entirely to the perception that we are overtaxed. Not in the sense that we are paying, in real terms, a truly onerous levy, but that the system by which various taxes are assessed is not equitable. Or worse, that we have no voice in how the “equitability” is determined.
With the complex tax codes we have, even negotiating the rule book in an effort to pay the minimum taxes allowable under the law becomes an exercise in futility, or worse, exposes the taxpayer to some penalty hidden in an obscure clause created for the specific purpose of protecting one class of individuals or corporations from declaring certain revenues, but only if some very carefully defined conditions are met. This was designed for a very real reason, that tax lawyers may charge high fees to reveal these arcane provisions to the select few. And trap anybody else unwary enough to stumble into this maze, if they do not also hire the high-priced counsel.
Even the most carefully prepared tax return may contain errors for which the taxpayer may be prosecuted (or persecuted, in some intances). But only when specific targeted individuals make the errors, are these provisions brought into play. The personal income tax exists, not for revenue, but for social control.
The current tax code is unfair, not only because of inequities built into the structure of the code, but also because of the very capricious application of its provisions.
“The sky is falling” global warming (due to a hot sun, but blaming it on Republicans) alarmism is not “fear mongering”, but having your capital US Military Headquarters attacked and several prominent financial center buildings destroyed and going after the criminals is “fear mongering”?
Matthew 11: 16-17
16
“To what shall I compare this generation? 11 It is like children who sit in marketplaces and call to one another,
17
‘We played the flute for you, but you did not dance, we sang a dirge but you did not mourn.’
It seems that the political forum is the market place and children in it demonstrate just how much power they really lack. Why have we given ourselves over to such a slave trade to shackle so much of our free will to so much secular nonsense?
Many think that employers and workers negotiate in after tax terms. Therefore, there is reason to doubt that changing taxes would change income.
Everyime I see one of these professional pretenders spout off about something they know nothing about, it only solidifies my observation about actors in general. First of all, they are actors, period. Their whole life becomes consumed in their self adorational myopic world that they soon really beleive they are the roles they are playing. They are so totally consumed in “being” who they are acting that they soon forget who the hell they really are. This is further engrained with the isolated lives they must live while trying to recapture the smallest tid bit of normalcy of being a real person. The echo chamber they have forced themselves to live in must be deafening.
I'd love to know if he takes the charitable deduction on his taxes for his contributions to charity via his products. That would be a little hypocritical, but not nearly as hypocritical as his going along with the Bush tax cuts by not paying the old Clinton rate.
I agree that the tax cuts have had a strong affect on the economy. But to say that the cuts are exclusively responsible for the current economic climate is a bit much. Not that I’m complaining :)
“If you think health care is costly now, wait until you get it for free. The taxes you’ll be paying will really make you sick.”
Gotta remember that one. Great line. And oh so true!
These guys have spent their lives as actors. And they do act very well. This has lead to them having very recognizable names. And they seek to exploit this.
For example, Newman’s has lent his name to a sauce company and is well known in auto racing circles.
But that does not make him an expert on the economy, taxes or anything else.
I bought a bottle since it was a competitor to our New York style sauce.
I took it to the plant and we opened it for lunch time and to be honest it was nothing special.
In fact if you’ve tasted Newmans then you would know, but everyone has their own opinions.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.