Republicans have a long history of dismissing the opinions of celebrities who support liberal positions while simultaneously embracing the celebrities who support their ideals (see Ronald Reagan, Sonny Bono, Fred Thompson, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Donald Trump, Chuck Norris, Clint Eastwood, Fred Grandy, Kelsey Grammer, Patricia Heaton, Jim Bunning, and Jack Kemp).
The latest attack is an attempt to smear Natalie Portman. Apparently her view that Democrats are doing a better job of defending women's rights has put her in the crosshairs of conservatives.
The claim against her seems to be that it is hypocritical of Natalie Portman to campaign for Barack Obama using the rhetoric about the rights of middle class women given the fact that she is not in the middle class.
One author claims that Natalie Portman has been "showered with goodies" by the current administration. The examples of this? Natalie Portman owns two hybrids.
Other than the obvious issue that one tax credit does not a shower make, it should be noted that the tax credit in question was approved back in 2005 in a bill sponsored by a Republican with a Republican controlled House and Senate and a Republican president.
Does Barack Obama support tax credits for green energy projects like hybrid cars? Yes. But claiming this particular tax credit as an Obama "goodie" is not factually accurate.
The second issue with this is that like Mitt Romney, Natalie Portman does not release her tax returns and there is no evidence supplied by the author which proves that she actually took the tax credit that is the basis for the argument. But if conjecture is all that is required, it is worth mentioning that celebrities don't typically get paid with capital gains so odds are the income taxes paid by Natalie Portman even with a $3,000 hybrid tax credit would be significantly higher than that of Mitt Romney.
Additionally, one provision of this credit is that if you pay the alternative minimum tax, which was designed to make sure that rich pay their fair share of taxes, you do not qualify for the hybrid credit. So if Natalie Portman was using a bunch of tax loopholes to avoid taxes then she would not receive the tax credit.
Of course Republicans certainly aren't against tax credits and they aren't against ones that help out their celebrity friends. For example as governor of Massachusetts Mitt Romney enacted a tax break for the film industry which noted chair whisperer, Clint Eastwood, promptly took advantage of.
But even if we take this accusation at face value and Natalie Portman did get a tax credit for purchasing a hybrid car, Republicans should applaud her since after all it was their candidate that said "I pay all the taxes that are legally required and not a dollar more".
The reality is that politicians support a litany of tax breaks that help a certain segment of their supporters. For every Obama green energy tax break there is a subsidy for coal and oil. I hope those that think the hypocrisy of Natalie Portman is a big deal also acknowledge that believing so makes them hypocrites as well.
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