Matt Damon Honored By "Joe The Plumber" Shout-Out, Campaigning For Obama

SAN FRANCISCO — Matt Damon is honored that the most recent celebrity of the presidential campaign _ "Joe the Plumber" _ dropped his name in an interview.

"That was a surprise. I hadn't heard that Joe the Plumber dropped my name," Damon said. "I'm honored to be in the little passion play, to be an extra."

The plumber, whose real name is Samuel Wurzelbacher, became an overnight media sensation after he was referred to constantly in the final presidential debate. When the press arrived at his Ohio home, Wurzelbacher, a Republican, said he hoped he wouldn't make a fool of himself with all the attention, "I don't have a lot of pull. It's not like I'm Matt Damon."

Damon _ a hardcore Democrat who has spent as much time campaigning for Barack Obama recently than he has acting _ was in San Francisco promoting a charity, OneXOne (pronounced One-by-One).

Along with hip-hop artist Wyclef Jean, Damon was promoting the group's work to end hunger and suffering for children in poverty in the U.S. and Africa.

The actor said he's headed to Florida this weekend to work with the Obama campaign on getting out the vote in a key battleground state. After that, Damon is off to Morocco to finish shooting a movie, but he said he would stay engaged with the Obama campaign.

"I'm sure I'll be on the phone over there after filming every night," he said. "I'll do telephone interviews or whatever they'll have me do. I want to sprint to the finish with the millions of us who really have been desperate for this change."

Damon previously had been openly critical of John McCain's running mate, Sarah Palin, calling the campaign's pick for the vice presidency "a disaster." On Thursday, Damon said he would not comment on the Republican ticket.

"The Obama campaign has decided to focus on the positive, and I should be a bigger man and be able to do that with them," Damon said.

___

On the Net:

http://www.onexone.org

Comments

[Bigeasy]

Damon is a class act love his movies.

[buffyjones]

S h u t u p and act

[SouthernYankeeBelle]

Why is it you only want them to shut up when they are on the left? But its OK if its on the right. I say they all have rights as americans to speak up. We have our right and we do it in this blog everyday. So you don't like it do what I do when I don't agree. I turn the page or the channel.

[buffyjones]

It has nothing to do with him being on the left. Has to do with him being an actor and trying to influence me mainly or totally on his celebrity. This is a common phenomenon among celebrities that I find very tiring. I do not need an actor to tell me how I should vote. Read the article - he did not talk about issues - If he demonstrates that he is informed on the issues then I may listen to him. Even if informed, If he does not share my values overall, then his opinion will not change my vote. I like Matt Damon.

[wdw101]

don't confuse freedom of speech with the right to be heard

[live by the golden rule]

I suppose you would say that to the actor who played the Terminator too?

[buffyjones]

I would be willing to listen to anyone who is informed on the issues. Regardless of party. My contention is that most of these actors out to influence the vote do not speak of issues they simply stand there and look good while bad-mouthing the opposing party typically without having evidence to back up what they say. Only a stupid person would do what they say because they look so good.

[rpr]

Actually, living in CA, I'd say he's not too bad for a Repub. Most of what he says is almost palatable - except for his endorsement of McCain/Palin of course.
The CA GOP is a completely different story of course... They still revere Reagan, literally. I just saw a picture of a statue of him paid for by a GOP district.

[wdw101]

yes of course i would

[phoenics]

Please don't make me sic Buffy the stupid slayer on your ignorant behind.

[buffyjones]

Do you actually have anything intelligent to say or just insults?

[CeciliaBertrand]

So, does this mean Republicans are the 'Tares' and the Democrats are the "Wheat?" I wonder with the responses from the Rethugs, where is the soul? Or is there one? As a nation we have been duped by this crowd - and permitted their thuggery to flourish. Now we are tired of being exploited and abused...w­illing to take our broken minds and hearts and start anew - together, one nation under God.

[buffyjones]

Yet another victim narrative --"YAWN...­"

[wdw101]

i will......­on nov 4 vote for mccain

[buffyjones]

I wil vote for McCain too

[ferky123]

Good. Vote against your own self-interest. How has your life been under GWB?

[irtrad17]

All you have to do is watch the original video. THe man is clearly biased, plant or not, he didn't even bother to really listen to the answer to his hypothetical question. He needs to fade away

[redsongia]

So true.

[rock2casbah]

That's okay Matt that you spoke out on the Failin nomination. It is your country too and you have every right to be disgusted that McCain would try to pawn off this joke as a potential President of our country.

I understand why you had to say it. Millions agreed with you then and now the majority of Americans have come to agree since. Thank you for your bravery.

Who says actors can't have an opinions, anyway? It seemed to be okay for Rea gan Ahnold, and Fred Th ompson for the repubs. They are just hating when it comes to actors that don't agree with them that is what all their faux indignation is about.

[Running262]

don't forget the ridiculousness of Hank Williams Jr. singing his McCain Palin song... I don't hear any repubs complaining about that.

[OttotheScourge]

If you want the things government supplies, such as defensve and roads, just to name two out of thousands, you have to pay taxes. Wouldn't life be great if we got everything for free? But, when someone tells you about spending on the part of Democrats, remind them that the Iraq War has cost us $700 billion. For what? Can you imagine what that would have paid for if spent at home?

[AurigaRa]

hoping the Joe's of America will finally wake up and vote in their own best interests.
Not that they HAVEN'T been voting selfishly all these years. They thought the free market
would make them millionaires like the top escholon rethugs. Gotta clue for ya, Joes.
We CAN'T all be millionaires, and many of us don't care to be.

Time to provide education and healthcare to all Americans. Think how it will cut down on prisons and provide MORE good employees. Oh, I forgot, the rethugs don't care about American employees since they will ask for a living wage - they just go overseas. And they love investing in the prison system.

[buffyjones]

Must suck waiting for the handout... Seems so long..does­n't it?

[HesDanTheMan]

My main problem with this Joe the Plumber is how can America not see that this man was a plant by the McCain/Palin Camp? As soon as this man became a celebrity the night of the third debate, all of his very private information became public. Past addresses, taxes, licenses, etc. If you look up a few of his past residencies they are in Mesa, Ariz. (McCain's home state), Tucson, Ariz. (McCain's home state), and North Pole, Alaska (Palin's home state).
Do you think this was all coincidence? Of course not. This was a carefully strategic move of Karl Rove politics, by the McCain/Palin camp. Not realizing that Joe's (Samuel's) personal information would be made public for the World to see.
This man was a PLANT by the McCain/Palin Camp. Plain and Simple!
This needs to be made MORE PUBLIC!
THE MAN WAS AND IS A PLANT!

[independent32955]

he wasn't a plant...a plant is someone who can actually HELP your campaign.

what did joe do?

showed he was a tax dodger

showed that he wasn't a licensed plumber

showed that he didn't understand either man's tax plan or possibly even that his boss doesn't pay tax just on his revenues, but rather rev less deductions

in short, joe the plumber is a frickin mccain nightmare, much like sarah palin, george w. bush, mccain's staff members and his own age.

There are no plants, only the truth...an­d the truth is the GOP is WAY WAY WAY out of touch.

[deebell]

And, just like his VP pick, McCain decided to use this guy without properly vetting him, and once again, he looks like an idiot with bad judgement.

Everytime he does something it makes me more and more afraid of him.

Obama 2008

[pegbo]

Nobody but McCain and Palin and a few of their supporters care about Joe the plumber. He was a 2 day story and no longer matters.

[CascadianPDX]

I agree... a plant he is, and that's fitting since McCain't is a near plant too... a vegetable. You forgot to mention that Uranus is a former home for all of these walking disasters.

[AurigaRa]

LOL! and so right

[SUIGENEROUSLA]

ROTFL.....­........."­I too am Joe the Broccoli Rabe" (or make that Rob)

[jcarryl]

Well they didn't exactly do him any favors by outing him to the Plumbers Union and the IRS. How long do you suppose this guy will have a job? I give you McCain's real American..­.

[redsongia]

As usual, it was a plan, but not a very well thought out plan.

[sf girl]

If corporations and wealthy private citizens actually paid their fair share of taxes instead of using loopholes and offshore accounts to evade the tax man, our taxes wouldn't be as high as they are. I blame greed for that.

[Lemmiwinks]

"loopholes" and "offshore accounts". could you be more vague in your generic talking points. put down the kool-aid.

[Krankil]

Call them whatever you want. But if The richest man in the world Warren Buffett who made $ 46M income last year admitted in front of congress that he only paid 17% of his income in taxes whereas his secretary (who makes $ 60K) paid 25%, I don't know what you call that in your "very specific" talking points. But that is not the 40% bracket he's in

[sf girl]

I'm sorry, should I have outlined each and every loophole that corporations and taxpayers use to avoid paying taxes? The fact that that was your response to me shows that you're drinking some kool-aid of your own.

[publius1]

If we had lower taxes, there would be less of an incentive for rich people avoid US taxes. You are also forgetting that the US allows municiple bond gains to be tax free. This is where a lot of rich people have their money. So it's not all off shore.

[BillZBubb]

If we had lower taxes the pubic debt would be even more astronomical. And the Chinese would hold a bigger chunk of it. Have you learned nothing from the Bush fiasco?

[independent32955]

your lack of insight betrays our stupidity.

the fact that you admit that rich people avoid paying their taxes shows that mccain cannot be trusted since he's the only presidential candidate stumping for the rich.

[CascadianPDX]

Nothing wrong with taxes... as former Supreme Court justice Oliver Wendell Holmes said, "I like paying taxes, with them I buy civilizati­on.”

What we DON"T like is wasting them on greed drenched corporate & military welfare that gets us zero return on our so called yearly 'investment' in civilization. Why is this so hard to figure out for so many people?

Tax averse Americans should try living in some libertarian "Lord of the Flies' paradise such as Devil's Island for a taste of a real "tax free" YOYO existence. A few hours of that and they'd be begging to pay their loopholed back taxes.

[AfroGoddess]

I won't say you're slow to think that if we paid lower taxes that the rich would stop looking for and using loopholes to pay even few taxes.

I'll just call you special, like 40 year old men who really believe that strippers and prostitutes love them. :)

Bless your heart!

[LapisBlue128]

Concerning this whole tax business; look, the other side has a point. The United States does have high taxes compared to a lot of developed countries. It really bothers how many self-proclaimed liberals are pretty ignorant about the rest of the world.

I live in Hong Kong, but have spent a great deal of my life in the United States. Your government simply doesn't allocate it's resources very well. Average American's get taxed about 35%-40% of their income when you include property and sales tax.

Being in the highest earning bracket, I only have to pay a flat 15% tax. There is no sales tax, and property taxes are negligible. Government hospitals provide quality (almost free) health care to those that cannot afford it; we have one of the world's most comprehensive public transportation systems; among the world's most efficient civil service, police force, and emergency response systems. Granted, Hong Kong is a small place and it's a lot easier to manage than the ENTIRE U.S, but at the same time, something has to said of this disparity.

I can understand why a lot of people in US get upset about how much they get taxed..the­y don't know where all of their hard earned money is going! Neither do I, quite frankly...­Oh wait, Iraq.

[CascadianPDX]

Well said!

[buffyjones]

Is there a communist government in that part of China? What are the downsides?

[Viper]

Joe, was not Joe. Joe was not a Plumber. Joe was not an employee of a company. Joe nor the guy he works with make over 50K. Joe was not planning to buy anything. Joe was not honest.

Obama did not go to his house.

Obama nevertheless spent 6 minutes talking to a person who was being dishonest. Obama's plan is clearly the most beneficial to him at his lower tax rate and if he did actually have a small business and then sold it .. he would pay 0 Capital gains on the profit.

I'm in the top 5%. I will pay more and I did not get the advantage of the reduced Cap Gains/Dividends.
My effective Tax rate is hiogher than McCains or Cindy becuase of that!

Given the results of the BUSH tax cuts paid for with borrowed money, is the devalution of the dollar and the loss of half of America's networth.. we all got in reality the largest tax increase in history and passed 5 trillion in debt to our kids. The trickle down trickled to China.. they got new factories while ours rusted and 4.5 million jobs followed to the lower wage country for higher profits and the lower tarrif on goods flowing back here (1/10th) as opposed to goods made here and shipped there ( 10 times higher). Free trade not.

Regards

[wdw101]

joe brought out the truth from bo........­.redistrib­ution of wealth is what bo plans to do........

[08Voter]

I guess as long as the wealth is redistributed to the top 5-10% as it has been for the last 8 years, you're okay with it! Joe was a fraud and so is the republican ticket.

[Hallucinocynic]

The great bulk of people who cling desperately to the 'redistribution of wealth' mantra don't have, and never will have, the level of income to which Obama refers. Moreover, if anyone of those who mindlessly repeat that mantra actually listened to the exchange, in which that phrase was employed, they might realize that BO was really talking about redistributing the OPPORTUNITIES for a larger percentage of the population to be financially successful.

Disingenuousness is the currency of the politically bankrupt Republican Party.

[Doug77]

The entire point of taxes is to redistribute wealth. That's why we have a progressive tax system. I wonder why no one have asked McCain if he now supports a flat tax, or the elimination of taxes altogether and having all basic services such as policing and road maintence handed over to the private sector, as he apparently thinks that a progressive tax system is a bad idea. He also, apparently, isn't a big fan of Adam Smith. The most absurd part of the whole thing is what Viper alluded to above: Obama acted on good faith and took 6 minutes (not an inconsiderable amount of time, given the context) to listen to and try to address the (false) concerns of someone who not only completely misrepresented himself, but isn't even smart enough to vote in his own interest (as he, in fact, is not going to be buying the 250k business, and actually makes far less, he would save money with Obama as president).

[cybertoothcat]

Redistribution of wealth includes schools, building and maintaining higways and bridges, etc. Would you like the services of civilization or would you rather, for instance, your car fall into the river with you in it?

[zoe99]

Oh SHUT UP about redistribution of wealth already! It's nothing but a hot-button word for you.

You really think the poor are going to get rich, and the rich poor?

[blakieto]

Viper: well put. This is a perspective more people need to read.

[HedCase]

exactly. unlike every other developed country, we get absolutely nothing in return for our taxes, time to spread that wealth a little, i'd say

[blah blah blah]

Obama was Obama, however.

When he said, "spread the wealth" he wasn't talking about paying for bridges and roads as some have suggested. It was a rare honest answer from an otherwise dishonest person. It was an unintended glimpse into Obama's underlying philosophy of government. Obama revealed himself, no matter who Joe is. The fact is, it was Obama's answer that was the problem with the exchange, not Joe's question. If McCain himself asked the question and not Joe, the problem still would have been with Obama's answer. Unfortunately the impulse on the left is to destory anyone who poses a threat to "The One." The left knows that "spreading the wealth" will not fly for 85% of Americans.

My liberal friends argue that the tax system is already set up to spread the wealth (and that republicans have endorsed it) so what Obama said is nothing out of the ordinary. We've all been conditioned to accept the tax system as it is. There's always a fight by conservative republicans, however, to keep it limited (the Bush administration notwithstanding) to a revenue souce for public necessities like roads, bridges and even welfare to help people get on their feet. It's a philosophy of capitalism/low taxes with some socialism sprinkled in. Obama revealed that his basic philosophy is socialism with some captialistic elements mixed in. Of course most here, I'm sure, agree with that approach.

[buffyjones]

Very articulate­...thank you for bringing rare informed comment to the board.

[standup2them]

Matt thank you for all the good work you do for helping the hungry. I know the food banks all around the country need food, the people that usually donate have lost their jobs. I will be donating food and toys for kids as I have been. It's pretty sad. Take care. Obama/Biden 08"

[jeffp26]

You go Matt.

PS Sorry you got whacked at the end of the Departed, but you deserved it!!!!!

[Bigeasy]

Yea he got whacked but he was great in the Rounders.

[johnnygoodwud]

thanks matt. folks don't let the trolls on this site distract us. just ignore them, they'll go away.

[buffyjones]

You must have drunk more than the usual share of k o o l a i d

[bennettkw]

Dear Readers, The McCain campaign or the RNC, what have you, think that you can be fooled by plants/trolls. One on this comment page has made multiple entries with the goal of getting you to respond. While I am sure there are others, WDW101 clearly fits that bill. Take a look at his profile. He has written nearly 5000 comments at this site alone in only four months. The guy literally averages nearly 50 comments per day but he acts like he is a shop owner and claims that threats about laying off employees come Nov. 5 has changes the minds of many of his EMPS, as he says. If his foolishness actually gets you excited, first off, remember he is a fictional character. Second, donate to the Obama campaign or to a local election campaign that you support. If you do choose to respond to the fo ol, do not do so by way of reply. The campaign very likely pays him a few pennies for each reply he is able to coax out of you. All the best

Yes we can!

[buffyjones]

Your p a r a n o i a is showing...­.Unlike you, everyone cannot be bought

Also Unlike you, some of us are actually informed on the issues - not drinking the Obama k o o l a i d like you do

[mama mac]

hee hee---buffyjones took the bait!

[exmate]

Matt Damon is a great actor and a great patriot.

[gascelebrations]

And one of the hottest men alive.

[4everdem]

Could he look better in a suit? yum.