Aaron Russo: Difference between revisions

'''Aaron Russo''' was an entertainment businessman, film maker, Libertarian Party political figure and a tax protester.

During his career in the entertainment industry, Russo was manager for Bette Midler from 1972 to 1979 and The Manhattan Transfer, and the producer of the films ''The Rose'' and ''Trading Places''. He also produced ''Wise Guys''. Russo has stated that he was the first person to book Led Zeppelin in a United States venue, (the "Electric Theater," Chicago,1968, later named the "Kinetic Playground").   

His last film was ''[[America: Freedom to Fascism]]'', an advomentary (advocacy documentary) critical of The [[Federal Reserve System]] and the [[Internal Revenue Service]]. It raises some serious questions on why and if Americans have to pay income tax.

 

The documentary includes interviews with a host of people who are experts, scholars and whistle-blowers. All deny the legitimacy of the income-tax laws, including [[Irwin Schiff]], who is now in jail because a judge refused to allow Irwin to introduce the law in the courtroom to defend himself.  The judge stated that he would decide what the law was.

Russo became involved in politics in the early 1990s when he produced and starred in a video entitled ''Mad As Hell'' in which he criticized [[North American Free Trade Agreement|NAFTA]], The [[War on Drugs]], the concept of a National Identity Card, and government regulation of alternative medicine.

Russo ran in the [[Republican Party|Republican]] primary for governor of Nevada in 1998, placing second with 26% of the vote.  He then endorsed the [[Democratic Party|Democratic]] candidate, Las Vegas mayor Jan Laverty Jones, who lost to Republican Kenny Guinn.  Russo subsequently planned to run for governor in 2002 as an independent or a Libertarian, but he was temporarily sidelined by cancer.

In January 2004, he declared his candidacy for the President of the United States as an independent, then decided to run for the Libertarian Party's nomination.  While some considered Russo's style crude and even insulting [http://www.carolmoore.net/libertarianparty/convention2004report.html], others argued his media experience would enable him to pose a serious threat to incumbent President [[George W Bush]], pulling enough votes from otherwise likely Bush voters to affect the outcome in battleground states, in the same way that Ralph Nader was considered to be in relation to [[Democratic Party|Democrat]] John Kerry.[http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig3/tuccille6.html][http://www.dailykos.com/story/2004/5/14/02051/7441][http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/05/21/politics/main619019.shtml]

On 14 January 2007, Russo announced his full support for U.S. Congressman [[Ron Paul]]'s 2008 presidential bid.[http://www.rense.com/general75/arrp.htm][http://www.freemarketnews.com/Analysis/134/6746/high%20alert.asp?wid=134&nid=6746]  This support includes his ''[[America: Freedom to Fascism]]'' volunteer network.[http://naam.pair.com/aftf1626/AFTF/blog/2007/01/alex-jones-hightlights-ron-pauls.html]

==External Links==