A new era for Bermuda - US relations?

Bermuda is at the beginning stages of a new level of engagement with the United States with the help of US Consul General Gregory Slayton, according to a former Tennessee senator and current actor on the television series ‘Law and Order’.
Fred Thompson, who served as a senator for eight years in the 1990s, says that Bermuda is doing well insofar as its relations with the US, but it is going to do better thanks to Mr. Slayton.

“He has broad contacts in the administration and Capitol Hill and he is going to be able to do much in terms of relationship building and assisting Bermudians to have a better and closer relationship with American officials. So, you are in the beginning stages of a new level of engagement, it sounds to me like, and it is a wonderful thing,” he said.
His comments come a day after he dined with Premier Alex Scott, Mr. Slayton and others and discussed plans for the Bermuda Government to head to Washington DC for talks with American politicians. Mr. Slayton organised the historic two-day trip which includes meetings with Speaker of the US House of Representatives Dennis Hastert, Senate leader Bill Frist and 2004 Democratic challenger Senator John McCain, who previously pledged to shut down tax loopholes that allowed billions to go to Bermuda.
Other Americans have also taken aim at Bermuda when it comes to taxes, but Senator Thompson said Bermuda is doing exactly what it should be doing since it is to its benefit in many different ways. He notes that the Island’s tax policy is superior to that of the US which has disadvantaged US business unnecessarily by increasing tax revenues.
“One of the greatest misconceptions in politics around the world is that additional taxes always raise net additional revenue. The fact of the matter is, as we are seeing in the US right now, that lower taxes bring in more revenue,” he said, adding that he hopes the US will continue to maintain the tax cuts that it has passed in recent years.
Senator Thompson was recently named a scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, a Washington think tank. In 2005, President Bush appointed him to oversee his nominee to the Supreme Court.
That same year, he was also appointed to the US-China Economic & Security Review and Commission.
Besides his role as a conservative district attorney on ‘Law and Order’, he has appeared in 18 motion pictures including ‘The Hunt for Red October’ and ‘Die Hard II’.
But ask him about Hollywood and he will say there is no such thing... at least in the way people tend to view it
“I’ve only been to Hollywood to drive through it a couple times in my career,” he said. “I don’t think I ever made a movie there. On the outskirts maybe.”
Alternatively, he said he has made more movies in North Carolina.
As for the seeming glamour of being an actor, he notes that anything they pay you for turns out to be a job. There is a lot more drudgery and work in acting than meets the eye.
“There is a lot of glitter and glamour as you are outside looking in but once you’re in, there are long hours, hard work and some very serious people and some very nice people I might add,” he said.
The misbehaviour that is the fodder of all the entertainment media is not the norm in the profession as most people are trying to work their way up and take their jobs seriously just like at any large organisation. .
“So many people have to work together to make things happen so, in that respect, it is like business. It is also like politics in many respects but the difference from politics is that you’re supposed to be looking out for broader interests than your own or a particular project you’re engaged in. You’re supposed to be looking out for your country, future generations. That is a much more serious endeavour. They pay you a lot less, but the endeavour is more serious,” he said.

Courtesy of Royal Gazette reporter, Jeannine Klein Menzies, dated May 2, 2006