Not only has Gov. Gavin Newsom vocally opposed the proposed California billionaire tax, but he also wants to prevent the state from ever passing a wealth tax in the future.
On Friday he endorsed Proposition 42, a ballot measure that would cancel out Proposition 40, the proposed billionaire tax. Prop. 42 would prohibit retroactive taxes like the one-time 5% tax on assets that would apply to any billionaire who lived in California on Jan. 1, 2026 if Prop. 40 passes.
But Prop. 42, funded and placed on the ballot by billionaire and Google co-founder Sergey Brin to defeat the billionaire tax, also would go further, by banning any new taxes on personal property.
That includes pensions and 401K accounts before retirees start drawing retirement income from them. It also includes other investments, financial assets, business holdings, art collections and all other forms of personal wealth that would be affected by the billionaire tax or any future wealth tax.
Newsom’s decision to support Prop. 42 runs counter to his own Democratic Party and some labor unions. It also aligns him with some of the wealthy tech donors with whom he’s maintained longstanding relationships dating back to his days as mayor of San Francisco.
Listen up bud. Most people, for better or worse aren’t overtly political. That they share a belief with liberals doesn’t make them any more “liberals” in any committed or devoted sense. Than myself having anarco communist views makes me a leninist or you a tanky. But you know who runs around calling people they disagree with “liberals” regularly? Tankies. You are legit doing what you are accusing others if doing. Two wrongs don’t make a right either.
If refusing to participate makes the material conditions worse. I can and will point it out all day. If you live in a state that will safely not go Republican if you don’t participate. That is a unique circumstance and a privileged choice that you specifically are afforded. If you run around telling people generally to do that. Not knowing how that will impact anyone. Possibly extremely negatively. Such as getting vulnerable people to abstain or vote for the person that would victimize them more. (Which happened) You should expect criticism. And if you don’t want it. Don’t announce your vote/lack of it to the world. And we won’t care. Everyone is entitled to vote whoever they want or not at all.
I’m also quite well aware of what the United States is. But thanks for the unneeded lecture. I am a tribe member. Officially on the rolls. The United States has persecuted suppressed and slaughtered my people for hundreds of years. Canada too. I don’t have any great sympathy for them. But I did get a chuckle out of this.
I’ve honestly tried to keep our discussion very civil and fact-based. I’m starting to think that was a mistake. But can we at least agree. That we should be trying to make more allies and not enemies. That we shouldn’t rush to Judgment of others even if they rush to Judgment of us. If we go looking for enemies we will find them or make them one way or the other. And neither of us needs that. There are already enough actual enemies.