California Gov. Gavin Newsom called for a nationwide tax on billionaires as part of a broader “economic reset for America.”
Newsom, who is considered to be a 2028 presidential contender, also reiterated his opposition to a state-level wealth tax that Californians will vote on in November.
He also called for creating a “national public equity fund” to help “ensure every American owns a stake in the future being built by AI.”
55 Comments
Hayduke@lemmy.world · 116 pts · 38d
I believe, and this is as diplomatic as I care to be, that he is perhaps concerned with billionaires fleeing the state and that a national approach could prevent that.
On the other hand it is more likely that his resistance to the CA tax and cheerleading of a national approach is purely performative as it will simply not happen at that scale, so that his pseudo-progressive veneer isn’t stripped away.
WatDabney@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 73 pts · 38d
I think that's more likely
That's really pretty standard Democrat fake leftist strategy - only openly advocate for a leftist proposal when there's no chance that it'll pass.
SpaceCowboy@lemmy.ca · -6 pts · 38d
Isn't it a fake leftist strategy is to argue against voting for anyone that wants to tax billionaires?
n4ch1sm0@piefed.social · 16 pts · 38d
It's a leftist strategy to call out two faced billionaire friendly Democrats like Gavin fucking Newsom
ByteJunk@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 37d
Gavin is the true Democratic party distilled to its purest essence: millionaires using leftist rhetoric to seduce disgruntled workers, while filling their pockets by serving the interests of other millionaires and billionaires.
They'll implement a flagship "leftist" legislation (that in any other part of the world would be seen as clear right) for the next opposite administration to tear down, while keeping all the bullshit that's already in place.
AngryCommieKender@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 37d
There's a billionaire tax on the CA ballot currently. Newsome has actively done everything he could to oppose it, and has promised to veto it if it passes. He doesn't want to tax billionaires, he wants the vote to happen in a forum that it won't pass in.
nao@sh.itjust.works · 17 pts · 38d
If they are not paying taxes anyway, why would that even matter?
Brkdncr@lemmy.world · 15 pts · 38d
It’s not that they are providing $0 in tax income, it’s that it’s nearly 0%. It’s still a chunk of change.
I’ve heard that we wouldn’t feel the impact for 25 years.
Even so, kick them out. They can live in beautiful Houston Texas, or sunny Arkansas. Or maybe they will decide paying up is worth the cost of being a resident of California
theuniqueone@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 13 pts · 38d
Except evidence doesn't support mass flight of the rich with higher taxes anyway.
stringere@sh.itjust.works · 2 pts · 37d
It's all bluster. When you have households and businesses both supported by dozens to hundreds of employees you can't simply sell your house and buy a new one. You'd need all new staff to cater to your needs, would have to get new business licensing and real estate for your businesses to move, there's just a whole lot more than pulling up stakes and moving state when you're a fat ass dragon sitting on a hoard of stolen gold.
fartographer@lemmy.world · 8 pts · 37d
"I can't tax billionaires in California, because they'd leave California"
"I can't tax billionaires nationally, because they'd leave the nation"
"I can't tax billionaires globally, because they'd leave the planet"
There will never be a finish line in front of which these billionaire-class guardians won't shuffle their feet, nor a goalpost that they won't carry further. It's some real "I'll release my taxes after I get elected" energy.
aramis87@fedia.io · 7 pts · 38d
We don't even need a billionaire's tax for an "economic reset". I mean, we do because it's not healthy for our economy or our political system. But what will happen with a billionaire's tax? The money will just go to the government, which will spend it in arcane ways that the average person has little visibility or voice on.
What we need is an increase to the minimum wage to whatever it would've been if it hadn't been consistently frozen and re-frozen and with mandatory CoLA, universal healthcare, repeal of Citizens United, repeal of whatever decision it was that said a company's ultimate responsibility is to shareholders, a breakup of a whole bunch of overweighted conglomerates, a breakup of media empires, a ban on "entertainment" masquerading as "news", a reform of the Supreme Court, vetc. There's a whole bunch of other stuff as well. But there's a whole bunch of stuff that could get accomplished without a billionaire's tax.
Triasha@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 37d
Taxing billionaires would benefit regular people even if the government burned the money. Or buried it. It would reduce the price of assets, like housing, and make them more affordable for regular people.
Sure, it would be better spend the money on healthcare or infrastructure, but even if we just subsidized the underwater basketweaving industry, we would still be better off.
nialv7@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 38d
once he become president he is going to champion a world billionaire tax and say no to a national one.
CharlesDarwin@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 38d
Not sure about his motivations, but we absolutely cannot be playing states off of one another to see who can bend over the hardest for the Epstein Class.
Fuck that noise.
SinningStromgald@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 38d
The idiots, aka 99%of voters, will only remember him promoting the national billionaire tax.
TrickDacy@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 38d
My thoughts exactly
Jhex@lemmy.world · 69 pts · 38d
wasn't this asshole against the billionaire tax in California?
CorrectAlias@piefed.blahaj.zone · 76 pts · 38d
Yes, but then he realized that showing his whole ass before his presidential campaign/election was a bad strategy. He's in damage control mode. If elected, I'm sure he'll flip back to not wanting it again.
neidu3@sh.itjust.works · 45 pts · 38d
"Now is not the time. We have more important matters to focus on"
Gets nothing done regarding any of those matters.
bigbangdangler@reddthat.com · 12 pts · 38d
He's an opportunist first and everything else second. Flip flopping is kind of what he does.
theuniqueone@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 6 pts · 38d
He flips flops all the time I only trust his actions which are very much not good.
vladmech@lemmy.world · 26 pts · 38d
So he’s against the state level one that actually has a chance of passing, but for a national one that has zero chance, neat.
LemmyBruceLeeMarvin@lemmy.ml · 26 pts · 38d
Perfect democrat performative politics bullshit. It's on the ballot in CA and he fought it the whole time lol
Take the L Gavin
rafoix@lemmy.zip · 3 pts · 38d
I understand it not being a CA only issue. It is a national issue.
It is much easier for billionaires to move their money from state to state that out of the country.
Musk abandoned CA because TX will give him everything he wants and never tax him. The US desperately needs wealth taxation and more progressive property taxation.
Nouvellalia@lemmy.world · 6 pts · 37d
Yes, but if you are serious about it, you do what you can as you can. He's fighting it in CA and he'd fight it in DC too. If he were elected he'd suddenly push it a little further away. "I'll do it at my next term. I need to set up this framework first." Or something, and then there would always be more "work to be done beforehand" and he would never do it.
The reason we have trump, is the racist magats, but the reason we couldn't fight them properly and keep them out, is newsom politicians and his buddies.
DomeGuy@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 37d
It's really hard to make a progressive property tax that won't be gamed by slumlords.
A UBI makes all flat taxes progressive,. To deal with the other end, adjust the tax code so any time any increase in value is used it needs to be taxed as regular income.
Triasha@lemmy.world · 25 pts · 38d
What an absolute fucking snake. He's been opposing the billionaires tax in Cali and now he wants to say it should be national where there is no chance of passage?
Fuck this guy.
madcaesar@lemmy.world · 18 pts · 37d
This asshole brought on Sharpio and other right wing grifters to agree with on his podcast but won't talk to real leftists.
I've totally soured on his bullshit. It's all just an intern clapping back at Trump in Twitter, otherwise this is just Hillary Clinton in a man's body.
Business corporate Democrat to the core.
Pacattack57@lemmy.world · 18 pts · 38d
Too little too late for Newsome. He’s had plenty of years to talk up a rich tax. Dude is capitalizing on the rhetoric. Like thanks but no thanks bud. We don’t need a yes man. Need someone with actual ideals
AshMan85@lemmy.world · 15 pts · 38d
He is a 2 faced centrist, family friends with Pelosi. He wont do it.
Zaktor@sopuli.xyz · 14 pts · 38d
It's all a smokescreen. He's not proposing a national wealth tax, just another minimum income tax. Which they won't care about because they don't earn significant income.
chilicheeselies@lemmy.world · 14 pts · 37d
How brave to insist one something he can't deliver until after he is voted in as pres. I'd be more inclined to believe him if he actually supported the CA wealth tax
Furbag@pawb.social · 13 pts · 38d
Californians are proposing a billionaire tax and he promised to veto it.
Also, we don't want a stake in AI. We want to burn it to the fucking ground because it's ruining everything right now.
Newsom is such a duplicitous motherfucker.
Semi_Hemi_Demigod@lemmy.world · 12 pts · 38d
I don’t want any stake in the future being built by AI because I don’t want the future being built by AI
kreskin@lemmy.world · 12 pts · 37d
Crushes it in his state and then pretends to support it nationally. All with what time he has to spare from praising Israel, of course.
billwashere@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 37d
Because he knew it would pass in California but likely fail nationwide.
YtA4QCam2A9j7EfTgHrH@infosec.pub · 10 pts · 38d
I think Gaven Newsom should have all of his possessions thrown away.
toomanypancakes@crazypeople.online · 9 pts · 38d
I think Gavin Newsome should stub both his little toes, one after the other. Daily.
farmgineer@nord.pub · 10 pts · 38d
Yeah, you're not gonna get your credibility with me back, bud.
LuminousLuddite@lemmy.world · 9 pts · 37d
nullroot@lemmy.world · 8 pts · 38d
I don't believe this asshole.
nullspace@lemmy.world · 7 pts · 37d
Not that Prop 13 is Newsom's doing, but it's kind of rich hearing that from the governor of a feudal state with landed gentry. For those not in the know, Prop 13 allows a person to buy a house and pay a low property tax for the duration of their ownership. This low rate is reset when selling the house, but it is transferable to offspring. It's an actual law that creates a class of property-owning elite. The kind of NIMBYs who pay nothing to their community while voting down new housing or anything else that would threaten their property value.
IcePee@lemmy.beru.co · 6 pts · 38d
Fine words, but does he have the credibility to back it up?
theunknownmuncher@lemmy.world · 14 pts · 38d
He does not
theuniqueone@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 2 pts · 38d
Nope while his actions prove he won't actually go for it.
f1error@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 38d
This bowl of fuckwit oatmeal is going to be the DNC nominee for prez, isn't he? We are soooo fucked!
Can someone just nuke us or slam a gigantic meteorite into us? Just end it already, I'm tired of suffering under these fools and mouth-breathers.
HurricaneLiz@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 37d
Asteroid availability scan complete: one can be hurled your way now, will you be home to sign for delivery in 16 million years?
😂🤷🏻♀️
theuniqueone@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 3 pts · 38d
While he fights against any "economic justice" in California, I trust his actions more than talk.
RizzRustbolt@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 37d
Couldn't even win Florida wearing those flip-flops.
Etterra@discuss.online · 2 pts · 37d
Millionaires too, but we can start with the billionaires and up. It would be nice if we could replace capital gains with a system that actually taxes their assets rather than what they get when they sell those assets, but that'll never fucking happen
xSikes@feddit.online · 2 pts · 38d
Dude is late to the party. Always is always will. I don’t true him to be true, he’s a reactive clown. Great twitter but he’s too center and that what we are going to see in this, it’s going to be half ass.
mattyroses@lemmy.today · 1 pts · 37d
So, think they'll use THE PARLIAMENTARIAN excuse again for this one, if they can't avoid winning congress?
Maeve@kbin.earth · 1 pts · 38d
https://enviromet.my/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Aviation-Windsock_Millard-Towers_01-1-jpg-webp.webp
z3rOR0ne@lemmy.ml · 1 pts · 37d
Hey Gavin! Remember that time you sat down with fascist Charlie Kirk and threw trans athletes under the bus? Yeah... I remember that you asshole. Fuck you and yours forever.
Mulligrubs@lemmy.world · 0 pts · 37d
Trump~ "No more wars!"
Biden~ "Higher minimum wage!"
Trump~ "I will build a wall!"
Obama~ "Universal healthcare!"
Bush~ "Christ is in my heart!"
Clinton~ "Universal healthcare!"