Gavin Newsom is definitely progressive but he’s also not a complete dimwit. The same can’t be said for a majority of people living in the state of California. A story published yesterday by the NY Post reports that 60% of Californians support the wealth tax proposal which has already driven some of California’s wealthiest people out of the state.
A staggering 60% of California voters back the billionaire wealth tax proposal, even though they admit it will spark businesses to flee the state and kill jobs, a new poll found.
Even when presented with a “full battery of economic and political arguments” against the wealth tax, Californians still back it by 54%, according to the poll of likely voters by public affairs firm Nestpoint.
The voters who support this tax believe it will push wealth people and the jobs they create out of the state, and yet they don’t seem to think this will matter long term.
A firm 52% of likely voters admitted that the tax will push entrepreneurs and jobs out of the Golden State, but only 48% agree that there are concerns with long-term revenue from a wealth tax, while 42% had concerns about Silicon Valley getting damaged, the poll found.
Sure, money and new industry will flee the state but it’ll be fine. That seems to be the thinking of a bare majority of Californians at this point. Meanwhile, Gov. Newsom, despite being a progressive, knows how addition and subtraction work. He is once again warning that there will be consequences if this thing passes.
“The fact is it actually will reduce investments in education,” he said. “It will reduce investments in teachers and librarians, childcare. It will reduce investments in firefighting and police.”
The wealth tax will eventually lead to a decline in the state’s tax base, which would in turn reduce revenue meant for social services, Newsom explained.
The Wall Street Journal frames this as Newsom basically begging voters not to kill the goose that lays the golden eggs for the golden state.
“The impact of a one-time tax does not solve an ongoing structural challenge,” the Governor said Thursday. “You would have a windfall one time, and then over the years, you would see a significant reduction in taxes because taxpayers will move.”
By “structural challenge,” he means recurring budget gaps caused by excessive spending. The state Legislative Analyst’s Office in November forecast a $18 billion deficit in the coming fiscal year with shortfalls growing to $35 billion in future years. And this assumes there’s no economic downturn—or a flight of high earners who pay the state’s bills.
Mr. Newsom said he is very “mindful” that “we rely on a very small number of people that allows us to do historic things”—i.e., spend at historic levels. His recently proposed budget includes $539 billion in spending, up 68% from 2019.
You really have to step back and appreciate the beauty of what is happening here. The progressive governor of the state (who was formerly the progressive mayor of San Francisco), finds himself fighting a ballot initiative designed by progressive academics and supported by a progressive union and a majority of progressive voters with the goal of progressively taxing the crap out of a couple hundred progressive billionaires.
And let’s face it, there’s only one reason Newsom is admitting the reality of what this will do the state. He wants to be president and he knows this won’t work for most people outside California. That’s why he’s hesitating to support a national version of this tax even though it would solve the problem of billionaires fleeing from one state to another. So on this one occasion, instead of going with the socialist flow Newsom is swimming against the blue tide to preserve his electability by acknowledging how dumb this is.
Anyway, it must be occurring to Newsom that if this thing passes over his objection he could get blamed for it. It’s his state and he’s the governor, after all. So somehow he’s got to try to teach at least 5% of the blue bubble denizens of California, i.e. the people he usually counts on for votes and support, how math and rational decision making works.
Good luck with that, Gavin. You might as well be talking to a brick wall except the bricks are probably smarter than many California voters.
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