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.
Al “Inviting Dee Snyder to testify will be a slam dunk for our pro-censorship position, there’s no way that guy who’s famous for being able to concisely convey resonating political statements in 5 minutes or less is articulate, what could possibly go wrong” Gore? God, I wasn’t even alive for it and it still pisses me off that craven dick was chosen as candidate…
I mean, given his competition, it still blew my mind that the election was close enough to be stolen. That cycle was key to the development of my Theory of Widespread Stupidity.
Oh god, I love that series of hearings. My favorite is when Bob Denver showed up, told Al Gore he was full of shit to his face, then bounced because he had a meeting with NASA