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.
That would be a bad tactic, which is why I’m not espousing it.
The tactic is thus:
Primary status quo Democrats anywhere and everywhere we can with better candidates.
Whether or not that succeeds, vote for the person running on the Democratic ticket. (Hopefully it’s a progressive.)
If we don’t do #2, we’ll get fascists. If we don’t do #1, we’ll get status quo assholes, but at least they are preferable to fascists.
No one has suggested a better alternative to me. I’d love to hear it, because #2 isn’t fun most of the time. It doesn’t give me or anyone else the warm fuzzies, but it’s important.
I think that has been the tactic for the last 200 years, and it hasn’t really gotten the US anywhere.
We need to unite as workers and revolt against the bourgeoisie! To form a democracy that works for workers, not the elite.
Right well let me know when you’re preparing the revolt and I’ll zero my optic and meet you in DC. Until then, please vote strategically.
Unionising, organising, Striking and protesting is the second best way to improve living conditions, and you can do it right now. Historically the best advancements in living conditions in most of the world, including the US have been through striking. Not voting.