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.”
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.
“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.