Newsom trying to kill the billionaire tax

Tuesday, January 13, 2026

Gavin Newsom' and his staff have quietly talked to the champion of a controversial wealth tax proposal seeking an off-ramp to defuse a looming ballot measure fight. The conversations, reported here for the first time, have occurred intermittently for months as SEIU-UHW's ballot initiative targeting billionaires migrated from the backrooms of California politics to the center of a raging debate about Silicon Valley and income inequality, sparking tech titans' wrath and vows to move out of state.

Posted by sitzkrieg at 10:07 AM | 18 COMMENTS | permalink | Comment on This Entry |

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Newsom has staunchly opposed both the current proposal and earlier versions that surfaced in Sacramento, arguing they would hamstring California's tentpole industries and topple a pillar of the state's tax base. Proponents with SEIU-UHW, a major union representing more than 100,000 workers, argue the measure is the only idea commensurate with the scale of federal cuts that could lead to widespread health care job losses and hospital closures.

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If this was a ruse to get the pro-Trump Oligarchs out of California, well played!

#1 | Posted by snoofy at 2026-01-13 10:23 AM | Reply

More like a "BITCH YOURE COSTING US MONEY!" moment.

#2 | Posted by sitzkrieg at 2026-01-13 10:35 AM | Reply | Newsworthy 1

He has no other way to try to close the deficit. But the proposition was proposed because of income inequality, not to fix the budget.

So in this regard Billionaires leaving its working, without even being implemented.

RoKahanna already came out for it, and this is why the techBros are going else where. They figured if the guy they installed to represent them is for it the State is done for.
Perceived fraud is the biggest issue in the State. Ro Khanna got caught flat footed in his full throated support of the proposition.

Too late..

What Gavin Newsom and Ro Khanna get wrong in the battle over Billionaire Tax
sfstandard.com

The San jose Mayor is quite good.

#3 | Posted by oneironaut at 2026-01-13 11:09 AM | Reply

If this was a ruse to get the pro-Trump Oligarchs out of California, well played!
#1 | POSTED BY SNOOFY

They installed Democrat representatives??... make your logic makes sense.

#4 | Posted by oneironaut at 2026-01-13 11:10 AM | Reply

make your logic makes sense.

#4 | POSTED BY ONEIRONAUT

You first Commie Spyboy.

#5 | Posted by donnerboy at 2026-01-13 11:21 AM | Reply

Billionaires distort the real economy.

They make poor places seem rich on paper and statistically.

They drive up housing costs and dominate local politics.

Overall their presence isn't particularly good for regular people.

Tax em' till they scurry off Like the bloodsuckers they are.

Nobody needs Billionaires.

Concentration of Wealth hurts everyone including the Billionaires themselves.

A level playing field used to be considered important,I remember the rhetoric from both parties when I was young.

The "Reagan Revolution" Changed all That.

That's when Greed became "Good" and Billionaires became "Prophets of Prosperity".

Fuck that and Fuck Them Right off.

#6 | Posted by Effeteposer at 2026-01-13 11:24 AM | Reply | Newsworthy 1

I hope nobody has fooled themselves into believing that it's only "Trump Oligarchs" that are staunchly against this tax.

#7 | Posted by eberly at 2026-01-13 11:42 AM | Reply

-Concentration of Wealth hurts everyone including the Billionaires themselves.

How does it hurt billionaires themselves?

#8 | Posted by eberly at 2026-01-13 11:43 AM | Reply

Taxes are supposed to be about revenue. When greed and envy turns taxes into a form of punishing success is when things go off the rails.

#9 | Posted by BellRinger at 2026-01-13 11:51 AM | Reply

I hope nobody has fooled themselves into believing that it's only "Trump Oligarchs" that are staunchly against this tax.
#7 | POSTED BY EBERLY

If anyone has money and decide to keep as much as possible from confiscation, they must be a Trump supporter. If Snoofy has money and decides to keep as much as possible, hes still a good person.

A level playing field used to be considered important,I remember the rhetoric from both parties when I was young.

Why can't you have billionaires in a level playing field?

#10 | Posted by oneironaut at 2026-01-13 11:54 AM | Reply

"Taxes are supposed to be about revenue."

There you go again. Sometimes it's better remain silent and be thought a fool than to open your mouth and prove it.

You do that a lot you know.

The MAIN purpose of taxes is to provide federal, state, and local governments with the necessary funding to cover their costs and provide essential services that benefit all citizens.

Beyond revenue generation, taxes are a key tool for governments to influence behavior and achieve specific economic and social objectives.

A lie of omission is still a lie brother.

#11 | Posted by donnerboy at 2026-01-13 11:56 AM | Reply

"Taxes are supposed to be about revenue"

What tax code are YOU referring to?

Ever since Dubya's first tax code, taxes are supposed to be about transferring money from the poorest to the richest.

Aren't you paying attention?

#12 | Posted by Danforth at 2026-01-13 12:01 PM | Reply | Newsworthy 1

#9 You mean like the devastated economy of the 1950s, when the top marginal tax rate was 90%, bell boi?

Off the rails, like that?

#13 | Posted by A_Friend at 2026-01-13 12:02 PM | Reply | Newsworthy 1

Why can't you have billionaires in a level playing field?

#10 | POSTED BY ONEIRONAUT

We can if they pay their fair share.

Inequality has reached a level so extreme that it threatens to blow up our society. It has reached a crisis point. Too many Americans now hold wealth so great that its significance lies not in the goods and services it can buy but rather in the power it can buy. That's a threat to our society.

Why can't we have "patriotic" millionaires and billionaires?

#14 | Posted by donnerboy at 2026-01-13 12:02 PM | Reply | Newsworthy 1

#8 Social Alienation for one.

Grandiose feelings of Omnipotence aren't healthy or conducive to understanding reality as it actually is.

Bad policies based on individual people getting carve outs for pet projects that don't have real productive Viability but are profitable in the short term.

Space ex etc. Big Data centers when the technology will likely be obsolete before long. Leading to huge social investments to prop up failing business models.

So yeah, Bad for them too.

#15 | Posted by Effeteposer at 2026-01-13 12:07 PM | Reply

-Nobody needs Billionaires.

Should Newsom say that? Oh wait, candidates for office need them.

And this bill indicates they DO need billionaires.....desperately.

#16 | Posted by eberly at 2026-01-13 12:12 PM | Reply

-Grandiose feelings of Omnipotence aren't healthy or conducive to understanding reality as it actually is.

That's exactly what I was thinking. It's a sad existence....with lots of creature comforts.....but sad.

#17 | Posted by eberly at 2026-01-13 12:13 PM | Reply

"Ever since Dubya's first tax code, taxes are supposed to be about transferring money from the poorest to the richest.
Aren't you paying attention?

#12 | Posted by Danforth at 2026-01-13 12:01 PM | Reply | Flag"

So, you are stating that the tax code taxes the poorest at a very high rate and then transfers that money to the richest in the form of welfare/food stamps, etc?

#18 | Posted by BellRinger at 2026-01-13 12:38 PM | Reply