The adage holds that if you rob Peter to pay Paul, you can always count on the support of Paul. For a long time–during the 1980s, for example–I thought this saying was too cynical. There were lots of Americans who didn’t think government was an excuse for theft.
Nowadays, “too cynical” is not a phrase I find myself using. Today, you can’t be cynical enough. Thus, a solid majority of Californians are down for stealing other people’s money:
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.
I wrote about the baleful effects of the wealth tax proposal, which California is already feeling, here.
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.
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Progressive activists have rapidly been garnering the 875,000 signatures needed by the end of spring to put the 2026 Billionaire Tax Act up for vote on the ballot, which would impose a one-time 5% tax on Californians with net worths over $1.1 billion, as well as a phase-out from $1.1 billion to $1 billion.
Of course it won’t be one-time, and it won’t be limited to billionaires. The wealth tax is the latest sign of the degeneration of our politics. Conservatives on the rightward edge of the spectrum used to say that taxation is theft, but that was an overstatement. These days, though, it is increasingly true that government is a participant in, or accessory to, theft on a cosmic scale. Just ask those of us who live in Minnesota.
I suppose it is only natural for Californians to wonder why immigrants should be the only ones to turn government into a racket.
