Now this is a stupid idea whose time has not come, and it never should. A wealth tax on success and accomplishing the American dream? Remember America? Home of the brave, land of the free and that includes growing a business and paying taxes.
However, penalizing success? I think elected officials need to explain the billions of dollars they have wasted before anybody pays another dime of tax.
If you have been a reader of this column, you know I have a problem with the tax money California already demands annually. And how careful and prudent have Governor Gavin Newsom and his legislators been about distributing OUR tax money?
At last count, the beautiful bullet train boondoggle has cost taxpayers between $18–$22 BILLION. Since voters passed the 2008 measure to fund it, not one foot of track has been put in place and, in reality, never will. Right now, the projected cost to finish it is between $89 and $128 billion, and some estimates are as high as $231 billion.
So, to resolve the cash crunch, state lawmakers support a billionaire tax.
Do you think that more tax money from wealthy billionaires will cure the bad case of stupidity in Sacramento? No, I don’t think so.
Even with this dubious debacle of dumping dollars down the wrong track, Governor Newsom is touring the country on the Presidential campaign trail. Wishy washy Newsom won’t support a billionaires’ tax for Californians, but he will support one for the entire nation. He would like to do for America what he’s done to, and for California.
If elected, maybe he will propose another grand dream. Perhaps a Jet Ferry between New York and London. (No tracks are needed).
So, what about the billionaire tax? Can we legally discriminate against a class and make it legal? What if we could and did pass such a bill?
Before you get too comfortable on your couch, check out the possibilities.
California has a population of about 38 million residents. Of that total, 200 are billionaires. If a billionaires’ tax is passed by voters, California will still have a population of 38 million and most likely zero billionaires. Wouldn’t you think a billionaire can afford to move residence to a more accommodating state?
Like a lot of legislation, this shoot from the hip nonsense is fantasy. A fairy tale of legislation that will have lots of hype and hopeless results.
And while we’re at it, we just might be a bit more educated if we voted for an audit about who got the billions from the big, bad, bungled, bullet train brainstorm.
Previous Milestones:
Milestones – You Have to Ask Why? – Opinion
Milestones – Welcome to Santa Clara – Opinion
Milestones – Wishful Thoughts – Opinion
Actually it’s a reasonable idea. You see when the CEO gets billions because the value of their company got more valuable was it all because of them? No, it wasn’t. It was because of the people working in the company that its worth anything at all, you can easily see that if everyone left the billionaire would be worth zero because their company would now be worth zero. But in keeping all that wealth, they deprive their very workers that the taxes on that wealth could provide to make it possible to keep the company going. Streets, schools, infrastructure. So yeah, if a billionaire becomes merely a 500 hundred millionaire and the city becomes a place to live and medical care doesn’t cause people to go bankrupt, it is absolutely the American thing to do.