Who’s Worse on Taxes: King George in 1776 or Gavin Newsom in 2026?

This summer, the United States is celebrating a party 250 years in the making. Just like every Fourth of July, Americans will remember the words that launched a revolution: “No taxation without representation.” Although this year, it should have a little extra zing.

California families will have something else to mark on the calendar. On July 1, just three days before that historic Independence Day, Governor Gavin Newsom’s administration will quietly impose another round of crushing taxation at the pump that could add another 60 cents per price paid at the pump

The same political class that loves to shout “No Kings” has spent years handing down taxes, mandates, and the cost of daily life to regular citizens. At the top of that throne sits Governor Newsom.

So, with the anniversary of both our nation and Newsom’s cash grab on the horizon it is worth asking a simple question: Who is worse on taxes, King George III or Gavin Newsom?

During the 1700s, King George and Parliament imposed the Sugar Act, the Stamp Act, the Townshend Acts, and the Tea Act. These taxes became symbols of government overreach because they reached into the daily lives of colonists without their consent. Paper, paint, glass, tea, and other basic goods became political weapons in the hands of a distant ruling class. In fact, one estimate puts the total colonial tax burden at 1 to 1.5 percent of income, which shows the outrage was not only about the size of the tax, but also lack of accountability.

The colonists did not revolt because of one tax. They revolted because they understood the pattern. Government was growing more powerful, less accountable, and more expensive. Every new levy was another reminder that those in charge saw ordinary people as subjects to be managed, not citizens to be heard.

Sound familiar?

In order to to greenwash their own record, Newsom’s press office recently took to X to lecture President Trump: “Mr. President, we just want lower gas prices.” No mention, of course, that California drivers already pay the highest gas prices in the nation, north of six dollars as of this writing. And the topper that would make King George III smile: California is imposing yet another automatic state gas-tax hike on July 1. The state excise tax on gasoline will rise to 61.2 cents per gallon, while updated Low Carbon Fuel Standard mandates threaten to add still more hidden costs that could hit drivers far harder than Sacramento admits.

King George taxed tea. Gavin Newsom taxes anything that moves. King George taxed paper. King Gavin taxes energy. King George’s government made life more expensive from across an ocean. Newsom’s government does it from Sacramento under the guise of “climate leadership.”

For California families, the result is the same. They are paying more because their leaders believe government knows best.

Gavin Newsom did not create the system responsible for raising the state’s gas tax every year, but he is one of its loudest and most consistent defenders. After taking office in 2019, Newsom continues to defend a system that raises California’s gas tax every single year he has been in office. The numbers tell the story: staring at 47.3 cents per gallon in 2019 to 61.2 cents in 2025. That is not an accident. That is a policy choice Newsom supports.

Laugh if you will, but the comparison to King George is more than a joke. It exposes the same arrogance: a distant elite convinced it has the right to dictate how ordinary people live, work, travel, and pay.

There is one major difference, of course. The colonists had no direct voice in Parliament. Californians still have a voice, even if Sacramento works hard to ignore it.

They can demand lower taxes. They can reject energy policies that punish the poor and middle class. They can insist that affordability matters more than climate virtue signaling. They can remind every politician in Sacramento that public office is not a royal appointment.

King George lost a continent because he underestimated taxpayers.

Gavin Newsom may want to be president, but he should start by listening to the people already stuck paying for his agenda, especially the ones who will see their gas bills jump again on July 1 while the rest of America celebrates 250 years of freedom from exactly this kind of overreach.

Because Americans did not overthrow a king just to be ruled by politicians who tax like one.