Billionaire Tax ‘Bait and Switch’

Con artists have long used the “bait and switch” technique to sucker the gullible. That is the precise methodology of a couple of public employee unions that put forth the proposed California “Billionaire Tax,” to sucker a presumed gullible California electorate in the November 2026 election. It is an attempt to con California voters to believe that a one-time 5% tax on state resident billionaires will resolve a myriad of annually recurring and increasing medical and educational problems, a completely idiotic assertion. The switch is that this ballot measure allows the legislature too impose “wealth” taxes on everyone for all that they own, even kitchen cookware.

First Problem: 

This is not really a “one-time tax,” nor is it intended to be a one-time tax. The Billionaire Tax measure was actually authored not by the sponsoring public employee unions, but by a French communist, now of the Cal Berkeley faculty, Emmanuel Saez. His quote, “I’m not here to pretend that it’s a once and never again.”       

Second Problem:

Only an idiot would believe that a one-time tax can possibly address annual medical and educational expenses. Only a California state annual assessment of medical and educational financial resources and needs will solve annual problems. 

Third Problem: 

It is not really a “Billionaire Tax.” Careful reading of the ballot measure yields verbiage stating that, if passed by voters, the public employee union-controlled state legislature will become empowered to impose “wealth taxes” upon everything everyone of any income level, even those with a modest income. Inherit a painting or antiques, books, a baby grand piano, or perhaps a small piece of land, you will be taxed like a “Billionaire.”

This demolishes the “generational wealth” concept ardently pursued by “reparations’ racial reparations advocates.   

Fourth Problem:

Proven failure of wealth taxes in over a dozen European countries prompted them to drop such taxes.

All that was accomplished was to drive the most accomplished job creators out of those countries.   

Further, in a similar situation, billionaires and other California high income residents can just move out of our state, an idiotically high tax jurisdiction, to the wealth welcoming states, such as Florida, Texas, Tennessee, and others. This has already taken place, even before the vote for a “Billionaire Tax.” When they move, their business with exceptionally high paying workers are also gone from the California economy. That leaves to California the low paying jobs which is the “accomplishment” of the California extreme political left wing that controls the California State Legislature through public employee unions. 

This exact situation had previously taken place in California in the late 1870s, and when politically attacked, California wealth left for more welcoming states. California did not recover from that exodus of wealth and jobs for many decades, and only when new wealth creating industries became ascendant, such as oil, the Hollywood movie business, and later aerospace and the Silicon Valley. Those public wealth creating employers are the very entities that are now being attacked by the politically self-seeking left-wing politicians.  

Suddenly, the public employee union sponsors of the Billionaire Tax have offered to deal with Governor Newsom to reduce the tax from 5% to only 2% of personal wealth. This “offer” is a total scam because the underlying ballot measure language will still allow the state legislature to impose any “wealth” tax they wish on everyone of any income level. 

Politically oppressing the “rich” is a historically proved to be a self-destructive process for California workers and voters, as was proved over a hundred forty years ago.           

Conclusion:

The “Billionaire Tax” ballot measure is an intentional fraud that should be hugely rejected by alert California voters.