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Newsom's Two Billionaire Taxes: The One He Sells vs. the One He Fights

He rolled out a national billionaires' tax the same week he's fighting one at home. The trick is in the difference between income and wealth.

He rolled out a national billionaires' tax the same week he's fighting one at home. The trick is in the difference between income and wealth.
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Alright, pull up, because a governor just did something that's bold and slippery at the exact same time, and you deserve to see both halves. Gavin Newsom rolled out a national billionaires' tax this week. Sounds great. That same week, he is fighting a billionaires' tax in his own state. So which is it? Let's run the ground game and find out.

Here's what's actually on the table. Nationally, Newsom is pitching a minimum tax, he calls it a modern Buffett Rule, on people worth more than a hundred million dollars. His words: make the people at the very top pay at least the rate their own workers pay. Good. I'm listening. But back in California, there's a measure heading for the November ballot, a one-time five percent tax on the total wealth of the state's billionaires. And that one, he's against.

“A true minimum tax on billionaires - a modern Buffett Rule - so the people at the very top pay at least the rate their own workers pay.”
— Gov. Gavin Newsom

Now here's where I'm going to be fair, because the difference is the whole story. One of these taxes income. The other taxes wealth. And that is not a technicality, because here's the trick of being a billionaire. Most of them don't have a big income. They don't take a paycheck. They borrow against stock they never sell. So a tax on income, they can mostly slide around. A tax on what they are actually worth? That is the one that touches the real money.

INCOME vs. WEALTH

  • The national plan taxes INCOME
  • The CA measure taxes WEALTH
  • Billionaires live on borrowed stock, not a paycheck

And follow the money on the state one, because it's specific. That five percent would fund things you can name out loud, healthcare, the people who actually catch you when you fall. So when the argument against it is, careful now, the billionaires might leave the state, ask yourself one question. Who does that argument protect? Because it is not the nurse, and it is not you.

5% — one-time tax on CA billionaires' wealth - on the November ballot
Common Dreams

So I'm not here to call the man a villain. Pitching a federal billionaires' tax is more than most governors will even say out loud. But you can want the easy headline and dodge the hard vote at home at the same time. The strong version of this idea is the one he is fighting, not the one he is selling. Both of those things can be true.

So here is the play, and the good news is it's literally on the ballot, which means it is actually in your hands. If you're in California, do not let a talking point vote for you. Read the November measure yourself, the real five percent one, and decide if your healthcare is worth a billionaire's inconvenience. Then go tell three people who never heard there was a difference. Now go do something with it.

THE ASK

  • Read the Nov CA wealth-tax measure yourself
  • Know the difference: income tax vs wealth tax
  • Tell 3 people there IS a difference

Sources