Democratic candidate for governor Xavier Becerra reiterated his opposition Friday to a proposed wealth tax on billionaires… Becerra didn’t give a reason for his opposition to Prop. 40, the proposed one-time 5% wealth tax on California billionaires; he told Politico in January it was “sketchy policy” without elaborating on why.
https://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article316728139.html
“Governor Newsom, Democratic Candidate for Governor Xavier Becerra, the California Teachers Association, California Professional Firefighters, Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California, and so many others are standing together against Prop. 40 because it’s bad for our budget, bad for our economy, and bad for our future. We need smart, durable solutions to our biggest challenges, not unreliable, untested schemes that shortchange healthcare, education, and public safety.” – No on Prop 40 campaign
I’ve been thinking about this fall’s “wealth tax” initiative, over which my fellow progressives swoon, through my lens as someone with a great deal of respect for Xavier Becerra (which has earned me tremendous disdain from activists.) I addressed what follows to them on a well-respected page because I can no longer even see IDGAF receding in my rear-view mirror. I’m willing to don the Pro-XB hat I wore during the primary and offer myself up as your collective punching bag (it tickles), but I’ll just repeat my key to understanding Becerra:
(1) He will follow the law as written
(2) He puts an enormous amount of effort into ensuring that a proposed law is properly drafted and “waterproofed”
(3) He puts a premium on realism and thinking through all consequences — and he doesn’t really care if the public doesn’t like it.
(4) Subject to the above, he is way more progressive (and less smarmy and suspect) than Newsom. He’s comparable to Governor Jerry Brown of 1975-83, which was the best governorship California has had since his father Pat Brown.
Becerra’s criticisms of the wealth tax — that we have to treat it as a one-off and can’t spend it profligately like a drunken legislator (especially one serving their avaricious special interest donors) out on a binge — are well-taken. Everyone should consider the possibility that this new pot of money will be spent quickly, perversely, and opaquely by actors we don’t trust, leaving us with all of the negatives and none of the positives.
The way to prevent that is through careful planning and legislative planning — the kind that Becerra relishes. Will it happen? Likely not. I could still end up voting for it on a “best is the enemy of the good” rationale, but it won’t be long before we look at it and say “damn, we could have done this so much better if we had put our minds to it.”
I realize that this is now the progressive flag, but I’m not big on flag salutes.
