“A true minimum tax on billionaires — a modern Buffett Rule — that ensures the people at the very top pay at least the tax rate their own workers pay.”
California Governor Gavin Newsom, after having opposed a wealth tax in his own state, is now calling for a "billionaires' tax" nationwide, but did not explain at all how that tax would be carried out and called for a "new social contract" in the US on the subject of wealth.
After saying that he would be voting "no" on the wealth tax in California in a post to Substack, he posted a video along with an announcement telling the nation that he supports a "billionaires' tax."
"A true minimum tax on billionaires — a modern Buffett Rule — that ensures the people at the very top pay at least the tax rate their own workers pay. Today, the office worker can shoulder a higher tax rate than the heiress. The construction worker could pay a higher rate than the developer. And the delivery driver can end up paying a higher rate than the founder of the company whose packages he delivers." Newsom said.
However, nowhere in the Substack post or video did Newsom explain what the "billionaires' tax" would entail, what percent of what type of income or wealth billionaires would pay, or any other specific detail on his proposal.
In the video, Newsom called for a "new social contract" in the US, and claimed that American wages have stood still. He claimed the economic system in place today is "the result of decades of loopholes written by lobbyists and upheld by politicians who knew exactly who they worked for."
"The wealthy have their own private tax code full of loopholes and exemptions that most people have never heard of, and they’re counting on politicians in Washington to maintain it and keep quiet," he added in the post to Substack.
He claimed that the ultra-wealthy can live a "tax-free lifestyle" while they borrow against their own portfolios and report no taxable income. He also took aim at the inheritance tax, saying that the tax code needs to be "rewritten" ahead of the "largest intergenerational wealth transfer in human history."
He then claimed, "If we do not act, that transfer of wealth among the ultra-wealthy will lock in a permanent American aristocracy of inherited wealth, with all the political consequences the founders warned us about."
According to multiple studies on wealth, roughly 80 percent of all millionaires in the US are self-made and did not receive an inheritance. He then called for a "return to pre-2017 corporate tax rates and close offshore loopholes that allow multinationals to shift profits on paper to drive down their taxes."
In addition to the tax proposals, Newsom called for a "public equity fund" that takes a stake in AI automation in the private sector, a move that would guarantee more government regulation over AI in the economy.
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