California Gov. Gavin Newsom blasts the Wall Street Journal over wealth tax editorial
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NEWSOM’S GLOVES COME OFF IN SPAT WITH WSJ EDITORIAL BOARD
Via Jenavieve Hatch...
Gov. Gavin Newsom got tough at his 2024-25 state budget proposal press conference when critiquing the Wall Street Journal Editorial Board.
The Wall Street Journal, which has one of the most-read and nationally prominent conservative-leaning editorial pages, published an editorial called “California’s Wealth Tax Arrives” Tuesday night before Newsom revealed his budget Wednesday morning.
”The wealth-tax bill reveals yet again Sacramento’s voracious appetite to levy new taxes to support more spending,” the board wrote in the piece, which was published with a photo of Newsom at the top. ”The tax-and-spend ratchet never ends.”
While a member of the Legislature has proposed a tax on very wealthy people, Newsom has consistently opposed one.
”Why the hell do you keep writing that?” he said, calling the Wall Street Journal out by name. “Do you know how many calls I got about that? The damage they intentionally, knowingly do?”
Newsom acknowledged there may be a “price to pay” for speaking out so emphatically against a major publication. He’s been traveling the country in recent months and raising money in a manner that suggests he’s thinking about running for president some day.
”I said it. They’ll deny that and there will be five extra editorials attacking me for saying that,” he said. “But they know that because every year I say (no to a wealth tax). I don’t know what more we can say.”
The editorial struck a nerve for Newsom not just as one story, but as part of a larger narrative among conservative voices of California as a failed state.
”Even California’s wealthy can’t pay for its ever-expanding welfare and government-worker obligations, so don’t be surprised when Democrats eventually target the middle class again too,” the authors wrote.
Newsom fired back.
”I think it’s shameful because it’s done very intentionally,” he said. ”It’s not truth-seekers, it’s ideological warriors. And I say this as a guy who loves the news side of the Wall Street Journal, but that editorial board is a broken clock. They do it over and over and over again to damage the state. I have too much pride and love for my state. I’m sorry to state it so emphatically.”
“This state’s been paying a price for the misrepresentation and lies that are advanced every single day about this state,” he said, “and the state of the state, the health of the state. Its resiliency, its vibrancy, its entrepreneurial spirit, its energy.”
DEMOCRATS OFFER CAUTIOUS PRAISE, REPUBLICANS SCATHING CRITICISM
Whether lawmakers were a fan of Newsom’s budget proposal on Wednesday largely depended on whether there was a (D) or an (R) after their name.
Senate President Pro Tem Toni Atkins, D-San Diego, expressed her appreciation for Newsom’s “cautious and mindful” approach to the budget.
“When I first took office in 2010, California was ill-prepared for the major budget shortfall we endured, and as a result, we saw devastating cuts to core programs and middle class tax hikes. Now, because of more than a decade of responsible budgeting, we’re better prepared to protect the path of progress we’ve made,” she said in a statement.
Sen. Nancy Skinner, D-Berkeley, who chairs the Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Committee, said in a statement that she was glad to see that Newsom’s proposals aligned with the values of the Senate’s Democratic majority.
Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas, D-Salinas, in a statement pledged his caucus’ commitment to fiscal restraint and spending oversight, “while delivering solutions to improve the quality of life for all Californians and protect the most vulnerable.”
Senate Minority Leader Brian Jones, R-Santee, was less sanguine about Newsom’s proposal.
“Welcome to year six of ‘Gavinomics’ where his budgets turn surpluses into deficits and his policies push Californians to flee,” Jones said in a statement. “As the governor pulls revenue gimmicks and accounting tricks, it’s impossible to bury the truth: California is bleeding because of a decade of Democrats’ one-party rule and reckless spending.”
Sen. Roger Niello, R-Fair Oaks, vice chair of the Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Committee, said in a statement that while he was glad Newsom heeded GOP advice to take early action, “he could have heeded warnings and taken more caution last year.”
Assembly Republican Leader James Gallagher, R- Yuba City, in a statement called on the state government “to get back to basics and stop wasting tax dollars on ineffective and unaccountable bureaucracy.”
MEANWHILE, IN CONGRESSIONAL SPENDING...
Via Gillian Brassil...
While Newsom announced a state budget for 2024-2025, the U.S. Congress is still working on funding measures for this year.
Lawmakers are up against the first of two deadlines they set for themselves to pass fiscal 2024 spending for federal agencies. Conservative hardliners in the House of Representatives are again protesting a deal that they think does not cut spending enough.
On Jan. 19, the first four of 12 spending bills expire unless Congress sends at least a short-term plan to the president for signature. If Congress does not pass, and the president does sign, either the four bills or a stopgap measure, there will be a partial government shutdown for agencies guided by those four bills.
The four measures concern departments overseeing agriculture, energy and water, military construction and veteran affairs, and transportation and housing. Eight other spending bills have a deadline of Feb. 2.
House and Senate leaders have already indicated they will need a stopgap measure to keep agencies afloat while they work on full-year spending.
Congressional leadership agreed to a spending plan costing $1.59 trillion for 2024 earlier this week. The House has a narrow Republican majority under Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La.; the Senate, a Democratic one under Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.
In protest of the deal, 13 conservatives blocked a procedural hurdle that would have let the House consider an unrelated bill Wednesday, suggesting further disruptions ahead of Jan. 19.
Even with a partial or total federal shutdown, people not working for the government won’t feel immediate effects for the most part: social security checks still go out, Medicare services continue and unemployment benefits operate.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“We just are a little less pessimistic than they are about next year.”
- California Gov. Gavin Newsom, speaking at his 2024-25 budget press conference about the difference between his projected $38 billion deficit and the $68 billion one identified by the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office.
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A minuscule insect poses a big problem for California farmers, and Newsom on Wednesday announced his intent to spend $22 million to address it, via Andrew Sheeler.
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This story was originally published January 11, 2024 at 4:55 AM with the headline "California Gov. Gavin Newsom blasts the Wall Street Journal over wealth tax editorial."