I don’t get the threat from folks like Zuckerberg and Brin. First of all these feel like empty posturing. But if they are not, what if they do leave CA? And even if (however unlikely) they take the HQs with them? What does CA lose? It’s not like these folks and companies are paying their share anyway. What am I missing?
If the HQs move then along with them moves the high paying jobs and retail, housing, etc taxes also go. Rank and file employees at Meta can't dodge taxes as efficiently as their CEO.
i 100% doubt, one guy could disrupt the SV ecosystem - they might threaten to leave but they'll come back. The network and culture of SV which made these guys insanely rich is not something a few people moving away can disrupt. The rank and file might move to miami but the talented people will just find other jobs.
We'll lose their income (and other tax revenue) forever. You can argue that Zuck can/should pay higher taxes, but California's budget is already disproportionately dependent on a relatively small # of people. In practice, scaring them off for a one-off boon feels like a huge own goal (especially the way prop 40 punishes founders with voting shares). And we're losing that permanent revenue that used to go to the general fund for prop 40, which is designed to funnel money to a single industry
As much as I support LVT, how does it have to do with billionaire startup founders? They don't have zero real estate, but they're not exactly real estate moguls either. It's also unclear how tech startups derive their value from land, given that it's presumably all tied up in IP and network effects. Even "datacenters" seem dubious given that the land they sit on is probably dirt cheap, it's the GPUs that's worth money.
Unlikely. MAGA brought on a massive cultural shift helped by Supreme Court and the media. There is no such equivalent on the other side. When you can simply buy elections and other influential apparatus there is no reason to go over to the other side. Any liberal/leftist victories will be temporary and they are simply not as ruthless, undemocratic, and anti-American as MAGA.
We as a populace have proven we are sheep as a collective during the current administration, willing to put up with whatever and not do much. This will continue to be exploited and the methods will be improved/optimized/embraced/extended.
Even my neighbor peeled his MAGA stickers off his truck. What is this movement now, just crypto rats, Big Business Bros and associated grifters like Elon? Maybe this is the 'dark MAGA'?
So New Mexico hits Meta with record fins and settlements for knowingly violating privacy rights, and endangering children and for repeatedly lying about it.
Meanwhile in California we are doing anything we can to keep him here even fully knowing he is one of the most evil and hated people on earth. That checks out.
What you might not realize is that except for those living in CA, this is a major threat. We don't want your evil billionaires. Please stay in CA. Ideally, don't even leave the state.
If you know what legislation keeps billionaires away, please let me know.
The whole point of taxing wealth is that these leeches are not paying their fair share today. So if Zuck leaves, he’ll just go not pay taxes in another state while using the states resources.
This isn’t a threat. I’d argue many Californians would enthusiastically support this.
Isn’t zuck a net positive for whatever state he ends up living in, considering that the portion of the states taxes that he pays far exceeds the portion of the states resources that he uses.
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[ 0.29 ms ] story [ 3.6 ms ] threadThat’s about as DOA as a policy proposal gets.
"On the plus side, the average cost of food, rent, and services might drop"
Meanwhile in California we are doing anything we can to keep him here even fully knowing he is one of the most evil and hated people on earth. That checks out.
If you know what legislation keeps billionaires away, please let me know.
This isn’t a threat. I’d argue many Californians would enthusiastically support this.