WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Senator Bernie Sanders is in Los Angeles making a simple case: Billionaires can afford a one-time tax to safeguard California’s healthcare from collapse. Sanders’ speech comes as a group of tech billionaires including Sergey Brin announced a campaign to counter the California billionaire tax, using their immense wealth to push through ballot initiatives that confuse voters and potentially invalidate the billionaire tax initiative.
Sanders’ effort to rally Californians to tax billionaires and return the power to the people is in stark contrast to Governor Gavin Newsom, who has adamantly opposed the initiative and is running ads to protect billionaires. As Governor Newsom eyes a 2028 presidential run, he has allied himself with ultra-wealthy Google founders and crypto moguls who’ve spent $35 million to kill the proposal. These ultra-wealthy individuals are literally moving Picassos to Aspen and buying $100 million homes to hide their wealth from a tax that would allow millions of Californians to access health care.
With Americans increasingly feeling like the American Dream is dead, taxing billionaires is extremely popular among voters across the aisle, including in key battleground districts. Ahead of the rally, advocates issued the following statements:
Igor Volsky, California resident and Campaign Director for Tax the Greedy Billionaires:
“While Bernie Sanders rallies Angelenos to tax billionaires, Gavin Newsom is running ads to protect them. Governor Newsom is apparently more interested in courting billionaire donors for a potential 2028 presidential run than taxing billionaires in order to provide health care for millions of Californians.”
Emma Lydon, California resident and Managing Director of P Street:
“There are a few hundred California billionaires who believe that they should be able to hoard their wealth, pay almost nothing in taxes, and buy off the politicians in charge while regular Californians can barely make ends meet. It’s disgraceful that Gavin Newsom would rather cater to the ultrarich than fight for the millions of working class families who power the Golden State. As we saw in Los Angeles today, the people of California will stand up to the billionaire class, even if cowardly politicians like Gavin Newsom won’t.”
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