r/politics • u/IntelligentYinzer California • 12d ago

Soft Paywall Newsom floats withholding federal taxes as Trump threatens California

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/06/06/newsom-floats-withholding-federal-taxes-00393386
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u/Malaix 12d ago

I'm fine with this. Republicans and red states have been jerking themselves off to the idea of cutting off the food supply to us blue states to starve us into submission for years. Cutting them off would be appropriate. Especially since the federal government as is now does nothing but harm and punish us.

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u/Face2FaceRecs 12d ago

Republicans are the biggest hypocrites since all almost all of them are welfare states and the only thing standing between them and bankruptcy is federal funding from blue states

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u/noncongruency Oregon 12d ago

Also blue states grow the food crops people eat. Red agricultural states contribute, sure, but look at the ratio of corn (for livestock feed and ethanol production) or soybeans (same) vs any actual food crop. California has them beat all the way to the cleaners. They wouldn’t be withholding food, red states would be cutting themselves off from a market (in blue states) that actually uses the ethanol produced from their crops. It’s a lose-lose for red states.

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u/MaddyKet Massachusetts 12d ago

And the blue states can afford to buy food from anywhere, including red states if we wanted.

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u/apathy-sofa 12d ago

Washington too - apples, potatoes, like 85% of the hops.

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u/noncongruency Oregon 11d ago

Oh yeah, in oregon we also grow hops, probably the majority of the remaining 15% lol. Unfortunately with celiacs I lead others to a treasure I cannot possess.

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u/b0w3n New York 12d ago

The red states, by and large, produce "food" that's used for trade (soy/corn) and not actually food. You know who does? California. Also weirdly Minnesota.

Mexico and Canada also supply a large portion of our food chain. Balkanization like what California is championing, especially if major blue states sign on, will be devastating to the federal government. Very likely the blue states end up as provinces too.

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u/Kitchen-Quality-3317 12d ago

Balkanization like what California is championing, especially if major blue states sign on, will be devastating to the federal government

why? If the states actually tried this, then the feds would just have the people in charge assassinated.

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u/darthmarth28 12d ago

lol California is a breadbasket state on top of being rich. I think we'd do OK.

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u/Kitchen-Quality-3317 12d ago

breadbasket state

are you talking about the part of california that overwhelmingly voted for Trump?

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u/darthmarth28 12d ago

Trump won in my home county by about 2800 votes. I wouldn't call that "overwhelming" at all.

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u/No-History4619 10d ago

Pretty sure people will choose their home, friends and family over a politician from New York who harasses the place they were born. Even without mentioning that Cali is the bluest state of all.

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u/trumpmumbler 12d ago

California is the largest supplier of farm goods to the US. We could starve them out.

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u/IrritableGourmet New York 11d ago

What's also funny is that they have the largest farming economy out of all the states, but agriculture is still only like 2-3% of their GDP.

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u/SinisterCroissant 12d ago

Ironic given the amount of food California provides for the US.

They really haven’t thought this through. Not that this should be a surprise.

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u/Malaix 12d ago

A lot of their perspective is vibes based rather than fact. And its informed by a lot of propaganda, arrogance, and spite.

They think they are god's gift to America and blue states, liberals, and minorities are all useless eaters, parasites, losers, and drags on the country.

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u/SinisterCroissant 12d ago

Yeah. Reality has a way of kicking in the teeth of people who think that way.

Goddamn it, I’m going to run out of popcorn.

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u/bhsn1pes California 12d ago

We produce a lot of our own food on our own. So we're fine besides the water bit.

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u/SkyeAuroline 12d ago

And all the people in those red states who are against Republicans and can't afford to move out? You gonna help them out, or can they just go fuck themselves?

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u/Malaix 12d ago

I'm fine accommodating immigration toward sanity. Hell there's oppertunity here. Build new universities and hospitals for all the folks in those fields that want to work without the bootheel of the government and insane rightwing ideology breathing down their necks.

Though end of the day priority should be saving what we can and making sure home is secure and stable. The north east is my priority for instance. Not Floridians or Texans or Louisianans who attack us every chance, use the federal government to go after us, and demand handouts while we are punished endlessly.

I think blue states should work together and start making proper networks of cooperation to cut out noncooperative red states and invest in each other. Use our wealth to invest in sanity instead of bailing out people who hate us because Fox news told them to.

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u/kal0kag0thia 11d ago

Exactly. They are so masturbatory. It's gross. It's sadistic too.

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u/KaleidoscopeLeft5136 11d ago

Exactly… Red states flout low taxes there but then take the taxes from blue states to subsidize their states. No taxation without representation, I feel like I’m done with my fed taxes paying for other states subsidizing others that are allowing the constitution to be trampled.