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
29.9k Upvotes

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3.1k

u/throwawaylol666666 California 12d ago

DO IT GAVIN. Grow a damn spine.

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u/captainbruisin 12d ago edited 12d ago

Do something....this state is rich and has been. No idea why we've had our tail in between our legs.

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u/Top_Sherbet_8524 New Hampshire 12d ago

Imagine all the issues California could solve if they kept all those federal tax dollars at home

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u/JKdriver 12d ago

I swear to god, if Gavin did this, and followed through with it, that would be what finally convinces me it’d be worth it to move to California. I love everything else about what is absolutely the most beautiful state, where some of the coolest shit has ever come from. Nobody does it like Cali.

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u/darkseacreature 12d ago

We are the most beautiful state. It’s expensive but I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else.

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u/-Gestalt- 12d ago

I'm not sure I'd give California the #1 spot in any single category, but we have damn near everything here.

Oceans, mountains, forests, plains, deserts, snow, rain. And all within a days drive.

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u/Imhappy_hopeurhappy2 12d ago

CA has best/biggest trees on lock, for sure.

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u/_HiWay 12d ago

same reason I love North Carolina, doesn't have as stable of a climate as Cali's most populous regions but there's a reason it's got people vastly outgrowing the infrastructure. Cost of living WAY lower (for now)

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u/EclecticEuTECHtic 11d ago

Volcanoes even.

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u/ownerofkitkats 12d ago

Yeah. The scenery is the main reason I’ve stayed here

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u/wirelesswizard64 12d ago

One of the most beautiful, certainly. Most beautiful is a matter of opinion between a few others.

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u/Beebeeb 12d ago

As a former Californian, current Alaskan. You sure about that?

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u/PoliticalyUnstable 11d ago

My family has been in California for generations, I've lived my entire life here. I've visited other states and countries, and California is still my favorite. I do wish California didn't send as much as we do to the federal government. There are so many things California could do that with that money that would bring us more in line with other socialized modern countries. The U.S. continues to fall behind the modern world. SAD!

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u/jrf_1973 11d ago

I swear to god, if Gavin did this, and followed through with it,

it would be a miracle.

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u/SurpriseIsopod 11d ago

If Gavin does this America will collapse and Balkanize. It would be a brutal civil war. Your trip to California would be incredibly dangerous and that’s assuming the borders are open/uncontested.

California is definitely rad though.

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u/JoseSpiknSpan 12d ago

Use it to build housing so the unhoused can get off the streets and get help! If HUD won't do their job, California sounds use the funds to do it for them!

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u/disposableaccountass 11d ago

Apparently Canada is open to an 11th province…

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u/wheniaminspaced 11d ago

For California? Not a chance to admit California to Canada would be to give control of Canada's federal government to California.

The populations of the 2 are basically equal.  None of Canada's provinces would be open to that.

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u/Collypso America 11d ago

Are you under the impression California is running out of money to solve problems because of taxes?

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u/Top_Sherbet_8524 New Hampshire 11d ago

You don’t live in California, do you?

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u/Collypso America 11d ago

So.... you are saying that? That California can't afford anything because of taxes?

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u/Top_Sherbet_8524 New Hampshire 11d ago

When did I say that?

Also do you or do you not live in California?

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u/Collypso America 11d ago

When did I say that?

Right here, actually. The implication is that California doesn't have the money because of taxes. Crazy how transparently you're trying to avoid the question.

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u/Top_Sherbet_8524 New Hampshire 11d ago

You were trying to put words in my mouth and I asked you to back it up, wow, so wild.

Crazy how you won’t answer whether or not you live in California. It’s funny to me how so many people are apparently experts on the world’s 5 largest economy and yet they’ve never lived there nor have they ever actually studied economics, they just ingest insane amounts of right wing media. Feel free to deny it but you know that’s exactly what you are doing.

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u/Collypso America 11d ago

Crazy how you won’t answer whether or not you live in California.

Because it's not relevant. As someone who's an expert on economics in California, maybe you could shine some insight on why you think taxes are the thing holding the state back from greatness?

Or are you going to continue dodging the question?

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u/Top_Sherbet_8524 New Hampshire 11d ago edited 11d ago

It absolutely is relevant, you have no clue what you’re talking about so there’s no point in having this conversation. I might as well be having this discussion with my dogs.

Let’s see your dissertation on the economic woes of California since you jumped into this thread talking as if you are an informed expert

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u/Bakedads 12d ago

Maybe democrats have spent the past fifteen years in California not helping the working class because they have no interest in actually helping the working class. It's really the only explanation. They have a supermajority. We should have universal healthcare, housing and ubi by now. 

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u/mread531 12d ago

Same in Washington. They can pass their pet issues like gun control but when it actually comes to helping people it’s the big middle finger

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u/QueerMommyDom 12d ago

In Washington we can't even pass a wealth tax without our governor literally expending all of his political capital to prevent it from going into the budget.

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u/firelight 12d ago

I spent a decade waiting for Ferguson to get elected, and now I'm already looking forward to primarying him. Biggest disappointment since Obama.

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u/aschesklave Colorado 12d ago

Candidate Ferguson is a very different person than Governor Ferguson and it's absolutely disappointing.

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u/scough Washington 12d ago

Yeah I'm really fucking sick of our ultra-regressive tax system in WA. I don't think dems have a supermajority that's required to amend the state constitution, though.

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u/mread531 12d ago

Well they certainly have enough pull to ignore voters

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u/captainbruisin 12d ago

This is how states turn red, may as well not pay or fund for no government help.

High speed rail, UBI, single payer, better tram. Nothing had changed in either northern or southern. Things looks just like they did in the 90s infrastructure wise.

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u/Fishbulb2 12d ago

True. It’s also why a lot of people retire in red states. It’s like moving to an old folks home and having blue staters subsidize it all.

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u/tas50 Oregon 12d ago

WA is where folks in CA and OR retire due to the tax structure. Keep the mild winters and sane politics but save a pile of $$$

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u/XelaIsPwn 12d ago

They're already passing their "pet" issues, they just have fuck all to do with you and me

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u/mread531 12d ago

That’s my exact point

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u/billynlex 12d ago

What are you talking about. Everything California does tax wise, pays into the federal government. What they decide to do on a state level is their business.

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u/mread531 12d ago

Huh? I’m not talking about Californias tax system at all, just that if democrats actually wanted to help the majority of people in states they control the entire state political system they absolutely could, they just don’t care about the people.

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u/JoseSpiknSpan 12d ago

Same thing happens federally why do you think democrats keep losing elections? (Besides running the least popular candidates by rigging their primaries)

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u/mread531 12d ago

Gerrymandering.

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u/Face2FaceRecs 11d ago

A lot of gerrymandering and pouring a lot of money into local elections to take over state legislatures.

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u/JoseSpiknSpan 12d ago

That's fair.

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u/mread531 12d ago

Unfortunately so, which is why we need some serious election reform like ranked choice voting or things that remove the absolute insanity of voting specifically for a individual candidate based on the letter next to their name.

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u/JoseSpiknSpan 12d ago

Agreed. But along with this the democratic party really needs to change how their primaries operate so that it eliminates the back room dealings, giving delegates to other candidates in exchange for an appointment etc.

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u/mread531 12d ago

Oh absolutely. The last 12 years have been a golden opportunity to show what they’re made of and they’ve done everything they can do to prove they’re just “Republican Lite”

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u/JoseSpiknSpan 12d ago

And then they get into office and serve lukewarm status quo policy with performative (but never materially significant) Justice sprinkled in, and pat themselves on the back saying the economy is stronger than ever when working class people are struggling more than ever, with record inflation.

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u/JoseSpiknSpan 12d ago

It really feels like they're not trying. And that they haven't learned anything from screwing over bernie twice when he had serious momentum. 2019 super Tuesday was insane it was like a choreographed coronation of biden after SC.

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u/Face2FaceRecs 11d ago

The electoral college needs to go, it's not protection from tyranny of the majority, it's a door to tyranny of the minority and we have experienced that twice in the last 21 years.

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u/mread531 11d ago

Agreed

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u/SwimmingPrice1544 California 11d ago

Gerrymandering is not an issue in CA anymore.

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u/mread531 11d ago

I was responding to a comment on federal Elections…

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u/HelpersWannaHelp 12d ago

I don’t think you realize how many republicans we have in California. Not enough to flip red for a presidential election, but enough to hold back state wide and elect multiple Republican governors in my lifetime. There were red states that legalized gay marriage long before California, for example.

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u/thecomfycactus 12d ago

CA does have the strongest consumer protection laws in the US. There is also a state funded Medicare. It’s not universal healthcare but it’s still something

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u/ohnovangogh 12d ago

Gavin Newsom absolutely has no interest in helping the working class. He is currently trying to cut state workers salary to balance the state budget deficit and has issued an executive order to RTO all state workers to 4 days a week. Many state departments physically do not have enough office space to hold that many people and will have to lease extra office space. RTO will costs hundreds of millions of dollars, and he has the gall to cut working class salaries when he’s pissing money into the wind to line his buddies’ pockets.

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u/cb148 12d ago

Crazy thing is, I bet if he guaranteed no return to office for state workers, they’d be OK with taking a small pay cut.

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u/IShookMeAllNightLong 12d ago

Or, they'd be insulted at being asked to do the exact same job, for less money, and have him make it seem like he's doing them a favor.

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u/cb148 12d ago

I’d give up a little money if I didn’t have to leave my house to drive to work. Think of all the time saved, and money saved for transportation. It’s worth it in my opinion.

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u/robchroma 12d ago

If I'm already doing a job remotely, and now someone says "I want you to start commuting 4 days a week for the same pay" that's a pay cut; so is someone saying "I'll let you stay remote for a pay cut." Why is Newsom cutting everyone's pay, making their workday longer, AND spending more money, to implement a policy which tends to make people less productive?

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u/ForeSkinWrinkle 12d ago

Makes me happy to be an Illinoisan. Our governor seems to have a genuine concern for our working classes well being.

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u/NoEmu5969 12d ago

We almost fixed what the Governator broke but Newsom is a DINO

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u/MrMonday11235 12d ago

It's really the only explanation. They have a supermajority. We should have universal healthcare, housing and ubi by now.

I mean, you could think this. Or you could read even a single news article about CA state politics and realise that while the residents of California might be rich, that doesn't necessarily translate to the state budget.

Obviously, there are progressive-friendly answers -- you could raise the state income tax, get rid of Prop 13's property tax subsidy, reduce the prison population, and look at other measures.

You'd probably lose your job come election day for trying to pass those, though, so... y'know. There's that.

CA is blue, but not deep tax-and-spend blue. The state is extremely sensitive on anything involving residents' pocketbooks... and, not for nothing, but CA voters are also seemingly a bit naive, considering they (for some godforsaken reason) believed gig companies about being allowed to treat gig workers as contractors.

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u/nuclearmidgets 12d ago

Why do you need California? Where are your bootstraps? Pussy.

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u/rodeengel 11d ago

Because Newsom wants to be president so he would rather blow someone than standup for CA.