"As national Democrats search for a unifying theme ahead of the fall's midterm elections, a California proposal to levy a hefty tax on billionaires is turning some of the party's leading figures into adversaries just when Democrats can least afford division from within.Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders traveled to Los Angeles on Wednesday to campaign for the tax proposal, which has Silicon Valley in an uproar, with tech titans threatening to leave the state."
"At an evening rally near downtown, Sanders told cheering supporters that the nation has reached a crisis point in which "massive income and wealth inequality" has concentrated power over business, technology, government and the media within the "billionaire class," while millions of working-class Americans struggle to pay household bills.He said enactment of the proposed tax would show "we are still living in a democratic society where the people have some power.""
A California ballot proposal would impose a one-time 5% tax on the assets of billionaires, including stocks, art, businesses, collectibles and intellectual property. A large health care union is backing the measure to compensate for federal funding cuts to health services for lower-income people enacted last year. Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders campaigned in Los Angeles in support, framing the measure as a check on concentrated economic and media power and a response to massive income and wealth inequality. Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom opposes the tax, warning it could create a government funding crisis and weaken the state's competitiveness. Silicon Valley leaders have threatened to leave the state, and the proposal is creating public divisions among leading Democrats ahead of the fall midterm elections.
Read at Fast Company
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