Written by Thomas Geiser
California spends an enormous amount of money annually on a multitude of different social programs including the homelessness crisis, public education, and the lack of affordable housing in the cities.
These programs are highly dependent on the revenue generated by the personal income tax as stipulated in Governor Newsom’s 2020-2021 budget. The personal income tax accounts for roughly two-thirds of the money going into the general fund. This year, the personal income tax will generate $102.8 billion, with 47 percent of that coming from the top one percent of California taxpayers.
This is not an intelligent model for generating revenue. With almost half of the personal income tax being paid by only 150,000 Californians, it means that if these people choose to leave the state then the state government’s bottom line will be severely affected.
And people are choosing to leave California because of the absurdly high personal income tax. Without these wealthy taxpayers to support their rampant spending, Democrats will be forced to reevaluate their plans and how they treat the rich. Many Democrats have been adopting the idea that there is somehow something wrong with being wealthy.
They believe that these people should be forced to carry more of the burden because they can afford to do so. This is a misguided way of thinking because it amounts to punishing people for being successful. Taxes like the personal income tax should be applied at an equal rate, regardless of how much money an individual possesses.
The real problem that California faces is the unsustainable number of social and welfare programs that the state supports using the taxpayer’s money. The cost of these programs uses most of California’s budget and puts a huge burden on the citizens of California. Democrats have developed a bad habit of throwing money at problems instead of creating and implementing comprehensive plans to solve these issues.
Now the state suffers for their inaction and the weight of these programs is quickly becoming too great to bear. Democrats in Sacramento need to change their approach to solving problems or eventually the rich will leave California and they will need to find someone else’s money to spend. The middle class better watch out.
