The Dems are scrambling to find the perfect candidate for the general election in 2028…..many people like California’s Newsom (I am not one of them)…my daughter is on that bandwagon and we argue a lot over her support for Newsom.
Personally I think he is a phony….yes he has done some amazing things in California and has stood up to Donny but that does not impress me that much….I think he is a Clintonian big business Dem.
Now a recent action on his part makes my case for me….
A world-renowned economist and expert on wealth inequality castigated California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday for working to kill a proposed tax on billionaire fortunes in the Golden State, warning that the Democratic leader and likely 2028 candidate appears bent on handing President Donald Trump “an unexpected ideological and political victory.”
Gabriel Zucman, a research professor of economics at the University of California, Berkeley, pointed to a recent Bloomberg story detailing Newsom’s “last-ditch pressure campaign” to prevent a healthcare union-led initiative from appearing on California voters’ ballots in November.
…
In a lengthy thread posted to X on Monday, Zucman wrote that he is “shocked” by Newsom’s “efforts to defend Peter Thiel and Mark Zuckerberg at the expense of Californians’ health,” referring to two of the state’s most prominent billionaires. Thiel has donated millions to an industry group looking to defeat the ballot initiative, which would use revenue from the wealth tax to offset the impacts of federal Medicaid cuts approved last year by Trump and congressional Republicans.
“Yet you are now devoting all your energy to preventing this ballot initiative from taking place and denying Californians the opportunity to express their democratic will this November,” Zucman wrote. “You have chosen to protect California’s billionaires at the expense of Californians’ health.”
https://www.commondreams.org/news/gavin-newsom-billionaire-wealth-tax
This proposed protection of billionaires is why he is not suitable for the candidacy.
That one subject is the biggest sticking point for voters…..the unbridled wealth that these fools are accumulating and paying no taxes.
This is why it is an issue and why is Newsom aiding these parasites?
Eighty-eight corporations that paid no federal income tax last year spent roughly $852 million on US campaign contributions and lobbying during recent election cycles, a report published Thursday revealed.
The report, “The Current Price of Zero,” was authored by Eileen O’Grady, a researcher at Public Citizen’s Congress Watch division. The publication draws upon an analysis published in April by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) showing that at least 88 of the nation’s largest companies paid no federal corporate income tax in fiscal year 2025, despite reporting combined US pretax income of around $105 billion.
“Using data from OpenSecrets, which compiles and publishes campaign finance and lobbying data, we found that from the 2020 election cycle through the 2024 cycle, these 88 companies have spent nearly $852 million on lobbying and campaign contributions,” O’Grady wrote. “We highlight the companies that spent the most money on lobbying, hired the most lobbyists, lobbied specifically on tax issues, and contributed the most cash to political campaigns.”
The federal corporate income tax rate is 21%, indicating that the 88 companies in the report dodged a combined $22.1 billion in taxes last year. Additionally, they received $4.7 billion in tax rebates, bringing their total tax breaks to approximately $26.7 billion.
https://www.commondreams.org/news/tax-dodging-corporations-spend-big-on-lobbying
Parasites!
And these are the types that Newsom is running interference for in the California legislature.
This makes him unacceptable as a candidate for me….period.
Is this what you look for in a candidate?
Even though I have pointed this out it will be forgotten in the future if he is a candidate…..that is truly sad.
Any deep thoughts here?
I Read, I Write, You Know
“lego ergo scribo”
If not him, then who? I cannot think of anyone other than Mamdani with a good enough public profie to stand, and his religion would be a no-no at the ballot box for ‘Johnny America’. Trump or his successor has to be beaten, and you can sort out the details later.
Best wishes, Pete.
I have to agree. Newsom is by far not the best candidate, but ANYONE who can kick Trump out on his ass has my vote.
Mamdani can’t be president. He was born in Uganda. Under the constitution the president must be a “a natural born Citizen” of the United states, which is interpreted as being someone who was actually born in the US or in one of its territories, or one of who’s parents is a citizen. There was a big stink about Ted Cruz when he ran for president because he was actually born in Canada and held Canadian citizenship until right before he decided to run for the office.
This will be interesting to see how the Right sells this….right now they are fixated on the ‘communism’ thing…….chuq
Thanks for letting me know. I hadn’t realised he was born outside of the US.
AOC has been mentioned….but neither will make past the selection committee of the DNC no matter how popular……hopefully that can be changed. chuq
Newsome would be one of the worst candidates possible. He’s been a greedy little piggy gobbling down at the slop trough filled to the brim with grift from “lobbyists” and PAcs. The GOP would have a field day with him. He’s a nasty piece of work all the way around.
GF we are of one mind….he opposes billionaires tax in Calif but says he supports it for the nation….good example chuq
I hang out in a lot of solar power forums and I hear a lot about Newsome because he’s one of the people responsible for California’s electric rates being the highest in the continental United States. He’s raked in huge amount of money from the utility companies over the years and the result is they’re paying $0.40 or more per KWh because of the state’s bizarre regulatory structure over there. The utility companies basically own the governor’s office and the state legislature.
His chief of staff was arrested for an pled guilty to fraud for funneling campaign donations into the accounts of a different politician. Newsome wasn’t officially accused but, well come one. Newsome and his wife are both under investigation for alleged fraudulent activity concerning their charities. Newsome claims that it’s a witch hunt sparked by Trump, and I have to admit that’s possible. He has close ties to PG&E, approved of legislation that absolved the company of causing catastrophic wildfires because of their failure to properly maintain their power lines, has received hundreds of thousands of dollars either directly or through utility company PACs. The list goes on and on.
That anyone in the democratic party is even considering Newsome as a potential presidential candidate is just one example of just how out of touch with reality the democratic national committee has become.
I have been reading this stuff about Newsome….most people only know when he bucks Donny and they think he is all that but the true is way different. chuq
Hmm, it won’t let me add a comment to the existing thread so I’ll just start a new one. Chuq. you said “This will be interesting to see how the Right sells this….right now they are fixated on the ‘communism’ thing…….chuq”
That whole communism thing is interesting and it is probably going to backfire on them. Apparently they’ve realized that this bullshit they’ve pulled in the past of trying to claim that the dems are possessed by demons and calling them demonic wasn’t working so this is their new “demonic” label, I guess? But the demon nthing didn’t work and I doubt if this well either. The only people who might believe it are the MAGA true believers, who are so sucked up into this cult that they’ll believe anything they’re told to believe. The rest of the country is just laughing at them by this point. If they have to resort to this kind of stupidity that means they don’t have any actual rational arguments left.
I have seen their media NY Post and Washington Examiner, etc are helping push the meme….but I want to see if it works in the long run. chuq
When Newsom began his political career, he seemed like a breath of fresh air. But, it didn’t take long for me to smell his stench of corruption. Newsom is a slickster and a corporatist. He will lie to our face and sell us out to the highest bidder.
Robert that is what I have been saying for a couple of years….I do not think he will make the cut as a candidate. chuq