Stevan

[Stevan @theStevan]

that moment when "tax the rich" crowd realizes it is them who will be taxed.

[@jason @Jason]

That feeling you get when you realize you voted for people who want to see your demise

[Stevan @theStevan]

@YehoshuaEran @BillAckman @NYCMayor this

[Stevan @theStevan]

#oecorinthian

[Stevan @theStevan]

the warmth of collectivism is here

[Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani @NYCMayor]

New York ISO just issued an early warning that we must alleviate the strain on our energy grid statewide.

Please do your part in keeping our power on by:

•Setting your AC to 78 degrees.

•Turning off lights and unplugging electronics you’re not using. 

•Waiting until early morning or late at night to run appliances like dishwashers or laundry machines.

During a historic heatwave, AC will save lives — but only if we keep the grid stable enough for it to stay on.

[Stevan @theStevan]

@honeybcarnegie @lamps_apple they will be ok. You will not. They are mobile. The growing budget deficit will be on you to fill in.

Funny, how many miss that part.

[Stevan @theStevan]

@Rags0910 @Nick_Davidov "...means more for us that stay"... more of what for you? Please explain.

[Stevan @theStevan]

@Jason @ZohranKMamdani they actually never even redistribute. Just spend.

[Stevan @theStevan]

@SAFCPaddy because, unlike you, they are fully aware that they are the next in line. Same playbook as with income tax.

[Stevan @theStevan]

Communists bait people with anger and envy to do their bidding.

[Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani @NYCMayor]

Happy Tax Day, New York. We’re taxing the rich.

[Stevan @theStevan]

@niccruzpatane Tesla and Lucid models are not even sports cars; they are sedans, comparing favorably with a sport supercar.

[Stevan @theStevan]

TDS sufferers are now twisting themselves into knots trying to explain how Trump is "working for Putin" — after he took out two major Kremlin allies in Venezuela and Iran.

[Stevan @theStevan]

@KDegerdon30481 @JOBhakdi No.
Who gets to decide what makes somebody's speech hateful, divisive, etc?

[Stevan @theStevan]

@RoKhanna yeah, this should go on a ballot instead of that idiotic property seizure.

[Stevan @theStevan]

We are all going to be those billionaires soon. The federal income tax was sold to people the same way. People's anger, envy, and stupidity can be so easily harvested and used against them.

[david friedberg @friedberg]

California started with the Gold Rush and might end with the Golden Exit.

it has been underreported how much wealth has left CA because of the asset seizure tax being proposed.

a private poll was conducted amongst affected individuals a few days ago and 80-90% surveyed said they have already left CA in 2025 or will leave in 2026 if the ballot measure looks likely to pass.

$2-2.5T of assets gone, representing about $20B of annual revenue for the state government. and likely hundreds of thousands of jobs now at risk.

less reported is the bigger exodus underway from folks who are NOT directly affected but worry (as they should) that this law will quickly transition from billionaires to everyone else...

the initiative actually gives CA legislators the right to take anyone's post-tax assets anytime in the future based on a majority vote. this isn't about billionaires. it's a new "tax system" that simply destroys private property rights in America.

all private property is now public property.
even after paying your taxes, it's not legally your property anymore. it's the government's, you're just borrowing it.
legislators will decide what you get to keep and temporarily use each year.

countless founders, CEOs, and other business leaders are actively looking to move their companies out of state. not just tech, not just AI, not just billionaires, but the core engine of California's prosperity since 1847 is unraveling.

and here is how this initiative risks unraveling America:
- ~10 states have explicit or implicit prohibitions against an asset seizure tax...
- individuals affected in CA (and other states trying to do the same) will move to these states that endow private property rights.
- CA already has a $20-30B annual budget deficit, an unfunded ~$1T pension liability for public employees/unions, and $500B of debt outstanding. the state can not afford to borrow much more and will launch more asset seizures to meet its obligations.
- asset seizures will first transition to "millionaires" and eventually to the entire middle class as more asset seizures drive more people to leave the state.
- the deficit, debt, and job loss will spiral. the Golden Exit.
- no US state has ever declared bankruptcy. in addition to CA, dozens of other states face similar fiscal crises - legislators promised future benefits that can't be paid or theft and waste have been allowed to run rampant and unabated for years.
- struggling states will eventually request federal government assistance, as they always have in times of fiscal crisis, effectively "federalizing state debt".
- states not in crisis will declare "enough is enough", individuals in those states will refuse to pay their federal taxes (why pay for other people's mistakes?), some states may try to secede from the Union, and a constitutional and civil crisis will erupt.

this may seem far-fetched but it is the obvious domino effect of selectively deleting private property rights for some people in some states.

i am not a billionaire and this CA bill does not affect me, but i care about the country and the state of CA. i want both to thrive. it's obvious that there are people in CA in desperate need of support and assistance, and inequities may exist that need to be rectified, but eliminating private property rights is the wrong path for everyone.

a few alternatives to consider first:
1) with a $350B annual budget, CA can cut programs that result in theft and little-to-no benefit for citizens. $50B per year is likely recoverable.
2) if more taxes are needed, tax loans against unrealized capital gains (very few objections will arise), eliminate tax-free rollover of certain appreciated assets (real estate industry will fight), create a step up in basis on inheritance (some will fight but most will support). likely $10Bs of incremental revenue can be realized.
3) restructure all public retirement programs from Defined Benefit to Defined Contribution. eliminating the unfunded retirement liabilities ($1T+) will be the release valve on the future the state so desperately needs.

we must address what ails us without dividing and destroying our state, our nation, our home.

ignore the rhetoric, these are the facts.

[Robert Sterling @RobertMSterling]

Jeff Bezos is worth $238 billion, even though Amazon has a $2.6 trillion market cap. In other words, he’s created $2.4 trillion of value for other shareholders—plus trillions more for employees, customers, suppliers, governments, and other stakeholders.

Jensen Huang is worth $164 billion, while NVIDIA’s market cap is $5 trillion. That’s $4.8 trillion of value for other people (not to mention the immeasurable value created for non-equity stakeholders).

Larry Page and Sergey Brin? $300 billion vs. $3.3 trillion. That’s $3 trillion of value for everyone else. And remember how bad search was before Google and how clunky email was before Gmail?

Mark Zuckerberg? $248 billion vs. $1.8 trillion.

The list goes on. There are hundreds more examples across technology, energy, medicine, manufacturing, and every other industry that keeps the American economy running and our society flourishing.

Billionaires don’t extract value from the rest of us. They create value FOR the rest of us, in exchange for just pennies on the dollar.

We should be grateful for every last one of them.

[Stevan @theStevan]

@PoliSciFrancis @PeterSweden7

[Stevan @theStevan]

@HealthRanger @vgclements1 have you heard of an electromagnetic pulse?

[Stevan @theStevan]

@SenWarren but he did pay his fair share in taxes, as determined by law. He makes more, so can afford to spend more. Just like you can spend more than most people; the only difference is that everyone knows how Jeff made his money.

[Stevan @theStevan]

Persian people hate the current regime and they never elected them.

[Goldie Ghamari | گلسا قمری 🇮🇷 @gghamari]

Hi Gary.

Iranian here.

Maybe, just maybe, a genocidal death cult that murders its own citizens in the name of Allah and Mohammed should not have access to nuclear weapons.

If this is what they do to Iranian women, imagine what they would do to a western infidel like you.

[Stevan @theStevan]

@MedvedevRussiaE @MedvedevRussiaE Persian people hate this regime, and never elected them.