As tensions escalate between California and the Trump administration over immigration, another potential battlefront is emerging over taxes.

The spat began with reports that the Trump administration is considering cutting funding for California’s university system, the largest higher education system in the nation with about 12% of all U.S. enrolled students.

In response, Gov. Gavin Newsom wrote Friday afternoon in a social media post that California provides about $80 billion more in taxes to the federal government than it receives in return.

“Maybe it’s time to cut that off, @realDonaldTrump,” Newsom said.

    • Alteon@lemmy.world
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      7 days ago

      It’s grandstanding…but it pisses off the Orange Turdburgler so I can’t complain too much.

  • sp3ctr4l@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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    Cross posted to BoycottUnitedStates @ europe.pub

    Hey, now we’re even boycotting ourselves!

    More seriously:

    Welp, I don’t see another option than lie down and roll over, but also, if Newsom actually does it, this will basically cause a civil war… or at best a ‘Russia is pacifying Chechen terrorists’ kind of situation.

    Hope everyone has their popcorn / bugout bags ready.

  • Et Al@lemmy.world
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    7 days ago

    I’m of the opinion that California, Oregon, and Washington should succeed and join Canada. Hell, New York and Massachusetts too if I’m indulging in this fantasy scenario.

    • cattywampas@lemm.ee
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      9 days ago

      I don’t think there’s really a way to do this, since federal taxes are paid directly to the fed without state involvement. This is just to poke the bear, which I am all for.

      • GuyFawkes@midwest.social
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        9 days ago

        Good. Keep poking until he has a heart attack. If he recovers, rinse and repeat until we get it right.

        • dohpaz42@lemmy.world
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          I’m all for it too, but keep in mind that successors to dictators are never better; only worse. It only ever gets worse.

          ~Hide your kids. Hide your couch!~

          • GuyFawkes@midwest.social
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            8 days ago

            Yeah but there seems to be something about this fucking guy. I don’t think his successor will have the same draw.

            • dohpaz42@lemmy.world
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              8 days ago

              This dictator is merely a puppet; plain and simple. The real Palpatine is someone else. Maybe it’s Putin, or maybe it’s Thiel. We haven’t gotten to that episode yet.

              • samus12345@sh.itjust.works
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                But this puppet is who the cultists at the bottom support. They won’t get their support for anyone else so easily, if they even need them at that point.

                • dohpaz42@lemmy.world
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                  8 days ago

                  I would argue that now that the GOP has all three branches of government, Darth Trump is expendable.

      • turtlesareneat@discuss.online
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        The hypothetical way to do it is severely penalize companies within California that pay federal tax. Make it so financially burdonsome they have to relocate or stop paying federal tax of their own accord. This is just what’s been suggested before when this has come up.

      • Cocodapuf@lemmy.world
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        I’ve been thinking about this, and I’m afraid I agree. I’m not sure how you could enforce this. Paying federal tax seems like a personal choice and the consequences would be felt by individuals (tax evasion charges, unless trump manages to get it treated as a terrorist act). I’d be interested to see if the state was actually offering to shield CA citizens from being arrested by federal agents or subpoenaed by federal courts.

        Also, for the most part the Fed already has our money, right? The majority of that federal tax is withheld from paychecks and goes directly to the Fed…

        • Furbag@lemmy.world
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          You can withhold paying your federal taxes from your paycheck. Most people don’t because they don’t want to get stuck with a big tax bill in April with no way to pay it if they spent that money or lost it on a bad investment. if enough people all did that at once, regardless of state, it could put a big financial burden on Trump. The government heavily relies on this steady source of income, and unless you make a lot of money, you are probably getting a federal return every year, which means you gave the U.S. Government an interest free loan of sorts.

          • malank@lemm.ee
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            8 days ago

            You also get hit with an underpayment penalty if you do this and don’t pay estimated taxes too.

  • MynameisAllen@lemmy.zip
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    9 days ago

    Holy fucking shit. I’m amazed, I was just saying the other day that this would eventually get into this point. Didn’t think it’d be this week

    • neukenindekeuken@sh.itjust.works
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      Fascism only has one speed: Blitzkrieg.

      Any other speed would be slow enough for people to have enough time to band together and organize a resistance to this horseshit.

      That’s literally the only playbook. Break everything: Go fast. Hit people with so much horseshit they are still stuck trying to process the one from 2 weeks ago, because since then 5 other constitutional crisis’ have happened and now they’re deporting both of your neighbors.

      • FaceDeer@fedia.io
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        That’s not really the case, though. This rise of fascism has been building for decades now. It’s been a slow, steady, drip drip drip. Perhaps not so noticeable except from the outside - Americans are embedded in a pervasive atmosphere of propaganda. The Republicans have been getting more and more authoritarian over the years, more and more extreme, and the Democrats have been letting them. It’s been more than four years since the last violent coup attempt, after all, and those were the same people behind this play.

        It’s not progressing fast. You just haven’t noticed its progress until now, when it’s nearly done.

        • neukenindekeuken@sh.itjust.works
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          We’re not talking about the rise of fascism. It took decades for that to ferment in Germany and Italy as well.

          We’re talking about when they seize power. Then they make their move.

          We’re talking about the powergrab of fascists once they’ve laid the groundwork.

          That’s the part they need to move lightning fast to achieve a result, before resistance can organize against them. That’s the part in history we’re at right now.

        • ChicoSuave@lemmy.world
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          America has been fascist since the early 1910s, busting unions and putting capital first. Then Banana Republics were formed because democracy got in the way. And then half of Africa was invaded with American bases and money in an effort to bring the scattered oil fields under American corporate control. And India lost tens of thousands of lives to an American corporate disaster and no one could challenge the super military force guaranteeing popular democracy around the world (except where people actually heeled business interests).

          America has been a fascist superpower for over a century. It’s professional name is neoliberalism.

        • gravitas_deficiency@sh.itjust.works
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          A better way to describe it is logistic growth. It reaches a certain tipping point, accelerates to the maximum rate, then slowly slowing down to some sort of equilibrium.

    • Match!!@pawb.social
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      At this rate they’ll be deploying the Marines to LA’s streets by July!

  • N0body@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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    If blue states were to band together and do this, it would bankrupt Trump’s fascist federal government pretty quickly. Maybe a blue state Articles of Confederation is in order.

    • WHARRGARBL@lemmy.world
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      California, Oregon, and Washington are all donor states that contribute a combined ~$160 billion more to the federal government than they get back each year. They also make up $3.1 trillion of the GDP, they have all mainland west coast ports, and they’re major agricultural states. They’d honestly be better off if they banded together to Bugs Bunny off.

      • frezik@midwest.social
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        There’s a bigger thing people tend to forget: shipping ports. There aren’t a lot of natural harbors on the west coast of North America. California has three of them (LA, Long Beach, San Fransisco) and Washington has two (Seattle and Tacoma).

        Want to trade anything with the rest of the world? The east coast and Mississippi ports aren’t going to cut it. Don’t want to trade anything? The US economy just went into depression.

  • asteriskeverything@lemmy.world
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    I’m not mad at this at all I’m thrilled a politician is actually fighting back. He has a history of standing up against trump and the gop status quo

    That said this is the first time there is any bite to it and the cynic/realist in me is saying it’s cause he is gearing up for presidential nomination and election. I really hope he is not the Democrat choice.

    if the good wife/fight taught me anything the democrats already have someone picked out and priming public for it

    I just wish we had Bernie i wanna see that timline :'(

    • 13igTyme@lemmy.world
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      I want the timeline where Carter won a second term and the Christian nationalists funding Reagan realized their plan didn’t work and give up on it.

      • prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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        Or how about a timeline where we didn’t immediately give up on Restoration Reconstruction after the Civil War

        EDIT: derp.

        • ℍ𝕂-𝟞𝟝@sopuli.xyz
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          Harris lost before she ran. Not that she was a strong candidate, but the Dems could have ran literal Jesus, Trump was going to come back either way as long as big money was in politics. Maybe if they ran someone who at least promised change, they could have staved off Trump for another 4 years. Would they have sentenced him in another 4 years? Would anyone been able to get people like Thiel and Musk out of politics?

          This will get worse before it gets better. I just hope most of it stays contained in the US.

          • Trainguyrom@reddthat.com
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            Trump’s health has been declining pretty rapidly, especially his mental health. I won’t be surprised if he doesn’t make it to the end of this term. And if he does I’m not sure he’d be mentally capable of running in 2028

            • ℍ𝕂-𝟞𝟝@sopuli.xyz
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              And what precedent does it set for US civil society that he was allowed to get away with it? This shit is poison to a free civil society.

      • frezik@midwest.social
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        Unfortunately, they tend to try harder when it doesn’t work the first time. The first attempts at the Prosperity Gospel, prior to WWII, were laughed off because it was so obviously self-serving to rich people. They kept at it until it stuck.

  • selkiesidhe@lemm.ee
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    CA is the forth largest economy; it would destroy the red state fuckheads if they stopped paying federal taxes. The rest of us follow suit and we defund the motherfuckers stinking up the government.

    If you are sending our military against OUR OWN FUCKING PEOPLE we should not be PAYING FOR IT. My taxes don’t go to that fascist bullshit

    🖕🤬🖕 Fuck drumpf and every bootlicker that got him (probably illegally) elected

  • Optional@lemmy.world
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    What is a donor state?

    Indeed, cbsnews. What is a “donor state”?

    Maybe if you could use that term a few dozen more times, other outlets could pick it up and it would eventually back up into Fox News’ talking points where they’d have to either lie utterly, or risk their viewers’ comprehension that red states take money from blue states. Charity, let’s say. MAGA heads would temporarily be offline.

  • DarkFuture@lemmy.world
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    8 days ago

    MOTHERFUCKING DO IT

    Stop bending the knee to a felon rapist traitor who uses the military to assault American citizens.

    Stop providing welfare to failing red states who elect felon rapist traitors who target blue states.

  • HexadecimalSky@lemmy.world
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    I’ve been talking to alot of people about something like this. If CA didn’t pay federal tax, and all of it went to state, CA would make more money. Don’t want to incite insurrection…but I think we could do alright by ourselves if push came to shove.

    • KingJalopy @lemm.ee
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      As someone living in California, I could certainly use some more money… Doesn’t help my employer moved me here then reneged on my proposed salary. It’s very hard to make it here, but ultimately worth it. For me anyhow.

      • grue@lemmy.world
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        Doesn’t help my employer moved me here then reneged on my proposed salary

        Look up “promissory estoppel.”

        • KingJalopy @lemm.ee
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          Holy shit this is immensely helpful for me right now, thank you so much. I actually have a meeting with the CEO this Friday about this while thing. I will be bringing this up. Thank you again, so much.

          • catloaf@lemm.ee
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            You may want to have a quick consult phone call with a labor lawyer before then. The company has an HR and legal team they’ve already consulted.

            • NobodyElse@sh.itjust.works
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              To add to that, just because they have legal council involved doesn’t mean that they’re not in the wrong and know it. You may just need to say the magic words to make them back down and a labor lawyer who understands your case will know what those words are.

              You obviously may keep working there if it gets resolved to your satisfaction, so the support of a lawyer will help you play it cool while you negotiate. It’s easier to just be pissed if you know you’re being wronged but don’t have the language to clearly articulate how.

    • the_tab_key@lemmy.world
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      Yeah, but just wait for when King Trump makes California pay tariffs to trade with the remaining states! He’ll bleed CA dry!

        • Revan343@lemmy.ca
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          Don’t forget Canada. It would suck having to ship everything by boat to BC, but at least there wouldn’t be tarrifs anymore

      • HexadecimalSky@lemmy.world
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        Yeah he’d try, Smartiest Economier he is. interstate trade is generally critical, but a good chunk of agriculture in the U.S.A. is in CA (Powerd by water from the hoover, yes) throw in Silicon valley, Hollywood, and Napa, CA putting tarrifs on the U.S.A. would hurt too, maybe more.