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Newsom breaks with socialists over billionaire tax, and California voters appear poised to reject it
In the lead-up to the November midterms, the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) put its support behind California’s Proposition 40, a measure that would impose a one-time 5% tax on billionaires in the state.
Although the secretary of state’s election results show it on the path to defeat as of Wednesday afternoon, the DSA’s support for the policy has created a flashpoint for larger discussions about socialism’s redistributive aims and the capital flight critics say could follow.
«In their mind, every tax they do is some attempt to get money from people who create wealth and move it to the state,» Richard Stern, an economics scholar with Advancing American Freedom (AAF), said in an interview with Digital.
The DSA’s stance on Proposition 40 has also brought it into conflict with other Democratic figures, including Gov. Gavin Newsom, who opposed it.
SHOCKING PERCENTAGE OF DEMOCRATS IDENTIFY AS ‘DEMOCRATIC SOCIALISTS’ ACCORDING TO NEW POLL: ‘TOXIC POLICIES’
The proposition would have applied a 5% tax on assets like businesses, securities, art, collectibles and intellectual property while excluding select pensions, real estate and retirement accounts.
To prevent billionaires from simply leaving the state, Proposition 40 was designed to retroactively apply to billionaires who were residents of California on Jan. 1, 2026.
On the website for its California chapter, the group offered a PowerPoint slideshow supporters could use to argue its merits.
«We have the money in California to pay for the quality schools and healthcare that we need. It just needs to be transferred from the wrong pockets to the right ones. We can do that by taxing the rich,» the slideshow reads.
The DSA argued the policy would help cover up to a projected $100 billion shortfall in federal funding for the state’s Medi-Cal program that provides health insurance for low-income individuals, seniors and people with disabilities. The proposition also outlined that 90% of the generated revenue would go to healthcare, while the remaining 10% would be set aside for education, food assistance and administration of the tax.
As part of its argument in favor of the policy, the DSA framed it as a scaled-up version of something that already exists: a progressive tax, a kind of tax that scales relative to income.
«It calls for a temporary 5% wealth tax on just 250 Californians — the very richest people in the state — who together own $2 trillion in wealth,» its materials explain.
«Let’s be clear: if the Billionaire Tax passes, none of the billionaires will actually lose money. They have been averaging a growth rate of 7 or 8 percent per year in their wealth. Thus, a 5% hit doesn’t even cut into what they have; it just slightly slows down the growth of that wealth.»
But to experts like Stern, the AAF economist, the policy reflects a fundamental misunderstanding of wealth.
«The left looks at a billionaire, and they assume that they’re sitting on $10 billion, $100 billion in cash. I hate to break it to them: There’s no cash,» Stern said.
«They have no idea that we’re talking about a trillion-dollar company, we’re talking about a trillion dollars’ worth of factories and warehouses and delivery trucks and machinery.»
LET SOCIALISTS ROB FROM THE RICH 100%, AND YOU STILL WON’T BE ABLE TO PAY THE BILLS
Notably, Newsom has said he is opposed to the measure, arguing it would put California at a competitive disadvantage.
In an interview with Digital, Newsom cited opposition from a number of different groups.
«The firefighters opposed it. The teachers opposed it. Planned Parenthood opposed it. The vast majority of labor opposes it. I think the majority of Californians oppose it. So, we all have our reasons why,» Newsom said ahead of the election.
«I don’t think it’s a good idea to do [it] at a state level. It’s a badly written initiative. It focuses just on one part of the state’s budget. It’s one-time money and the impact is already being felt. People have left the state.»
Instead, Newsom called on voters to adopt a poison pill countermeasure. Proposition 42 was designed to prohibit new state taxes on personal property and restrict certain retroactive taxes. That measure looks to be on track to succeed.
Even so, Newsom noted that his views on a 5% tax might change if implemented at the federal level.
«Looking at that from a national prism, very different conversation than a state-by-state prism. That’s been the debate in California. I think the majority of Californians see that distinction even though they absolutely believe that we need a new tax bracket in this country,» Newsom said.
Stern noted that Newsom’s openness to considering such a policy nationally comes with many of the same difficulties, but on an international scale.
‘CASTRO’S PLAYBOOK’: EX-AG WARNS DOZENS OF CONGRESSIONAL BILLS ARE PUSHING SOCIALIST IDEAS
«You can more easily leave California, but you could give up American citizenship and move abroad,» Stern said.
«[It] gets back to the old half-joke about communism and the wall in Berlin, which is, as Reagan said, they build walls that keep people in where normally we build walls to keep people out.»
When asked what distinguishes Proposition 40 from a simple tax increase, Stern pointed back to the policy’s implications for businesses, in his view, the main source of most billionaires’ wealth.
«We’re taking the means of production out of the hands of people that built those businesses, that manage those businesses, and giving them to Bernie Sanders and AOC and politicians to run them,» Stern said, referring to two of the country’s most well-known congressional figures who have received backing from the DSA in the past.
«That’s socialism.»
politics, socialism, california, gavin newsom, taxes
Santiago Peña, anunció este miércoles su renuncia a la Presidencia de Paraguay, en medio de la crisis por la intervención de Ueno Bank y antes de que el Congreso debatiera un pedido de juicio político en su contra. “He tomado la decisión de presentar mi renuncia a la presidencia de la República”, afirmó.
Peña sostuvo que su salida busca preservar “la estabilidad”, “la paz social” y las instituciones democráticas del país. “Ningún cargo puede estar por encima del bienestar del Paraguay”, dijo el ahora exmandatario, quien pidió disculpas a la ciudadanía si en algún momento falló a la confianza recibida.
El discurso puso el foco en los ahorristas afectados por la situación de Ueno. “Mi prioridad es una sola: la tranquilidad de los paraguayos que confiaron sus ahorros en nuestro sistema financiero”, expresó. También reclamó que el Fondo de Garantía de Depósitos asegure la devolución de los recursos y la protección de los fondos públicos. La entidad tiene cerca de 3 millones de clientes y administraba entre USD 800 millones y USD 850 millones de dinero estatal, según Associated Press.
La renuncia llega después de que legisladores opositores y disidentes del oficialismo presentaran una acusación para destituirlo, con cuestionamientos por sus vínculos previos con el grupo controlador de Ueno. “Ninguna persona está por encima del Paraguay”, concluyó Peña en su mensaje, con un llamado a respetar la democracia y superar la crisis institucional.
El golpe final que precipitó la decisión de Peña lo dio Horacio Cartes, expresidente de Paraguay y titular de la Asociación Nacional Republicana (ANR), quien anunció que el Partido Colorado acompañaría el juicio político contra Peña.
“Como presidente de la Asociación Nacional Republicana, no estaremos del lado del latrocinio de los fondos públicos, privados y de los jubilados. Debemos pensar en la gente y en los valores que sostenemos desde el Partido Colorado”, escribió Cartes en su cuenta de la red social X.
En el mismo mensaje, el exmandatario confirmó el respaldo de la bancada oficialista al pedido de destitución: “Acompañamos el juicio político al presidente de la República, Santiago Peña, a los efectos de volver a reencauzar la institucionalidad de la República”.
El pronunciamiento adquirió una dimensión política especial: fue Cartes quien impulsó la candidatura de Peña en las elecciones de 2023 y quien controla la estructura del Partido Colorado.
El juicio político había sido presentado por 35 legisladores
Un grupo de diputados opositores y disidentes del oficialismo presentó este miércoles ante la Cámara de Diputados un libelo acusatorio contra Peña y su vicepresidente, Pedro Alliana, amparado en el artículo 225 de la Constitución paraguaya.
El documento llevó 35 firmas, entre ellas las de los diputados Johanna Ortega, Raúl Benítez y Rocío Vallejo, quienes solicitaron convocar a una sesión extraordinaria para este jueves.
Para que la acusación avanzara al Senado, los impulsores debían reunir 53 apoyos sobre un total de 80 legisladores —una mayoría calificada de dos tercios—. En la Cámara Alta se requería luego el voto favorable de 30 de los 45 senadores para declarar culpables a los mandatarios y abrir la puerta a su destitución.
El diputado colorado disidente Mauricio Espínola, de la facción Añeteté, fue uno de los primeros en sumarse a las firmas del libelo y advirtió sobre el costo político de la crisis: “Si Santiago Peña no se va, el Partido Colorado tiene muy pocas chances de seguir en la conducción nacional de la república en el 2028”, había declarado en referencia a las próximas elecciones presidenciales.
El Banco Central cerró el Ueno Bank tras detectar que su solvencia cayó a menos de la mitad del mínimo exigido
La crisis se desencadenó el martes, cuando el Banco Central del Paraguay (BCP) ordenó la intervención y disolución del Ueno Bank al comprobar que su índice de solvencia había caído por debajo del 50% del mínimo requerido.
La entidad concentraba cerca de 2,9 millones de clientes en un país de 6,1 millones de habitantes, y sus depósitos incluían unos USD 850 millones en fondos públicos, entre ellos recursos del Instituto de Previsión Social (IPS).
Tras el anuncio, se formaron largas filas frente a las sucursales y la capital, Asunción, fue escenario de protestas nocturnas.
El BCP informó que los ahorristas recibirán un primer pago de hasta 10 millones de guaraníes (unos USD 1.675) en la brevedad, con un tope de cobertura del Fondo de Garantía de Depósitos (FGD) de 75 salarios mínimos por persona.
Peña promulgó una ley de emergencia
En respuesta a la crisis, el Congreso aprobó en tiempo récord una norma de emergencia que Peña promulgó este miércoles. La ley establece un anticipo del FGD: cada depositante podrá recibir hasta 40 salarios mínimos mensuales —equivalentes a 121,7 millones de guaraníes (unos USD 19.787)— en un plazo máximo de cinco días hábiles desde su entrada en vigor.
“A todos los sectores políticos les solicito encarecidamente anteponer el interés de los ahorristas a cualquier otro interés”, publicó Peña en X.
En paralelo, designó al economista y exministro Raúl Vera Bogado como nuevo titular del BCP, cargo que quedó vacante tras la renuncia de Carlos Carvallo, quien antes de llegar al banco central en 2023 había dirigido la Financiera Ueno, entidad que dio origen al banco intervenido. El nombramiento deberá ser ratificado por el Senado.
La Fiscalía pidió prisión preventiva para el fundador del banco y acusó a 27 personas
En el plano judicial, la Fiscalía imputó a 27 personas por presuntas irregularidades financieras vinculadas a operaciones realizadas entre 2025 y 2026, mediante las cuales se otorgaron préstamos y sobregiros a empresas del mismo grupo económico en condiciones que, según el Ministerio Público, no se ajustaban a los parámetros habituales de evaluación de riesgo crediticio.
El mayor accionista y uno de los fundadores de la entidad, Miguel Vásquez, compareció junto a otros siete directivos ante la Fiscalía Especializada en Delitos Económicos y Anticorrupción.
El Ministerio Público solicitó prisión preventiva para Vásquez y arresto domiciliario para el resto de los ejecutivos. Los funcionarios fueron trasladados esposados, con el rostro cubierto y vistiendo chalecos antibalas, ante la presencia de manifestantes que los increpaban a las afueras de la sede fiscal.
Corporate Events,South America / Central America,Government / Politics
Races between the candidates for U.S. Senate in Alaska and Mississippi are separated by razor-thin margins days after polls closed in the crucial midterm elections.
In Mississippi, where 95.6% of the votes have been counted, according to the Associated Press, Democratic candidate Scott Colom leads incumbent Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, R-Miss., 464,926 votes to 463,788, as of Thursday morning.
In Alaska, former Democratic Rep. Mary Peltola, leads incumbent Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, by less than 700 votes.
DOJ SET TO APPEAL RULING IN ALASKA SENATE RACE DISPUTE OVER ‘DECOY DAN’
While Alaska still has a quarter of its votes to count, according to the AP, if the gap between Peltola and Sullivan remains this slim, the introduction of a second candidate named Dan Sullivan will loom large in post-election analyses.
In July, the U.S. Justice Department opened an investigation into Daniel J. Sullivan, a retired schoolteacher who entered the Senate race in May.
TRUMP PROSECUTIONS UNDER BIDEN SET PRECEDENT FOR DOJ’S ALASKA ‘DECOY DAN’ PROBE, EX-FEC CHAIR SAYS
An October report from The New York Times said Daniel J. Sullivan had met with Democratic operatives and members of Peltola’s campaign staff to encourage him to run. Peltola has denied any involvement in the scheme.
One voter interviewed after he cast his ballot Tuesday revealed that he believed he accidentally voted for the wrong Dan Sullivan.
MARY PELTOLA’S CAMPAIGN, DEMS BACKED COVERT SCHEME TO FIELD SPOILER CANDIDATES IN ALASKA SENATE RACE: REPORT
«I don’t remember seeing the other Dan Sullivan, I totally forgot to look for two Dan Sullivans,» the bewildered voter revealed. «I definitely intended to vote for the real Dan Sullivan.»
As of Thursday morning, Daniel J. Sullivan, aka «Decoy Dan,» had garnered 3,600 votes from Alaskans, a number that’s more than five times larger than the 637-vote margin separating Sen. Sullivan and Peltola.
PELTOLA CAMPAIGN’S ALLEGED DAN SULLIVAN SPOILER PLOT TAKES NEW TURN AS DOJ FACES MAJOR LEGAL HURDLE
Under Alaska’s ranked choice voting system, if no candidate achieves a 50% share of the vote, the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated and voters who chose that candidate first will have their votes redirected to their second choice.
President Donald Trump weighed in on the saga, demanding Daniel J. Sullivan’s votes be given to Sen. Sullivan.
«The vote totals for the Fake Dan Sullivan, plus the other ‘slug’ that the Dems put on the Ballot, should be immediately given to the REAL Dan Sullivan, and the Election is over – He easily wins,» Trump wrote in a Thursday morning post on Truth Social.
«There is no other fair solution! President DJT» he concluded.
GOVERNOR PROBING ‘DECOY DAN’ SULLIVAN ELECTION SCANDAL WARNS SYSTEM FLAW HIDING IN PLAIN SIGHT
In Mississippi, officials are still waiting to receive a batch of 3,600 mail-in ballots, according to a statement from Secretary of State Michael Watson. The state allows mail-in ballots to be counted if they’re received within five business days of the election, provided they were postmarked with a date of the election day or earlier.
NBC News’ Decision Desk pegs the remaining ballots to be counted at 45,000.
TIM SCOTT DECLARES ALLEGED ‘DECOY DAN’ PLOT A ‘CRIMINAL OFFENSE’ AS DOJ INVESTIGATION ROCKS ALASKA
Mississippi has no formal process for recounts, making a legal fight over the results increasingly likely.
«We will protect the process of this election, we’ll protect the integrity of this election,» Colom told reporters Wednesday, adding that he had «an army of lawyers» preparing for a court battle, Mississippi Public Broadcasting reported.
ALASKA’S GOVERNOR ORDERS INVESTIGATION AFTER NYT REPORT ON ALLEGED DEM-LINKED SENATE ELECTION SCHEME
Hyde-Smith’s team, meanwhile, remains assured that the sitting senator will prevail.
«Our campaign is closely monitoring the remaining count,» campaign manager Scott Monssen told MPB in a statement. «We remain confident that when every legally cast vote is fully and accurately counted, Mississippians will have reelected Cindy Hyde-Smith,» he concluded.
Digital reached out to all five campaigns for further comment.
politics, midterm elections, voting, elections, alaska, elections state and local, mississippi
US sends warning to Americans in France amid mass protests
Fox News foreign correspondent Jeff Paul reports on nationwide protests in France, where up to 700,000 demonstrators are expected and 70,000 police officers have been deployed. The U.S. embassy is warning Americans about possible danger in traveling.
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France deployed 70,000 police officers Thursday as tens of thousands of people took to the streets for nationwide strikes and protests after left-wing groups called for a mobilization.
In Paris, the Eiffel Tower was closed; in Lyon, French riot police fired tear gas and charged a group of protesters; and near Toulouse, a high school was set on fire, according to Reuters.
«We need to turn up in big numbers on the streets today,» the news agency quoted the head of the left-wing CGT union Sophie Binet as saying.
The demonstrations come after France was rocked by violent protests in October, which outgoing French President Emmanuel Macron blamed on «ultra-left groups whose aim is to bring down the Republic.»
FRANCE’S MACRON BLAMES PROTESTS ON ‘ULTRA-LEFT GROUPS WHOSE AIM IS TO BRING DOWN THE REPUBLIC’
A car burns as demonstrators look on during a nationwide day of strikes and protests over wages, the cost of living and public services, called by French labor unions and joined by high school and university students calling for better education conditions, in Lyon, France, on Nov. 5, 2026. (Reuters)
An official close to Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said that by early Thursday, around 270,000 people had joined the union action in 180 rallies outside the capital.
About a third of France’s high schools were closed or unable to operate, some because of student blockades and others because teachers were on strike, The Associated Press reported.
French high school students, officials and protesters face off with French riot police as they block a street with garbage bins during high school blockades ahead of a demonstration in Paris on Nov. 5, 2026. (Reuters)
Nuñez said the 70,000 police officers being deployed are backed by armored vehicles, drones and helicopters.
Authorities in the western region of Brittany also said «masked individuals» tried to block roads in Rennes, while some committed «serious acts of violence,» including throwing steel balls at police.
AMERICANS WARNED OF VIOLENT PROTESTS AS MAJOR TOURIST DESTINATION FACES SHUTDOWN THREAT
Protesters carry a banner and Communist flags during a nationwide day of strikes and protests in Lyon, France, on Thursday, Nov. 5, 2026. (Reuters)
France’s main unions warned that the country is on the brink of recession and that layoff plans are multiplying.
«Fuel, food products, rent, gas, electricity… everything’s going up except wages and pensions,» they said in a joint statement, according to The Associated Press.
Riot police detain a protester during a protest in Lyon, France, on Thursday, Nov. 5, 2026. (Laurent Cipriani/AP)
The U.S. Embassy had issued an urgent security alert for Americans in France ahead of the demonstrations, warning travelers to brace for severe disruptions, sudden curfews and the potential for violence.
The rallies come as the campaign to succeed Macron as president next May heats up, with political parties seeking to capitalize on the movement.
A member of the French gendarmerie shoots a tear gas canister during a demonstration in Nantes, France, on Nov. 5, 2026. (Reuters)
Macron is constitutionally barred from seeking a third consecutive term, while far-right candidate Marine Le Pen is the favorite to win, the AP reported.
Fox News Digital’s Kelly McGreal and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
france, world protests, europe, emmanuel macron, world
Andrés Malamud advirtió que atarse a un solo socio condena a América Latina: “Cuanto más vínculos tenés, más oportunidades surgen”
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POLITICA1 día agoLa oposición cuestionó la suspensión de embargos a las pymes y criticó el plan económico: “Llegaron tarde”
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Milei parte nuevamente a España y en el gobierno dicen que no bajará el tono de sus críticas a Pedro Sánchez
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Sindicatos del transporte y de la industria se diferencian de la estrategia de la CGT y deciden acciones propias
