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Why Californians are leaving — and what Gavin Newsom is spending $19M to hide

Gavin Newsom is hiring a New York PR firm to sell California — ahead of his likely presidential bid — at a cost to taxpayers of $19 million.

Why does California need outside help? After all, as Newsom likes to remind us, the state is one of the largest economies on earth. 

But the governor’s actual record could be a problem for his presidential bid. Hence his familiar solution: To portray California as a vibrant economy, and to counter “myths driven by misinformation and political rhetoric.” 

To be sure, California has a huge GDP, based mostly on the assets of the tech oligopolies. 

The tech legacy has left California with four of the world’s seven trillion-dollar companies by valuation, and the highest number of billionaires. But the state is hardly the “social justice” model, “the envy of the world” that Newsom likes to crow about.

Instead, California has become the epicenter of neo-feudalism, with roughly half the nation’s homeless population. California has the highest unemployment rate of any state, and also suffers the highest cost-of-living-adjusted poverty rate. 

The Public Policy Institute of California estimates another fifth live in near-poverty — roughly 15 million people in total.

Yet despite the disparities, Newsom has been forced to oppose the unions’ proposed 5% wealth tax on “billionaires,” largely because the state is dependent on the roughly 100,000 taxpayers with incomes above $1 million. These amount to one-half of 1% of all tax returns filed in the state, but also account for about 40% of all California personal income taxes.

Then there’s the small matter of unfunded pension and retirement liabilities, which are estimated to be around $1 trillion. 

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