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Newsom opposes the billionaire tax — but he can fight much harder

Gavin Newsom deserves praise for trying to stop the state’s wealth from fleeing — though he should be doing much more.

Newsom has said he opposes the “billionaire tax” ballot initiative, as The California Post has noted. And Politico reported this week that the governor also tried to convince union boss Dave Regan not to pursue it.

Regan has led the SEIU-United Healthcare Workers West for 15 years. He brought his bare-knuckle East Coast tactics to California.

The results have been mixed — even for the workers he represents.

Regan’s specialty, Politico noted in a recent profile, has been filing ballot initiatives as a negotiation tactic.

They cost money to organize, but they also cost money to oppose. And even terrible ideas can pass, if the opposition is weak enough, or complacent.

California’s business elites fall into the latter category. They funded progressive politics for years, never imagining that they might eventually become its targets.

Some are organizing efforts to stop Regan’s “billionaire tax,” both by urging people to vote against it, and by proposing “poison pill” ballot........

© New York Post