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Comment by polski-g | Hacker News Reader

They can leave. And they did.

One or two, nothing close to all. It's always an empty threat since time immemorial. Here's a 1936 FDR speech mocking it:

"A number of my friends who belong in the very high upper brackets have suggested to me on several occasions of late, that if I am reelected president, they will have to move to some other nation because of high taxes here. Now, I will miss them very much..." (audience breaks into laughter)

It's a manipulative tactic by greedy assholes to cow foolish people into accepting their demands of tax evasion to burden ordinary people.

An estimated $1.1t ($800b confirmed) in taxable assets have already left.

The billionaire mind virus might be contagious.

I am skeptical billionaires will actually leave their mansions in Malibu or Santa Barbara in any significant numbers just because of higher taxes they can easily afford to pay.

Apparently they didn't go very far.

most billionaires behave just like users on social media: they want to be on top, collect the most karma, etc. They arn't leaving a platform as large as California because that means diminishing their power and influence and attention.

Threats to leave for Texas don't survive the realization that then you'd have to live in Texas.

Exactly. Texas is horrible please stay out. It’s a briar patch. lol

shows you also how “smart” they are to “live” in Cali in the first place. you got billions, park yourself wherever the F you don’t have to pay jacksht for being a billionaire prick and get yourselves on of them houses in Cali to actually live instead of whatever shthole houses billionaires for free

Except what’s stupid is thinking the marginal billions of dollars they may save by not paying CA taxes are worth anything.

If you have $5Bn, other than power for power’s sake, it’s very hard to see how the next $100 or $500Bn can actually improve your life and happiness.

OTOH, being able to watch a Broadway show that you may have missed because you didn’t live in the same city, or a drive along the ocean while there was a beautiful sunset, would have significantly greater value to the quality of your life.

when you have this money you can “live” anywhere you want. he can have breakfast in Paris and still make the Broadway show and also get AirBnB for like a year in SF and then also like basically be wherever you want to be regardless of where your “mailing address” is. I have a friend who is 7-digit rich that lives in SF (for the past 8 years) but “lives” in Florida. sounds like our billionaires can’t figure this out so it makes the news (in the middle of about 857 other more important things going on)

7-digit rich in SF is essentially any homeowner

Wealthy people pay the vast majority of taxes in California. Meanwhile, at least 20% of the population are complete freeloaders.

billionaire adorers remind me of this…

“Socialism never took root in America because the poor see themselves not as an exploited proletariat but as temporarily embarrassed millionaires”

"Wealthy people pay the vast majority of taxes in California."

And well they should.

Anyone who dislikes a progressive tax system apparently wants billionaires to pay less and the poor to pay more.

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