California Gov. Jerry Brown (D.) on Sunday blamed rural Californians for not wanting higher taxes to help fight climate change.
Chuck Todd, the host of MSNBC’s “Meet the Press,” asked about how California’s new gas tax hurts rural residents who need cars because they don’t have access to public transportation.
He cited an article from CityLab, which said the gas tax “punishes people for not having access to transit options,” but Brown bowled right over Todd’s research and blamed rural Californians for not being on board with his agenda.
“You won your gas tax fight, but rural Californians didn’t like it,” Todd said.
“No, they don’t. They don’t like a lot of things. They voted against housing bonds, they voted for the Republican Cox who didn’t even make 40 percent,” Brown said, referring to his reelection’s vote margin.
He then went on to divide residents of his own state into the categories of “red” and “blue,” siding with the wealthier, more Democratic residents on the coast, who have a majority and want to raise taxes on rural Californians.
“There is the same divide in California as in America. The red is different than the blue, and it is associated definitely with rural areas,” he said.
Todd also asked about the yellow vest movement roiling France, in which many rural French people are protesting their own fuel tax and President Emmanuel Macron’s response to their concerns. Brown, however, said the problem is that France doesn’t tax rich people enough.
“In terms of what happened in France, I believe the president cut back on taxes for the very wealthy and at the same time he imposed what is essentially a sales tax and on working and poor people. So that is very different from our own tax,” he said.
He credited Californians with understanding that the high taxes and spending are “helping their community.” He admitted that they need more public transportation, however.
“We need more rapid transit. We need trains and we need more efficient cars and we need all of that, and that’s why this climate change is not just adapting, it’s inventing new technology,” he said.
He said Americans have the wrong idea about how to respond to Chinese technology, and then compared fighting climate change to World War II.
“I would point to the fact that it took [President Franklin D.] Roosevelt many, many years to get America willing to go into World War II and fight the Nazis,” Brown said. “We have an enemy and perhaps very much devastating in a similar way and we have to fight climate change and the president has got to lead on that.”
Read more at Free Beacon
Moonbeam is a total jerk just about like most all liberal democrats are a member of the STUPID JACKASS PARTY who want to tax us for everything from Big Macs to our Ruger Pistols to fund their pork projects like their super speed train or free stuff for illegal aliens
“I would point to the fact that it took [President Franklin D.] Roosevelt many, many years to get America willing to go into World War II and fight the Nazis,”
What a crock of natural fertilizer! The European war broke our in late 1939. The United Stares didn’t really get involved in that war till after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor in late 1941. “Many, many years”??? My ‘really involved’? US Navy ships escorted Allied convoys part-way across the Atlantic before Pearl Harbor – and several were lost to German U-Boats. Check out the USS Ruben James history. Ex-governor Brown is clue-less – just like his old man was…..
Truth is, FDR waited until many, many lives were lost. It would have felt like many, many years to the Allies who fought from the start. He behaved like hockey ref’s, wait until the fighters are breathing heavy, then wade in.
Just read something of interest in “Our Jungle Road to Tokyo” – Robert Eichelberger – Lieutenant General – Retired. The military draft was was reintroduced by the US Congress in mid-1941. The bill passed by one vote…..
Pay an extra tax on fuel, or California declares bankruptcy.
What choice did those voters have? If California is anything like Ontario, the hordes of government employees is enough to swing the vote.
How did Doug Ford win Ontario’s last election? I believe that the government employees couldn’t stomach the Liberal embarrassment any longer, stayed away in droves.
If you analyze what Brown said about the impact of the gas tax on rural residents, he basically said, “I don’t give a sh*t about them.” He went on to talk about them being “red” or politically conservative, so that appears why he could care less about these residents of California.
I live in a rural area and energy prices do have a higher impact. For those who would be willing to use it, public transit isn’t available. In comparison to suburban or urban people who do drive cars, we have to drive further for the same sort of trips. There are other reasons energy use is greater in rural areas. Most have to pump water from wells. In our case, we have low yield well so we have to pump it once into a cistern when the water is available, and again into the house. People in rural areas who are involved in agriculture also need more energy. This might be for irrigation, or in some cases pumping water out of an area so it can be farmed.
My uncle’s family is in Alturas California. Though they life in town, they have some of the same issues as rural areas. The local hospital only has basic services. If anything more than that is needed, they have to drive a hundred miles.
To say that France’s problems are due their failure to more heavily tax the wealthy is just an excuse. The way California is going, there will be a rebellion, either at the ballot box or with yellow vests.
I don’t expect the common Frenchman to understand this, but not applying France’s heavy taxes to the wealthy is necessary. Unlike the common people, the wealthy can easily move to another European country and apply for citizenship. A heavy tax on the wealthy can actually reduce the money collected because there would be fewer of them.