A trademark Democrat Looney Tunes moment occurred in September 30’s California gubernatorial debate between former Democrat Biden-era HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra and GOP entrepreneur and former Fox News host Steve Hilton.
The Left has been caterwauling endlessly about affordability, and, indeed, it is a huge issue as most of us know. The hypocrisy is nevertheless so galling because even as they're crying, leftists remain hellbent on making life costlier for the average American.
Take this exchange on taxes. Hilton wants to make Californians’ first $150K in income free from the nation’s highest income-tax rate in the country (13.3 percent). You could almost see Becerra's brain catching on fire; I envision him in a castle with a peruke proclaiming, "Reduce taxes?! What are you, bloody mad?!"
Becerra just called every Californian under $150k “wealthy” while attacking Hilton’s plan to wipe out state income tax on that exact amount. Median household income here is ~$100k and coastal rents already devour most of it. That’s a career politician who hasn’t seen a real paycheck in decades telling working people they’re rich.
— Steve Hilton For Governor (@TeamSteveHilton) October 2, 2026
Becerra just called every Californian under $150k “wealthy” while attacking Hilton’s plan to wipe out state income tax on that exact amount.
Median household income here is ~$100k and coastal rents already devour most of it.
That’s a career politician who hasn’t seen a real paycheck in decades telling working people they’re rich.
Note to Becerra: $150,000 does not make you wealthy in California, which is regularly rated by economists as the costliest state to live in. In many communities, it's barely enough to get by.
But wait, there’s more! The state just raised the gas tax again on July 1, bringing it to 63.4 cents a gallon, the highest in the nation. The raise is automatic because lawmakers passed a 2017 law requiring rate adjustments every July based on the change in the California Consumer Price Index, but do you see any Democrats calling to reassess that measure or pause the tax?
@RepPeteAguilar It's $3.90 in Indiana right now, genius. Ridiculous gas prices in the formerly Golden State are caused by excessive taxation and regulation enacted by extremist Dems. Trying to pin it on Trump is weak sauce indeed. Did he import the 182,000 homeless people too?
— Bob Hoge (@Bob_Hoge_CA) September 30, 2026
But wait, there’s even more! Numerous cities in the Golden State upped their sales tax rate on October 1. Combined rates in California now run from the 7.25 percent base up to a whopping 11.25 percent. There’s some affordability for ya, folks!
My friend and frequent Fox News contributor Dr. Houman Hematti spells out just how “affordable” California really is — and why it actually isn’t in the slightest.
💸 As of tomorrow, Los Angeles County will have the nation's highest sales tax rates, with some cities as high as 11.75% sales tax. Because they don't already have enough money with 14.4% income tax, high property/gas/utility taxes.
— Houman David Hemmati, MD, PhD (@houmanhemmati) September 30, 2026
Highest taxes in the POOREST cities - Palmdale… https://t.co/ygV8kzqj0w pic.twitter.com/LNZUHPuYB2
💸 As of tomorrow, Los Angeles County will have the nation's highest sales tax rates, with some cities as high as 11.75% sales tax. Because they don't already have enough money with 14.4% income tax, high property/gas/utility taxes.
Highest taxes in the POOREST cities - Palmdale & Lancaster, 16% poverty rates in these desert communities. Now paying 11.75% tax on everything they purchase.
I moved to CA in 2013 from New Hampshire, which had 0% sales/income tax, nearly 0 gas tax & vehicle registration fees, but which had next to zero crime, great roads/schools. Why? Because they don't openly STEAL the money. They don't give drug addicted and/or lazy "homeless" people $2 MILLION beachfront condos for life (including all utilities AND HIGH END groceries from stores I won't even step foot in like Bristol Farms)!
Unless something changes immediately, California will soon become a state for the extremely rich & the extremely poor, with no middle class to speak of. And once the remaining extremely rich are driven out by taxes to pay for all the extremely poor, it'll become a failed state as there'll be no one left to pay the high taxes.
Oh, and Gavin Newsom just signed a massive increase in healthcare taxes as well as a tax on — what will they think of next? — software downloads. C'mon, man.
But it’s not just California — I focus on my state because I live here and witness the insanity regularly. Here are some other ways the blue staters are trying to "lower your cost of living":
Washington State. Democratic legislature enacted a 9.9 percent tax on millionaires and added a new 3-cent diesel tax for 2026 (and another 3 cents in 2028), piling on to a 6-cent gasoline-tax increase that took effect earlier.
Virginia. Governor Abigail Spanberger signed a new data-center electricity tax of 1.1 cents per kilowatt-hour, effective July 1. She also directed the state back into the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, one of those silly carbon-allowance programs, after former GOP Gov. Glenn Youngkin had pulled out of it. Guess who’s going to see their power bills go up? The consumer.
Illinois: You knew Gov. JB Pritzker would be in the mix, didn't you? The billionaire hotel heir doesn't need to worry much about affordability, but his residents and businesses face a projected $800 million in new taxes, including levies on online sports betting and prediction markets and a social media fee.
New York City: A demonically grinning Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic Socialist mayor, announced his punitive "pied-à-terre" tax in April (currently tied up in the courts), and dreams of all sorts of new taxes in his future.
Happy Tax Day, New York. We’re taxing the rich. https://t.co/Wky2LFXC9W
— Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani (@NYCMayor) April 15, 2026
Always remember: when they say they're "taxing the rich," they mean they're coming for you next.
Also remember that every single Democrat in Congress voted against the 2025 One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which contained some of the largest tax cuts in history and included deductions on tips and overtime, a higher standard deduction, a child tax credit, and a temporary higher cap on the state-and-local tax deduction.
I’m pretty sure I’m preaching to the choir here at RedState when I warn that every single vote for a Democrat is a vote to make American life more expensive, but we must keep reminding the world and make sure conservatives come out in force.
Otherwise, we’ll just have to keep watching our wallets shrink even more after the hurt Sleepy Joe’s 9.1 percent Bidenflation put on them.
