In a recent op-ed, business mogul Kevin O’Leary raised alarms about California’s financial situation, stating, “California’s budget deficit is now $45 billion – yet the state has some of the highest taxes in the nation.” He argues that the state’s financial health has deteriorated under Gov. Gavin Newsom’s leadership.
High taxes make businesses and residents leave, causing more homelessness and higher unemployment. “His far-left fantasies have turned the Golden State into a Venezuelan-style dumpster fire,” O’Leary said, stressing the gravity of the situation.
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According to O’Leary, one of the major issues is Newsom’s $20-an-hour minimum wage law for fast food workers. While intended to help low-income workers, it has closed long-standing businesses, leaving thousands of people jobless. “Newsom’s disastrous $20-an-hour minimum fast food wage law made decades-old businesses unprofitable overnight,” O’Leary explained. “A reported 10,000 people in California’s fast-food industry have lost their jobs in just a few months.”
Housing affordability is another critical problem. The median home price in California has surged past $900,000, making it nearly impossible for many to afford rent or buy a home, says the Shark Tank investor. This situation has forced even working people to leave the state. “No wonder Newsom’s $24 billion plan to address a homelessness crisis has failed miserably; even working people are being forced to flee because they simply cannot afford to pay rent,” O’Leary noted.
O’Leary also draws comparisons to Canada, where recent tax hikes have driven away investors, leading to fewer jobs and less innovation. “Just last week, progressive Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government imposed a suicidal increase in the capital gains tax. As a result, investors – myself included – took their money and ran,” he said.
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He warns that the U.S. could face similar economic challenges if Newsom’s policies were implemented nationwide. “This could happen here in America if an ideologue and proven failure like Gavin Newsom ends up in the White House,” O’Leary cautioned.
O’Leary also urges Democrats to consider the economic impact of their policies seriously, emphasizing that “Job creation and a strong, stable economy is a bipartisan goal.” “If Democrats lose sight of that, it doesn’t matter who they choose to run; they will lose the business community,” he declared.
This isn’t the first time O’Leary had choice words for the Golden State Governor. In an interview with Fox News, O’Leary harshly commented on businesses leaving San Francisco and the state, saying, "What a wasteland. All of these places shutting down. It is not a partisan argument. When a Walgreens shuts down, a drugstore shuts down, and a convenience store shuts down, a bodega shuts down, that’s nothing to do with whether you’re blue or red.”
"I think Gavin Newsom, for his interest in running for president, should probably fix California now because everybody in the country has figured out that place is a disaster," O’Leary said before adding that he lacks execution skills and saying you have to “blame the top manager.”
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