{"id":45793,"date":"2025-12-29T11:15:19","date_gmt":"2025-12-29T19:15:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=45793"},"modified":"2025-12-29T11:15:20","modified_gmt":"2025-12-29T19:15:20","slug":"khanna-hits-back-as-silicon-valley-oligarchs-threaten-primary-challenge-over-california-billionaires-tax","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2025\/12\/29\/khanna-hits-back-as-silicon-valley-oligarchs-threaten-primary-challenge-over-california-billionaires-tax\/","title":{"rendered":"Khanna Hits Back as Silicon Valley Oligarchs Threaten Primary Challenge Over California Billionaires Tax"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"House<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

U.S. Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) speaks during a news conference outside the US Capitol on November 18, 2025 in Washington, DC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a0(Photo by Heather Diehl\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe cannot have a nation with extreme concentration of wealth in a few places, but where… healthcare, childcare, housing, education is unaffordable,\u201d the San Francisco lawmaker said.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Stephen Prager<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dec 28, 2025 (CommonDreams.org)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

US Rep. Ro Khanna<\/a> defended California\u2019s proposed tax on extreme wealth Saturday after a pair of prominent Silicon Valley venture capitalists threatened to launch a primary bid for his California House seat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The proposal<\/a>, which advocates are gathering signatures to place on the ballot in 2026, would impose a one-time 5% tax on those with net worths over $1 billion to recoup about $90 billion in Medicaid<\/a> funds stripped from the state by this year\u2019s Republican budget<\/a> law. The roughly 200 billionaires affected would have five years to pay the tax.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

RECOMMENDED…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"The<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Gavin Newsom Wants a \u2018Big Tent Party,\u2019 But Opposes Wealth Tax Supported by Large Majority of Americans<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Mitt<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Mitt \u201c47%\u201d Romney\u2019s Post-Career Call to Tax the Rich Met With Kudos and Criticism<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

While higher taxes on the superrich are overwhelmingly popular<\/a> with Americans, the proposal has rankled many of California\u2019s wealthiest residents, as well as California\u2019s Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom<\/a>, who said earlier this month that he\u2019s \u201cadamantly\u201d against the measure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Friday, the New York Times<\/a> <\/em>reported<\/a> that two of the valley\u2019s biggest powerbrokers\u2014venture capitalist and top Trump administration ally<\/a> Peter Thiel and Google co-founder Larry Page\u2014were threatening to reduce their ties to California in response to the tax proposal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This has been a common refrain from elites faced with proposed tax increases, though data suggests<\/a> they rarely follow through on their threats to bail on cities and states, even when those hikes are implemented. Meanwhile, the American Prospect <\/em>has pointed out<\/a> that the one-time tax would still apply to those who moved out of the Golden State.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Khanna (D-Calif.), who is both a member of the House\u2019s progressive faction and a longtime darling of the tech sector, has increasingly sparred<\/a> with industry leaders in recent years over their reactionary stances on labor rights, regulation, and taxation<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a post on X, the congressman\u00a0reacted<\/a>\u00a0with derision at the threats of billionaire flight: \u201cPeter Thiel is leaving California if we pass a\u00a01% tax on billionaires<\/a>\u00a0for five years to pay for\u00a0healthcare<\/a>\u00a0for the\u00a0working class<\/a>\u00a0facing steep Medicaid cuts. I echo what [former President Franklin D. Roosevelt]\u00a0said<\/a>\u00a0with sarcasm of economic royalists when they threatened to leave, \u2018I will miss them very much.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/x.com\/krystalball\/status\/2005293420827590946?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E2005293420827590946%7Ctwgr%5E0cc654cf4fd4bfc4f78d92df1caf8755c9cd4a19%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.commondreams.org%2Fnews%2Fkhanna-tech-oligarchs<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Casado, who donated<\/a> to Khanna\u2019s 2024 reelection campaign according to OpenSecrets, complained<\/a> that \u201cRo has done a speed run, alienating every moderate I know who has supported him, including myself.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBeyond being totally out of touch with [the moderate] faction of his base, he\u2019s devolved into an obnoxious jerk,\u201d Casado continued. \u201cAt least that makes voting him the fuck out all the more gratifying.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Casado\u2019s post received a reply from another former Khanna donor,<\/a> Garry Tan, the CEO of the tech startup accelerator Y Combinator.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTime to primary him,\u201d Tan said of Khanna.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tan, a self-described centrist Democrat, has never run for office before. But he is notorious<\/a> for his social media<\/a> tirades against local progressives<\/a> in San Francisco and was one of the top financial backers of the corporate-led push<\/a> to oust the city\u2019s liberal former district attorney, Chesa Boudin, in 2022.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Casado replied: \u201cCount me in. Happy to be involved at any level.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Progressive commentator Krystal Ball marveled that \u201cTech oligarchs are now openly conspiring against Ro Khanna<\/a> because he dared to back a modest wealth tax.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So far, neither Casado nor Tan has hinted at any concrete plans to challenge Khanna in 2026. If they did, defeating him would likely be a tall order\u2014since his sophomore election in 2018, a primary challenger has never<\/a> come within 30 points of unseating him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But Khanna still felt the need to respond to the brooding tech royals. He noted<\/a> that he has \u201csupported a modest wealth tax since the day I ran in 2016,\u201d which prompted another angry retort from Casado, who accused the congressman of \u201cantagonizing the people who made your district the amazing place it is\u201d with a tax on billionaires.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Khanna hit back at his critics with a lengthy defense of not just the wealth tax, but his conception of what he calls \u201cpro-innovation progressivism.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy district is $18 trillion, nearly one-third of the US stock market in a 50-mile radius. We have five companies with a market cap over $1 trillion,\u201d Khanna said. \u201cIf I can stand up for a billionaire tax, this is not a hard position for 434 other [House] members or 100 senators.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe seminal innovation in tech is done by thousands, often with public funds,\u201d Khanna continued. \u201cYes, we need entrepreneurs to commercialize disruptive innovation… But the idea that they would not start companies to make billions, or take advantage of an innovation cluster, if there is a 1-2% tax on their staggering wealth defies common sense and economic theory.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe cannot have a nation with extreme concentration of wealth in a few places, but where 70% of Americans believe the American dream is dead and healthcare, childcare, housing, education is unaffordable,\u201d he concluded. \u201cWhat will stifle American innovation, what will make us fall behind China, is if we see further political dysfunction and social unrest, if we fail to cultivate the talent in every American and in every city and town… So, yes, a billionaire tax is good for American innovation, which depends on a strong and thriving American\u00a0democracy<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stephen Prager<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stephen Prager is a staff writer for Common Dreams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Full Bio ><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

U.S. Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) speaks during a news conference outside the US Capitol on November 18, 2025 in Washington, DC. \u00a0(Photo by Heather Diehl\/Getty Images) \u201cWe cannot have a nation with extreme concentration of wealth in a few places, but where… healthcare, childcare, housing, education is unaffordable,\u201d the San… Continue reading → <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45793"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45793"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45793\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":45794,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45793\/revisions\/45794"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45793"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45793"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45793"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}