California steals from its citizens. Does anyone care?
California has announced that it will hold on to tax refunds for 30 days. Given that tax refunds are the property of taxpayers, and not something the state has any legal right to, this amounts to California literally stealing money from over two million residents. At least it’s only for a month, but it’s not a good precedent. If they can get away with a month, they can probably get away with indefinitely. If a regular person steals, “I was going to give it back next month!” is not a legal defense. Is anybody in California angry over this illegal theft? As far as I can tell, no.
It’s also a bit scary. The California government is apparently so bankrupt that it has to resort to stealing money from its citizens to push back paying the bills for 30 days. What then? In a few months to a year, the Federal government may have to bail them out. Either that, or California will have to raise taxes on the wealthy to astronomical levels. It will be interesting to see how high taxes will have to get before Alec Baldwin becomes a Republican.
