OPINION:
This is the season of the thief.
The Mongols, Huns and their barbarian brothers were incapable of creating wealth. They could only loot it from the civilizations they conquered. The Democrats are an updated version of these ravenous hordes.
On Sunday, former Labor Secretary Robert Reich, who served in President Clinton’s Cabinet, called for robbing Tesla co-founder Elon Musk, the wealthiest and possibly most creative man on the planet.
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Mr. Reich wants to nationalize two of Mr. Musk’s most successful operations: SpaceX and its satellite division, Starlink. SpaceX is worth an estimated $2 trillion, while Starlink generated $11.4 billion in revenue at the end of 2025.
Government has a solid record of running businesses into the ground.
Mr. Reich is evidently jealous of Mr. Musk’s success and furious at Mr. Musk’s support for Republican candidates. Fair enough. Does this mean that if Republicans have the power, they should confiscate the businesses of left-wing donor George Soros, who has directed vast fortunes toward candidates on the other side?
Mr. Reich’s scheme to confiscate Starlink would probably run afoul of the First Amendment’s free speech clause and the Fifth Amendment’s prohibition on the taking of private property without just compensation — not that Democrats ever let a little thing like the Constitution stand in their way.
Michigan Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed, who claims to be a capitalist, has called for public ownership stakes in artificial intelligence, on which America will increasingly rely for its national security and economic growth. Swell.
On Nov. 3, Californians will vote on a billionaires’ wealth tax, which may be the dumbest idea yet for despoiling the most productive. Proposition 40 is a “one-time” 5% tax on those with a net worth of $1 billion or more. The goal is to raise $100 billion over five years from 200 billionaires.
The scheme is already backfiring. According to research by the Stanford-based Hoover Institution, tax-driven departures by corporations and high earners are eroding state revenues and employment opportunities. If Proposition 40 passes, that exodus will accelerate.
If California can levy a special tax on billionaires, why not one on millionaires or on anyone with an income above the national average? Mr. Reich, Mr. El-Sayed and the proponents of Proposition 40 are great at confiscating wealth but have never actually generated any.
Most of these policy architects have spent their entire lives in government, academia or the media.
Their proposals are preposterous, and they are the new face of the Democratic Party.
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