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<\/a>California Democrats are going on the offensive, firing the first shot in their pitched battle with President Donald J. Trump, and\u00a0threatening to \u201ccut off the Feds\u201d by withholding taxes.<\/h2>\n
According to CBS San Francisco<\/a>, former State Assembly Speaker Willie Brown, Jr. said: \u201cCalifornia could very well become an organized non-payer. \u2026 They could recommend non-compliance with the federal tax code.\u201d Democrats are considering the tax revolt as part of what CBS San Francisco called an \u201call-out war\u201d against the Trump administration, which could also include holding back state transfers of funds to the federal government.<\/p>\n The list of potential state transfers to Washington\u00a0is\u00a0limited, however, according to one expert on the inner workings of California\u2019s government contacted by Breitbart News, who did not wish to be named. He cited the handful of areas where the State of California remits large dollar amounts, including biweekly federal tax withholding from millions of state workers, and worker\u2019s compensation fund payments.<\/p>\n California is often described as a \u201cdonor state,\u201d<\/a>\u00a0meaning that California remits more money than it takes in federal funds to keep hundreds of entitlement programs afloat. While that may be true, it does not paint an accurate picture of California\u2019s finances.<\/p>\n As\u00a0Governor Jerry Brown admitted\u00a0in his \u201cState of the State\u201d speech last week,\u00a0the Golden State is\u00a0dependent on \u201ctens of billions of dollars\u201d to keep Covered California<\/a> (California\u2019s version of ObamaCare) afloat, such that losing it would blow a hole in California\u2019s budget, creating\u00a0a massive shortfall.<\/p>\n If state officials move to stop federal withholdings, that would put California state workers in a very precarious position, and could have profound consequences for the state as a non-compliant employer \u2014 not to mention massive financial penalties that could be assessed.<\/p>\n California Democrats are accustomed to steamrolling over the weak\u00a0opposition, to say nothing of crushing individual business large and small, often taking on entire industries like the twin behemoths \u2014 oil and agriculture \u2014 and forcing them to comply or die.<\/p>\n (Remember the Amazon sales tax fight<\/a> in California?\u00a0 The world\u2019s most valuable company folded like an empty suit in a hurricane.)<\/p>\n But California Democrats have\u00a0never dealt with anyone like our new president.\u00a0 President Donald J. Trump is not likely to\u00a0tolerate lawlessness and defiance from a petulant blue minority in a nation turned red. Threats to cut off what would not even amount to 10% of the money flowing from California to Washington, D.C. could trigger President Trump turning off the spigot altogether \u2014 essentially drying up the almost 80% of California funds that are returned to the state in federal funding.<\/p>\n Democrats, drunk on local power, seem to have forgotten the lessons of 1992<\/a>, when Republican Governor Pete Wilson came out and announced, \u201cThis morning, California is running on empty,\u201d and the state began issuing I.O.U.\u2019s in lieu of payment for the first time since the Great Depression.<\/p>\n Failing to remit worker\u2019s compensation funds put California in arrears for decades.<\/p>\n Do Democrats really want to risk California\u2019s solvency by throwing sand in the eye of the Leviathan?<\/p>\n If the Trump administration holds the \u201cTrump card\u201d simply by shutting off the subsidies for one program \u2014 and Gov. Brown admits they do when it comes to ObamaCare funding \u2014\u00a0it is clear which side holds the leverage.<\/p>\n California is particularly vulnerable because of the dependence of many illegal aliens on public assistance, and on the federal earned income tax credit.<\/p>\n With the stroke of a pen, President Trump could shut down the state by cutting off or delaying funds.<\/p>\n Moreover, federal funds fuel almost every major institution in California, including:<\/p>\n Since the California Constitution forbids deficit funding,\u00a0the state cannot live off credit cards alone.<\/p>\n\n