SACRAMENTO, Kalifornia (PNN) - June 9, 2026 - There is an interesting controversy brewing in Kalifornia after four Kalifornia university professors threatened a political candidate, Richard Lucas, for criticizing them for their roles in the "Billionaire Tax" and sent him a "cease and desist" letter.
David Gamage from the University of Missouri, Brian Galle and Emmanuel Saez from UC Berkeley, and Darien Shanske from UC Davis claimed that the public criticism violated anti-doxxing laws by sharing contact information. They are clearly wrong. One of the aggrieved professors, Brian Galle, teaches at Berkeley Law School and called Lucas "a clown," but insisted that sharing public information is unlawful.
Attorney Catha Worthman sent the letter but has reportedly refused to respond to inquiries after attorneys for the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) pushed back on her legal claims and those of her clients.
The proposal has already cost the state trillions of dollars in lost wealth as wealthy taxpayers have fled, taking their businesses and jobs with them. These wealth taxes have a terrible track record and, on the federal level, face serious constitutional challenges. In Kalifornia, the drafters included a retroactive clause that can also be challenged.
One of the four professors - who Lucas referred to as "the looter dream team" - destroyed the claims of many supporters that this is just a one-time tax. Some of us have written that this is simply the first salvo. Once they succeed in targeting billionaires, the same measure will likely be used for those in lower tax brackets.
In a recent debate, Berkeley professor Emmanuel Saez admitted that he could not seriously claim this would be a one-time tax, as many in the public have asserted. He said they would have to wait to see if it passes, but it is likely to be repeated and noted that there may also be a federal wealth tax on the way.
He said, “I don't think it's going to be a one-time tax... because you can't surprise billionaires more than once. Even then, you know, maybe some of them were expecting something like this. It's going to be a debate about this time, you know, a permanent wealth tax at a low rate that's going to last for a number of years.”
Saez has publicly taunted the wealthy who are fleeing the state.
He noted the move on the Marxist Left to create a federal wealth tax that has been pushed by devout Marxists Bernie Sanders (Ver.) and Ro Khanna (Kalif.).
The legislation, Make Billionaires Pay Their Fair Share Act, echoes the growing "eat-the-rich" mantra on the lunatic Marxist Left - seeking to replicate a disastrous push in Kalifornia that has led to an exodus from that state and an estimated loss of $2 trillion in taxable assets.
It is also flagrantly unconstitutional.
Under the plan, Congress would target 938 billionaires to tap them for $4.4 trillion. That money would then be redistributed as a $3,000 direct payment to every man, woman and child in a household making $150,000 or less - $12,000 for a family of four.
There are ample reasons to criticize this tax and the claims made by its champions. There is a type of self-sustaining pattern on the Marxist Left in support of such measures. Universities have largely purged conservatives and libertarians from departments, leaving most faculties with professors who run exclusively from the Marxist Left to the far Left, who believe that nobody is entitled to what they earn.
These professors then added intellectual support for radical proposals like wealth taxes. The media then report that experts have reviewed and approved the measures, more specifically, socialist Communists who believe that what belongs to you can be taken and given to others less well-off than you. It becomes an entirely closed loop from political groups to academics to media creating a uniform narrative.
The ADF wrote a strong letter pointing out the flaws in the claims of these professors under anti-doxxing laws from the lack of intent to the protection of free speech. These professors became public advocates for this ill-conceived plan and, as a result, have drawn criticism for that advocacy.
Lucas was one of those critics. Nevertheless, the professors sent two cease and desist letters to Lucas, requesting that he remove their names and contact information from his website “(Kalifornia) Wealth Exodus." Lucas has remained adamant that he will not remove their contact information.
The threat of legal action is fundamentally flawed and would not prevail in the courts. These radical un-Amerikan Communist professors will need to respond to their critics rather than work to silence them.