Leftist elites have long been looking for a way to restrict drastically or even eliminate the ability of ordinary Americans to have private transportation. The fewer people with private transport, the easier it is to control the general population. And the Democrat candidate for governor in California supports a very thinly disguised move toward this type of dystopian oligarchy.
Whenever a politician proposes a measure which will make it exponentially more expensive to drive a car, assume he is trying to limit the number of people in control of their travel and living situation. Globalists, which includes most Democrat politicians and even some Republicans, dream of a world where most of the population lives in apartments or government housing in a limited area, with almost no rights, a lack of upward mobility, and intense government surveillance. This is why these politicians find socialist dictatorships like the one in China so fascinating and appealing.
AB 1421 extended California’s “voluntary” road usage charge pilot program by eight years, meaning it now goes through Jan. 1, 2035. The idea is that this per-mile fee program will become law at some point, and Xavier Becerra confirmed in a new interview with KCRA that he is open to implementing that mileage tax permanently and mandatorily.
Becerra’s Republican gubernatorial challenger Steve Hilton warned voters that between the mileage tax and an increase in gas prices, Becerra could end up costing every California motorist thousands of dollars extra every year. “This is Democrat elitism at its worst,” Hilton said while speaking at a gas station. “The average, at an estimate of six to nine cents a mile, is $1,000 a year… For gas, Becerra would charge you an extra $1,600 a year, $8 gas.”
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There’s also an extra $256 for vehicle registration versus Hilton’s cap of $73, and added together, Hilton estimates an extra “$2,856 a year… just for driving for the average Californian under Becerra. We can't afford Becerra.”
The current Democrat governor of California, Gavin Newsom, is a former Young Leader of the World Economic Forum, which laid out its plan to eliminate private transportation in its version of the 2030 agenda. Los Angeles and San Francisco have been members of the C40 Cities coalition for years, and C40 Cities also avows a goal of drastically restricting or eliminating air travel and private transport for most people. So Becerra plans to take over from other Democrats who agree with him that most Californians should not be able to afford cars.
Becerra has bragged about his extreme climate regulation views and his war with oil companies as part of his campaign. He is also planning to carry on the disastrous high-speed rail project that has sucked up over $14 billion without accomplishing anything and is set to cost up to hundreds of billions of dollars more.
In an early 2026 interview, Becerra made it clear that he wanted public transportation to be the "universal" option and insisted on phasing out gas-powered cars, referring approvingly to New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who has a radical commie view on public transport. Becerra said, "What we need to do is what Mayor Mamdani hit on, which is public transportation. Make it available so people can get around, even if they can't afford a car, or they can't change their gas-guzzling car for an electric vehicle. We have to make public transportation available universally, so we can get on that road to cleaner energy.” Since only people who are financially well off can afford electric cars, what Becerra basically said is that poor people or middle-class people who can’t afford electric vehicles just need to give up on cars.
Hilton was right — Becerra's transportation plan is Democrat elitism at its worst.
