Gangsters on the streets, progressive polemics that pass as policies, Leftist unrest, check-jacks by the state revenuers, and child-stealing by state apparatchiks have contributed to drive out another big name from California.
Neither the pull of the most beautiful and geographically diverse state in the country nor a 30,500 square-foot mansion near a thriving film and movie scene was enough to keep him, his wife, and four kids in what used to be called the Golden State.
Former hip-hop artist, actor, and entrepreneur Mark Wahlberg says he wanted out of California to “give my children a better life.”
Did you get that?
Wahlberg pointed no fingers at Gavin Newsom, made no plaintive appeals to civility, didn’t point at the state’s absurd policies, nor noted any fear he felt in his Beverly Hills home. He’s just out. He wanted a “fresh start.” He just slinked out of town, canceling California before California has a chance to cancel him.
The New York Post reports that Wahlberg moved to California years ago to pursue acting, “and I’ve only made a couple of movies in the entire time that I was there.”
“So, to be able to give my kids a better life and follow and pursue their dreams,” he took his kids, ages 18, 16, 13, and 12 out of California. He wants his kids to pursue their passions in Nevada — and, by the way, they could have pursued them in California — such as “my daughter as an equestrian, my son as a basketball player, my younger son as a golfer.” Wahlberg said the move “made a lot more sense for us.”
He left behind the property, which “features 12 bedrooms and 20 bathrooms along with a home theater, a wine cellar, a five-hole golf course, a tennis court, a skate park and a separate guest house” and moved to Nevada after putting his mansion on the market for $87 million last April.
Nice Vegas view.
View this post on Instagram
Maybe it was the April taxes that the Wahlburger chain restaurant owner, actor, F-45 gym owner, and clothing entrepreneur saw that made him want to get out of California.
California plans to raise its already sky-high income tax rate. These greedy Democrats make those oil company executives they love to hate look like cute playful puppies. As the Wall Street Journal reports, California’s top marginal rate in order to pay more for family leave giveaway programs so people can stay home longer and get paid more for not working.
[I]n 2024 California’s top marginal tax rate will increase to 14.4% from 13.3% for workers making more than $1 million. Those making between $61,214 and $312,686 would pay 10.4%. So California’s upper-middle class will pay more than millionaires in almost every state save New York, New Jersey and Hawaii.
“It gets worse,” the Journal warns. “The state Employment Development Department [which paid COVID-19 unemployment benefits to prisoners and thieves] says this tax increase ‘would not offset the additional benefit payments over time.'”
And the tax will keep going up to match future demand for free stuff. “Under current law, the department can raise the payroll tax up to 1.5% to keep the special fund solvent.”
And why wouldn’t he get out? With his money worth less because of Bidenflation and taxes going up to pay for progressives’ ever-expanding socialist welfare state, what person wouldn’t move if they could?
In July, he found a new house in Nevada. Its income tax is zero.
Others may follow Wahlberg.
View this post on Instagram
And then there are the other problems with being in the Los Angeles area. Entertainers have been told they’re not safe on the streets of L.A. Last Christmas, police union leader Jamie McBride ominously warned, “We can’t guarantee your safety. It is really, really out of control. I said it to people before, it’s like that movie Purge. You know, instead of 24 hours to commit your crime, these people have 365 days to commit whatever they want.”
Rap artists have been picked off by drive-by shooters and jacked up by thieves on the streets. Hip-hop artist Boosie Badazz warned fellow rappers to not walk on the streets because of the spate of drive-by shootings and thefts.
In September, rapper Wakko the Kid was robbed and shot on the streets of L.A. In October, a rapper turned UPS employee known in hip-hop circles as Half Ounce was shot on the street.
Sounds like the bad old days are back.
No wonder Wahlberg got out.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member