10 questions with Mark Parker Running for State Assembly District 40
1) What qualifications do you have to run for office, and what inspired you to run for office?
First, I should say that I’ve yet to file with the Secretary of State, so I’m not an official candidate. There are a few technical details still to be sorted out (like whether or not to accept voluntary spending limits), but I hope to make it official by this fall. Then I can start spending money and accepting donations on behalf of a campaign.
With that disclaimer out of the way, I admit that I have no good answer to the first half of your question. The law states that I’m qualified to represent the 40th Assembly District if elected. Beyond this, what can I add without sounding like a politician?
The facts are: I have little money, no celebrity, few connections. My family isn’t even crazy about my running, just because of the toll politics is known to take on families.
I’m running to raise taxes on the rich to save our democracy from the tyranny of the rich. What qualifications could I possibly possess that they and their surrogates will not trash?
Nevertheless, someone has to advocate for a popular rebellion against the corrupting influence of extreme wealth. It’s essentially the reason why Donald Trump sleeps in the White House. It’s also why we don’t have decent universal healthcare, why our children attend under-funded public schools, why there is a student-debt crisis, and why we have the most extreme inequality between rich and poor of any of the advanced democracies.
So ready or not, here I come..
2) What are the key points to your platform you are running on?
My highest priority is raising taxes on the richest 1% by some $400 billion and the next richest 9% by another $100 billion. My goal is to see us ultimately increase the size of the state budget to about one-third of state GDP, from $200 billion this year to around $800 billion (in 2017 dollars)
That still leaves us slightly behind much of Northern Europe, in terms of government spending as a percentage of GDP, including federal spending in the state. But this program will transform California, virtually eliminate poverty, stabilize our democracy, reduce inequality, and stimulate economic growth. While the numbers are large, we are a large state with many urgent needs that have built up over several decades.
So why raise taxes so dramatically specifically on the rich?
1. To fully fund essential public services.
2. To address income and wealth disparities caused by 40 years of stagnant wages for 80% of Californians.
3. To cut taxes paid by 80% of California’s taxpayers.
4. To bring the rich under the rule of law.
5. To strengthen California economically and politically.
Will raising taxes on the mega-wealthy drive them out of the state?
Yes and no… Many of the very, very rich, the top one-tenth of one percent, will leave the state. But they don’t really live here anyway. If they do leave, their absence will result in a net gain for California’s economy, since most of the wealth and income extracted from California by these individuals is exported to investments and tax shelters around the world, never to be seen by California again.
Think of it like this: Compare how a billionaire uses one million dollars in income to how ten middle class families spend one million dollars divided equally into $100,000 each. For the billionaire one million dollars represents a few hours of his yearly income. For the ten families it represents the produce of an entire year’s labor. The billionaire doesn’t need to spend any of that one million dollars. He may live on the interest alone. So he deposits the million somewhere, usually outside of the state, wherever he can get the most return for the least worry and effort. In contrast the ten families will take their portion of the million and buy housing, food, clothing, education, entertainment, etc, spending most of that million dollars in California, which in turn benefits other Californians. What I describe is an incontrovertible macroeconomic fact. It just doesn’t fit conveniently into the myth that the rich are “job creators.”
Now groan as they might over having to pay higher taxes, most of the more moderately wealthy will stay in California, since they can’t earn the same kind of income and lifestyle for themselves anywhere else in the world. Those of this class who do leave will likely be older, making room for highly skilled young professionals.
It’s also worth noting that tax evading millionaires can’t take their real estate with them. To compensate for whatever losses we sustain in income and wealth-tax revenue, I will work hard to pass a constitutional amendment allowing us to tax property held by parties outside of the state at much higher rates than we do today.
Increasing taxes on the wealthiest 1% is our first and most important test as a democracy in this period of prolonged crisis. There are two major facets to my One-Percent Tax Plan:
● The first is wholly new to California: a 5% wealth tax on estates with a net worth above $20 million. This tax alone will bring in $200 billion per year to the state treasury.
● The second is an increase in state income tax rates on household income over $400,000 per year ($200,000 for individuals) to 53%. This tax increase is worth around $200 billion as well.
Outrageous! — you say? Maybe not… The millionaires and billionaires who have to pay this tax can deduct state income taxes from their federal income taxes. So nearly half of their income above $400,000 will be left to them unscathed. It might also be worth making the point that an annual income of $400,000 is six times that of the median household income in California. So save your tears. There are more deserving victims.
What might we do with all of this money? Here are a few ideas:
● Pay for universal single-payer health care.
● Pay for a Guaranteed Minimum Income (GMI) of $35,000 per year to every Californian working 28 hours or more per week as an employee, independent contractor, small business owner, farmer, returning student, etc.
● Provide free college tuition and vocational training.
● Offer student debt relief.
● Reduce class sizes by half in our public K-12 schools.
● Provide up to one year of paid parental leave upon the birth or adoption of a child, and 30 days paid vacation based on the GMI.
● Modernize our public infrastructure.
● Reform our criminal justice system based on the Norwegian model.
● Subsidize and control rents to 25% of income for those earning less than $120,000 per year.
● Help struggling homeowners restructure the repayment of their mortgages to 25% of income.
● Help Californians trade up to zero-emission vehicles.
● Offer complete student loan forgiveness and housing assistance to doctors, nurses, teachers, police officers, firefighters, social workers, etc, who are willing to work in underserved areas or needed specialties.
● Reduce the cost of homeownership by cutting property taxes on owner-occupied primary residences valued at $750,000 or less.
● Reinvest in public libraries.
● Build a broadband public wireless network accessible anywhere in California for free.
● Recommit to public broadcasting by creating a new statewide corporation for media in the public interest modeled after the BBC.
● These are just some of my spending priorities.
3) What do the Democrats need to do on Healthcare in California?
Fully fund single-payer. If that’s not politically possible, create a public option to run concurrently with the private system until single-payer is politically viable. Then we need to go after the greed and corruption in our system that makes it the most expensive healthcare in the world. There’s no question that we will have to do this in stages. My highest priority is that there be no interruption in patient care.
4) What is your opinion on the issue of gaining California more independence, whether that is as independent nation, or as a west coast Scotland, also known as a nation within a nation?
I think with Trump we’ve crossed the Rubicon. Full self government for California is inevitable. The question is timing. A lot of work has to be done to prepare the state, to solidify its identity as a social democracy, or we will simply import all of the societal ills that currently plague the United States as a whole. For example, California has the most billionaires of any state in the union. These people should be viewed as predator oligarchs in waiting, who need to be taxed into submission to the will of the people or driven out of the state. Either is fine by me. They really do take more than they give. This is true even of the so-called “benign” billionaires like Gates and Buffet.
Since before the American Revolution, power has always derived from the states, expressed through their elected representatives. As the federal government continues to unravel and conduct itself unlawfully, state governments must intercede on behalf of their people and defend their democratic institutions. In other words, we should prepare ourselves for more confrontations with the federal government. The worst is yet to come.
If elected I will introduce legislation to establish a procedure by which the state legislature may nullify federal authority within our borders in specific cases, including Supreme Court rulings. Additionally we should set ground rules for how federal agencies operate within the state, and create a court of human and civil rights to try and punish violators.
The state also needs to be prepared to defend herself from whatever malicious schemes the Trump regime has planned for us. For this reason I will propose the formation of a system of community defense, staffed by volunteers who are fully armed, equipped, and trained to protect our neighborhoods and cities from whatever threats may arise, natural or man-made, foreign or domestic. We must get this through our thick skulls: This president cannot be trusted to fulfill his sworn duty to protect and defend. He is an existential threat to the people of this state and our freedom.
The elevation of Donald Trump, combined with Congress’s refusal to remove him from office, should be interpreted as a forfeiture by the federal government of federal supremacy in the states. Hence the need to empower our state government with the authority to nullify federal authority within the state. Further, the present government in Washington should be officially declared by our state government to be in a condition of insurrection against the Constitution, as well as hostile to our personal welfare. The highest law of the land should remain the US Constitution. It’s the only thing restraining Trump at the moment. But how much good can it serve when two of the three branches of government are no longer fulfilling their duty to uphold it? That’s a question for which we have no answer yet. If possible I am for preserving the Union. But if not, I am for saving Californian democracy at all cost.
We must be prepared to provoke and press our right to self government. Yes, the federal government is powerful. However, there is very little that Washington can do to prevent a state the size of California from assuming all governing responsibilities, where there exists a vacuum of legitimate authority, for the protection of its people. From there the state government may assume control over the interior, coastline, regulate air control, monitor borders, manage immigration, etc.
This is a process that could take years or happen in a matter of months, depending upon the pace of events outside our control. We do not know what the future holds. For example, at present, we only have a marginally functional Congress. In three years that branch of government could shrink into total insignificance or function as nothing more than a puppet of the executive. On the other hand, they may find their spines and push back against Trump. Failing a discovery of moral character, I don’t think Congress can survive not impeaching Trump. Their future is not bright under the best of conditions, but refusing to remove so incompetent and corrupt a president as this is institutional suicide.
If Congress is still intact as a coequal branch when our time for independence comes, we should make a good faith effort to negotiate a restructuring of our relationship with the federal government, be that independence or autonomy, through the mechanism outlined in Article IV, Section Three of the US Constitution. If Congress is no longer constitutionally operational, we should reach out to neighboring states, negotiate with whomever we can, especially at the Pentagon, and try to arrive at an amicable separation.
We must also respect the demands of continental security. We really do live in a dangerous world. That is not just a cliche. There is no shortage of enemies. Independence is not a magic pill that will create world peace for California. We must remain vigilant and coldly realistic about all threats to the security of the whole United States, not just California. That said, we can’t forever be enslaved the US military-industrial complex.
5) Considering you are a Berniecrat, and not against Independence, do you think the DNC will be fair to you?
I don’t expect anything from the DNC. They won’t start to pay attention to me until I win. If I start winning, they can throw the kitchen sink at me, and it will be of no effect. By then these ideas will have an energy of their own, and nothing will stop us. I plan to carry this message as far as I possibly can. All the way to the governor’s office if the opportunity makes itself available. This isn’t a career choice for me, it’s a mission. Starting from zero at my age is not easy. But what else should I do with my remaining years?
6) How do you feel about President Trump?
I think I’ve already answered this question. However, I will add this:
A lot is made of his relationship with Putin. But after seeing Trump in power now for six months, he strikes me more as a Boris Yeltsin character. A selfish, impulsive, morally depraved, corrupt buffoon. In the long term, I’m much more worried about what will follow Trump. Trump’s ineptitude is buying us time. Were he a more efficient autocrat like Putin, many of us would already be dead or in jail. So thank your higher powers for small blessings and take this time prepare for the worst, because when it strikes we probably won’t see the blow coming.
I also see this moment as an opportunity. Let the Republicans cut taxes and spending in Washington. They have never been very good at it anyway. California is more than able to take care of herself, raise her own taxes, create her own programs.
7) What is it about your home in district 40 that you think is most interesting?
Most interesting? I would like to say our diversity, but there is a dark side to that. We are diverse but we can also be shockingly isolated from each other. The 40th Assembly District includes the only “blue zone” in the United States, centered around the Seventh Day Adventist community in Loma Linda, where there is one of the highest concentrations of centenarians in the world. Just a few miles away to the north is San Bernardino, a city that is struggling in every imaginable way. Statistically it has been compared to Detroit. Extreme poverty beside sublime abundance. We can do better.
We are also vulnerable to automation. A huge percentage of our population works in logistics and transportation. Robots have the potential of turning this district into a wasteland. This is why I’m so committed to the Guaranteed Minimum Income, student debt relief, housing affordability, and education in general. And we must start working on these issues now, before the crisis hits.
8) What do you think we can do to help the rural parts of California that feel they are ruled by the tyranny of the majority?
Much of what we’ve already discussed will help, but more should be done. First, the coastal cities need to respect the demands of rural life, whether they understand what that really means or not.
How we govern matters too. I want to be the kind of legislator who is known for respecting his limits, but who is also known as a man who acts on the knowledge people share with him. Whether you’re a teacher, farmer, business owner, college professor, my first question is almost always going to be, “What do you need to get the job done right?” I think that kind of attitude will go a long way toward building trust across the state.
The cities also need to become water independent. Nothing — and I mean NOTHING! — has done more to alienate rural Californians from the rest of the state than the exploitation of rural resources by faraway municipal powers, often by nefarious means. The cities have a moral responsibility to become water independent, however expensive and challenging the transition may be, and return water rights to the rural communities from which they were taken generations ago.
If you want state unity, that’s what it’s going to take.
9) Is California overly capitalistic?
No. The corruption of pseudo-capitalist institutions is a problem. Crony capitalism is a societal menace. Banks too big to fail continue to be a threat. But real, inventive, energetic entrepreneurial capitalism is not an issue. We need more of it.
10) Is there anything interesting about you that voters should know? Do you have any special skills or interest that people might find interesting to try and get to know you better?
I’m 53. Married for 27 years to the same woman. As long as I’ve known her she has been a teacher. We dated for a week and then got engaged. Six months later we were married. We have two adult children, 20 and 18.
I started my first business when I was in my early twenties. It was so successful that I thought making money would always be that easy. My next business venture a few years later would teach me otherwise.
I’ve worked as a shoemaker, a writer and editor, a factory worker, a real estate agent, a WalMart associate, and a stay-at-home dad. I went to college but never graduated. Tend to be a bit of an autodidact. I prefer to do things myself when possible, like repairing my own cars and roasting my own coffee.
I have known clinical depression, religious exhilaration, creative euphoria, and meditative calm. I have been a Baptist and a Buddhist. When I was young, I wanted to be a pastor. (I would still like to do that job if I could find enough people to join a church without a god. Tricky that…) Last year I spent eight days with a monk who labored for 20 years in a Chinese prison camp, sent there by Beijing for his participation in the Tibetan resistance. He gave me a Tibetan name, although I don’t remember what it is off the top of my head.
I’ve learned from hard experience that the most valuable thing in the world is a healthy mind. I’ve known too many people who have hurt themselves over the years, some by suicide, because they didn’t make mental health a priority.
Trump was my wakeup call. So much of his movement is energized by deep emotional pain. I didn’t realize how sick the body politic was until that night in November. I just assumed Hillary was going to win, like most others, and that we were in for more of the same. That was my mistake. I’m here talking to you now, to do what I can to make up for that error in judgment.
