How else can you put it?
Because I’ve tried to find a more charitable explanation for what these four blue-state governors in California, New York, Illinois, and Colorado are doing—and I keep coming back to the same conclusion. There isn’t one.
This is not about policy. This is not about budget necessity. This is not about fairness, equity, or any of the other buzzwords they love to hide behind.
This is about spite. Pure, uncut, political spite.
Let’s start with the basic, undeniable fact: President Trump’s “no tax on tips and overtime” policy applied to federal taxes. That’s it. Washington’s cut. The IRS’s reach. The federal government stepping back and letting working Americans keep more of what they earn.
It did not touch state tax systems. It did not raid state budgets. It did not strip one single dime from Sacramento, Albany, Springfield, or wherever else these governors sit behind their polished desks pretending to care about the working class.
And yet—here they are. Rushing to make sure that even if the federal government gives relief, they won’t. That even if Washington backs off, they will step in. That even if a waitress, a bartender, a delivery driver, or a construction worker finally gets a break… these governors will find a way to claw it back. For no reason. None. And that’s what makes this so grotesque.
Because we’re not talking about hedge fund managers or corporate executives. We’re talking about people who live off tips and overtime because they have to. People working double shifts, late nights, weekends, holidays—grinding through jobs that most of these governors wouldn’t last a week doing.
These are the people politicians love to talk about. Until it’s time to actually help them. Then suddenly, the knives come out.
Think about the message this sends.
You’re a server working a packed Friday night, dealing with rude customers, long hours, and unpredictable income. You finally get a little breathing room because the federal government says, “You know what? Keep more of your tips.” And your state steps in and says, “Not so fast.”
You’re a nurse picking up overtime because your hospital is understaffed. You’re exhausted, overworked, and still showing up because people depend on you. You finally see a little extra in your paycheck. And your governor says, “We’ll take it from here.”
What kind of leadership looks at those people and says, “Yeah… we need more of that”? What kind of political instinct leads you to punish the very people you claim to represent?
I’ll tell you what kind.
The kind that is so blinded by hatred for one man—Donald Trump—that it will hurt its own citizens just to make a point. That’s what this is.
You cannot explain it any other way. Because again—this policy did not harm state revenues. It didn’t touch them. These governors are not “protecting” anything. They are not “balancing” anything.
They are choosing. Choosing to make sure their residents do not benefit from a federal tax cut. Choosing to override relief. Choosing to send a message.
And what is that message? “We don’t care how hard you work.” “We don’t care what you’re dealing with.” “If Trump helps you, we will find a way to stop it.”
That’s not governance. That’s vindictiveness. And it’s not just bad policy—it’s politically suicidal. Because here’s the part they don’t seem to understand.
The people affected by this are not political abstractions. They’re voters. They’re the single mom working two jobs and relying on tips to make rent. They’re the tradesman pulling overtime to keep his business afloat. They’re the young worker trying to get ahead in an economy that has been anything but forgiving. And now these governors have handed them a crystal-clear contrast.
On one side: a policy that says, “Keep more of what you earn.” On the other: a government that says, “We’ll take it anyway.”
Good luck selling that in an election year. Because no amount of messaging can soften that reality. No amount of spin can explain why you would go out of your way to tax tips and overtime—income that is already hard-earned, inconsistent, and often essential for survival.
This isn’t theoretical. It’s personal. And people know it.
They feel it every time they look at their paycheck. They feel it every time they calculate whether they can cover bills. They feel it every time they realize that the “help” they were promised somehow never reaches them.
But this time is different.
This time, they can see exactly who is doing it. There’s no confusion. No gray area. No “well, it’s complicated.”
It’s not complicated. It’s deliberate. And that’s why this matters so much.
Because politics, at its core, is about choices. And these governors have made theirs. They have chosen to stand against the working people of their states—not out of necessity, not out of fiscal reality, but out of sheer political hostility.
They have chosen to send a message that is as clear as it is ugly: “We will take from you—even when we don’t have to.”
So yes—how else can you put it?
Hideous monsters.
Because when you look at a waitress, a nurse, a laborer, a driver—people busting their backs just to get by—and your instinct is to reach into their pockets anyway… That’s not just bad leadership. That’s something far worse.
And the voters who are living it? They’re going to remember.