From the voting-against-your-self-interests dept.
California voters rejected a ballot measure that would have implemented a one-time wealth tax on the state’s billionaires, turning down one of the most aggressive efforts to hike taxes on the ultrawealthy.
Proposition 40, known colloquially as the billionaire tax, was unable to overcome a flood of negative advertising bankrolled by some of the state’s richest residents.
The measure would have levied a 5% tax on the assets of more than 200 billionaires next year. Advocates estimate it would have raised $103 billion, with 90% of it going to fill state healthcare funding holes created by President Donald Trump’s 2025 tax law.
All voters are just temporarily embarrassed billionaires, I suppose. Don’t get your Huang caught in a ringer.
You wonder if it weren’t legal for businesses and billionaires to spend unlimited money putting out “advertising” for political messaging that benefits them, and were restricted to just submitting statements for the ballot books, whether these would have gone differently.
Unfortunately, a lot of my partner’s extended family would have voted for this either way, because they fancy themselves as wealthy (they’re low-millionaires, not even close to this affecting them), and actively dislike people they perceive as not-wealthy.
I’m sure it didn’t pass because of a mountain of misinformation put out there about it by said billionaires.
Thank goodness. I’m one good idea away from creating my own unicorn startup and exiting with 5 billion dollars. This could have destroyed me!
I will neveriunderstand all of these people who stick up for billionaires who would spit in their face if it earned them an extra $100.
There are a lot of people who perceive themselves as wealthy, including low-millionaires who have a lot of their assets tied up in stocks, and there was a lot of targeted propaganda (over $300M) trying to tie Prop42 (banning taxes on unrealized capital gains) together with 40 (wealth tax). The whole messaging that was sold to them was, “today they say they’re coming for billionaires’ stocks, tomorrow it’ll be you”. And sadly, that’s an effective messaging in a low-trust society.
Pieces of shit.
Huge mistake now medical care will suffer so billionaires can have more money they can’t spend in 10 lifetimes.
And with Prop 42 passing, there will never be another prop 40 like bill in the future. Great job California.
@Powderhorn Pretty rough that still too few Californians understood the assignment this year. Worse, Prop. 42 passed, banning it in the future.
:(
