Today it’s $539B. Total inflation has been about 64%, California’s population has grown by only about 10%.
California has a spending and state capacity problem, not a tax problem.
https://dof.ca.gov/media/docs/budget/historical-budget-infor...
These oligarchs have enormous power over us, at least impose 50% recurring tax as a start. In 19s tax rates were really high (even 94%)
Brin says he opposes the law out of fear California will become the USSR. This is a democratic vote, on a one-time tax, that leaves private property and corporate ownership structures intact. It's a ridiculous stretch, the motives are transparent.
This was always such a hollow argument... where are they going to leave? Some tax heaven like Panama or Cayman Islands? South America? Are they trying to get kidnapped for ransom? These people are not going to leave, because outside of 1st world countries they will get eaten alive.
It's basically to send a message to a group of people that they should fuck off. There is a reasonable gamut of opinions about whether this is valid. But I think it's fair to say Californians are upset about billionaires, and that this is a coherent way to message that opposition. (Similar to the dumbfuck states messaging around wokeness or whatever. A narrowing minority of America is prosperity first.)
The tax is just Gavin positioning before the 2028 elections.
Even taxing 1% of wealth annually makes more sense than this.
And oh yeah, let's fund healthcare, but let's also sleep on the housing crisis and the homelessness crisis.
On the other side, Prop 41 and 42 are absolute jokes. It's like Robert California himself wrote those laws or something.
We are all poorer than 20 or 30 years ago. Most cities are filled with people chained to work, very few people are actually enjoying time off.
Roads, parks, beaches, rivers, the nice places people should be enjoying with family and friends are mostly empty but the roads and workplaces are overflowing.