Study the play. Sergey Brin's PAC wants to save billionaires from a 5% tax. So it sells voters on saving their 401(k)s.
Prop 40 already exempts 401(k)s. The San Francisco Chronicle's editorial board said so. Nobody is coming for your retirement account. Prop 42 protects you from a threat that does not exist, funded by people the threat does not target.
It is a bodyguard hired for a man nobody is chasing. The bodyguard is also the one chasing someone else.
The mechanics are elegant. Prop 42 bans new taxes on personal property, including stocks and retirement accounts. It also bans certain retroactive taxes. Prop 40 is a retroactive tax. Funny how that works.
The rule is simple. If both pass, the one with more votes wins. Both can get a majority. Prop 40 can still die. Democracy, but with a trapdoor.
Gavin Newsom endorsed Prop 42. He had opposed the billionaire tax from the start. His endorsement of a ban on all future wealth taxes is the political equivalent of showing up to a fire with a second match.
Tax experts say the strongest challenge to Prop 40 is the retirement measure. Fear of losing the nest egg motivates voters. You have nine hundred dollars in a target-date fund you check during bowel movements. A man worth several billion dollars is using it as a human shield.
Retail traders should feel honored. For the first time, your portfolio matters to someone with a yacht. They don't care about it. They care about its optics.
The billionaires will lose roughly five percent of their wealth if this fails. You will lose nothing either way. Congratulations on your starring role.
Vote however you like. Your 401(k) is still down, and now it's also a prop.
Photo by on Unsplash
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