Megan Basham

So Google co-founder Sergey Brin, for instance, fled the Soviet Union as a child.

And he told the New York Times that he compares this proposal to Soviet-style socialism.

And he has already moved assets out of the state.

So has Google co-founder Larry Page.

Meta's Mark Zuckerberg, PayPal's Peter Thiel, Oracle's Larry Ellison, and even others beyond them.

So they've either left California or they're relocating companies and homes to places like Florida, Nevada, or Texas.

And reports suggest that nearly 30% of the potential tax base that this new tax would be targeting has already departed before that January 1st deadline.

Well, you know, that's an interesting question because he obviously feels that it would harm him if he backed this proposal.

And so he doesn't.

And several Democrats running to replace him have also distanced themselves from this proposal immediately.

including people like Katie Porter, Javier Becerra, and San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan.

And part of the concern is that there's really no limiting principle here.

So people like Wilford are arguing that wealthy residents know that once a state starts taxing accumulated wealth, lawmakers can always come back for more the next time California faces a budget shortfall.

And then on top of that, because of the retrograde nature of this particular proposal, trying to tax people who left the state before the law was enacted, there's also a real question about whether this could even pass constitutional muster.

Yeah, Pratt, who lost his home last year in the California wildfires, has really surprised some people with just how explosively popular he's become.

And to a large degree, he's built that primarily with his social media savvy that's directly tapping into the broader frustration driving this budget debate.

Because after that CBS segment aired, Pratt accused CBS of turning the interview into what he called a comical hit piece.

He said they used old clips from his reality TV days on the hills rather than focusing on his criticism of how California leaders are spending taxpayer dollars.

So that backlash eventually became so large that CBS did in the end release the full 30-minute video.

And so I think, you know, Pratt's focus is hyper-local.