California billionaire tax Proposition 40 trails in early returns; AP says too early to call
Photo: New York PostCalifornia's Proposition 40, a measure to impose a one-time 5% tax on billionaires' wealth, was trailing 56% to 44% with roughly half the ballots counted shortly after 9 p.m. Tuesday, according to the New York Post. By Wednesday morning, the Associated Press said the outcome was too early to call as the vote count continued. The measure divided Democrats nationally and set off one of the most expensive ballot fights in state history, with more than $330 million spent. It was one of 14 propositions on the state ballot and pitted labor unions and liberal Democrats against wealthy tech entrepreneurs. Google co-founder Sergey Brin put more than $100 million into the opposition and said he fled socialism in the Soviet Union in 1979 and does not want California to end up in the same place. Brin helped fund Building a Better California, the committee behind two rival measures: Proposition 41, which would tighten rules on certain new state taxes and require audits of the programs they fund, and Proposition 42, which would bar new state taxes on personal accounts. CNBC reported that tax experts see a competing measure banning state taxes on retirement accounts as the strongest challenge to the billionaire tax.
Right-leaning coverage, represented by the New York Post, leads with the tax's apparent defeat, citing the 56%-44% tally. Its wording is vivid, describing a "vicious" campaign and tycoons "scrambling to leave the state," and it centers on Brin's spending and his personal statement about socialism. Alternative and independent outlets differ in emphasis. The AP stresses that the result was undetermined and notes the split among liberal leaders, while CNBC focuses on the legal and structural risk from a rival measure, which it calls a "poison pill," citing tax experts rather than campaign figures. Both sides agree the fight was costly and divisive and that rival measures were in play. Left-leaning outlets had not reported this story at the time of writing, while right-leaning and alternative outlets had.
How the sides differ Right sources say the billionaire tax appears headed for defeat, stressing Sergey Brin's spending; alternative sources call it too early and highlight a rival retirement-tax measure; left sources had not covered it.
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Not covering this story. None of the left-leaning outlets Crosswire tracks has reported it yet. What one side leaves out can be as telling as what the others report.
AP leads with the vote count being too early to call and the split among liberal leaders; CNBC focuses on tax experts' view that a rival retirement-tax measure could undo the tax.
The New York Post leads with the tax appearing headed for defeat, citing early returns, the $330 million-plus campaign, and Sergey Brin's $100 million-plus spending and statement about fleeing socialism.