It is officially happening. California is about to go full Robin Hood this November. The state’s progressive activists have successfully forced a one-time 5% "billionaire tax" onto the ballot after the Thursday 5:00 PM withdrawal deadline passed without a compromise deal. Get ready for a high-stakes circus as the state’s tax-and-spend lobby tries to squeeze the golden geese, while Silicon Valley tech lords throw ungodly amounts of cash at the wall to protect their fortunes.

The brainchild of the Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers West (SEIU-UHW), this ballot measure is the ultimate progressive wet dream. They managed to gather over 1.55 million signatures by April—more than double what was needed—proving once again that there is no shortage of people in California who believe public services should be funded by taking other people's money. The union claims the cash will fund healthcare, education, and food programs, but critics know it’s just another massive government expansion.

The tech elite are absolutely panicking. Google co-founder Larry Page is literally rage-quitting the state, making moves to cut ties entirely because he is not trying to get hit with a 5% wealth haircut. Meanwhile, his co-founder Sergey Brin has spent tens of millions of dollars since January to kill the effort. Brin even dropped a casual $82 million on a group called "Building a Better California," which put up a counter-ballot measure to block new taxes on retirement holdings and personal assets. Talk about a flex.

Other big-name billionaires like Peter Thiel (Palantir) and Chris Larsen (crypto) are also writing massive checks to the California Business Roundtable to stop the bleeding. Even Governor Gavin Newsom is sweating, warning that this ridiculous tax will cause massive capital flight and completely wreck the state’s economy. When even Newsom thinks a tax hike is too extreme, you know you’ve entered clown world territory.

But the absolute best part of this story is the glorious leftist civil war it has triggered. In an amazing twist, some of the biggest liberal interest groups in the state are teaming up with the tech billionaires to fight the tax. The California Teachers Association, the State Building and Construction Trades Council, and even Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California have all joined the anti-tax coalition.

Yes, you read that right. Planned Parenthood and teachers' unions are holding hands with Peter Thiel and Sergey Brin to block a tax on the rich. A spokesperson for Planned Parenthood tried to play nice, saying the group "agrees the" wealthy should pay, but ultimately admitted this tax plan is too unsustainable to support. It turns out that when the economic math is this bad, even establishment leftists have to jump ship.