AOC's claim that "you can't earn a billion dollars" sparked a direct rebuttal from Y Combinator's Paul Graham, who spent two decades professionally evaluating founders and says exploitation isn't what creates billionaires—building things people want is. The debate lands as California faces structural deficits of $20–35 billion annually, with the state's own nonpartisan analyst confirming spending grew 10 points faster than revenue since the pandemic—making new wealth taxes a harder sell just as Sanders and Khanna push a federal 5% annual levy on unrealized gains.
Half of California's billionaire wealth has fled the state—and the wealth tax isn't even on the ballot yet.
San Jose's mayor goes on national TV to warn Sacramento that their wealth tax scheme will backfire spectacularly.