“A proposal to tax the wealth of billionaires in California,” the New York Times reports, “has officially gathered enough signatures to appear on the November ballot.” And yet: “It isn’t yet certain that the tax initiative will actually be voted on.” Why? Because “several prominent Californians, including Gov. Gavin Newsom, have vowed to defeat the measure, and they could strike a last-minute deal to remove it from voter consideration.”

Yeah, maybe. But, at this point, who cares? This one is already over. Maybe the referendum will pass. Maybe it’ll be struck from the ballot. Maybe it’ll be nixed in exchange for some other venal priority of the SEIU. Maybe half of the state’s voters will be abducted by extraterrestrials. It doesn’t especially matter. At this stage, there remains no outcome that isn’t bad for California and for the Democrats that run it. The damage has been done.

Merely by talking about a wealth tax, California prompted an exodus. Prophylactically, a series of entrepreneurs, worth between........

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