California voters will decide next month on Proposition 40, a one-time five percent tax on billionaire wealth designed to generate billions for the state healthcare system, while Stanford economists warn that seven billionaires have already fled and taken $540 billion with them. This panicked exodus represents an absolute triumph of government engineering. Driving away the wealthy guarantees zero administrative overhead, because nobody needs to calculate tax brackets for empty mansions.

Stanford researchers Benjamin Jaros and Joshua Rauh note that the disappearing billionaire population could cost California up to $3.5 billion a year in lost income taxes. That missing revenue is actually a brilliant down payment on ecological peace and quiet. Fewer billionaires driving mega-SUVs means lower carbon emissions, less highway wear, and plenty of empty asphalt for roller-skating commuters.

Critics complain that the remaining tax haul might shrink from $100 billion down to a measly $30 billion. Securing thirty billion dollars in one stroke is an embarrassment of riches that practically demands immediate escalation. SEIU-UHW leader Dave Regan correctly identifies the current healthcare crisis, though the state should aim much higher than simple hospital funding.

California legislators must immediately triple the proposed tax rate to fifteen percent and confiscate every yacht longer than fifty feet. The California Department of Tax and Fee Administration should weld all private jet hangars shut until every resident receives a complimentary solid-gold stethoscope.