The American Prospect | JC Hong/AP
There’s a simple reason for why voters in an anti-oligarchic mood didn’t pass a wealth tax so modest that the 250 mega-rich households affected would have made it back entirely within 31 days. Or rather, there were 597 million identical reasons. That’s how many dollars were spent on opposition to Prop 40 and boosting of the poison pills, Props 41 and 42, that would have nullified it. It’s an old story in California’s failed experiment with direct democracy; if you have the cash, you win.