美国媒体周一预测，美国参议员伯尼·桑德斯和其他进步派人士大力推崇的亿万富翁税在加利福尼亚州遭到否决。该税收被视为缓解经济不平等的良方，并可能成为全美效仿的典范。
A billionaire tax that US Senator Bernie Sanders and other progressives championed as an antidote to economic inequality and a potential model for the rest of the country was defeated in California, US media projected on Monday.
支持者估计，第40号提案将筹集1000亿美元收入，其中大部分将专门拨款给医疗保健项目，以抵消联邦资金削减带来的影响。这些联邦资金削减旨在为唐纳德·特朗普总统去年签署的《一个宏伟美好的法案》下的减税措施买单。那些减税措施主要惠及富裕个人和企业利益集团，仅凭共和党参议员的支持在参议院通过。
Proponents had estimated Prop 40 would raise US$100 billion in revenue, most of which would have been earmarked for healthcare programmes to offset federal funding cuts designed to pay for tax breaks enacted last year under President Donald Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill”. Those tax breaks, largely benefiting wealthy individuals and corporate interests, passed with Republican-only support in the US Senate.
亿万富翁税的失败标志着民主党左翼遭受打击，尽管民主党在中期选举中对特朗普及其政策进行了全面谴责，在参众两院均赢得了决定性多数。
The failure of the billionaire tax marks a blow to the left wing of the Democratic Party, even as Democrats won decisive majorities in both houses of Congress in a sweeping midterm election rebuke of Trump and his policies.
第40号提案针对的是股票、债券和商业资产，而非劳动所得。支持者认为，在一个民主党选民以近两比一的优势超过共和党选民的州，该提案有很大的通过机会。
Supporters of Prop 40, which targeted stocks, bonds and business assets rather than earned income, reasoned it stood a healthy chance of enactment in a state where voter rolls favour Democrats over Republicans by a nearly two-to-one margin.
但加利福尼亚州州长加文·纽森——2028年民主党总统提名的有力竞争者——公开反对该措施，辩称第40号提案从长远来看会适得其反，因为它会为向上流动的高科技企业家制造不受欢迎的环境。
But California Governor Gavin Newsom, a likely candidate for the Democratic Party presidential nomination in 2028, came out against the measure, arguing that Prop 40 would backfire in the long run by creating an unwelcome climate for upwardly mobile hi-tech entrepreneurs.
他的反对以及党内领袖的分歧导致该提案的初始支持率在投票前有所下降。
His opposition and division among party leaders led initial support for the measure to wane ahead of the vote.
反对者辩称，该税收将促使超级富豪离开该州，带走他们的所得税缴纳额和创造就业的企业，并阻碍企业家在加州创办初创公司。
Opponents argued the tax would prompt the ultrawealthy to leave the state, taking their income-tax payments and job-producing enterprises with them, and discourage entrepreneurs from building their start-ups in California in the first place.
工会也出现了分歧。亿万富翁们投入了超过2.5亿美元，资助广告将该措施描绘成对所有加州人征收更激进税收的入口，以及对其退休账户的威胁。
Labour unions were also divided. Billionaires chipped in more than a quarter of a billion dollars that helped fund ads that framed the measure as a gateway to more aggressive taxation for all Californians and as a threat to their retirement accounts.
燃油价格上涨的压力和可负担性担忧，让全国大部分地区陷入悲观的经济情绪。在这样的时刻，这些论点可能引起了共鸣。
Those arguments may have resonated at a time when the pinch of higher fuel prices and affordability concerns have put a broad swathe of the country in a sour economic mood.
谷歌联合创始人谢尔盖·布林和至少其他11位亿万富翁，共同向一个名为“建设更美好的加州”的政治行动委员会捐资2.69亿美元。该委员会随后又投入超过3亿美元，用于反对40号提案的竞选活动。
Google co-founder Sergey Brin and at least 11 other billionaires contributed a collective US$269 million to a political action committee called Building a Better California, which in turn poured more than US$300 million into campaigns opposing Prop 40.
不过，候任参议院财政委员会主席罗恩·怀登表示，对超级富豪征税仍然是整个民主党的核心目标。
Incoming Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden has signalled, however, that taxing the ultrawealthy remains a central goal for the Democratic Party as a whole.
“该委员会将加倍努力，确保亿万富翁缴纳其公平份额，并追究逃税者的责任，”他在11月4日概述该委员会优先事项的声明中说。
“The committee will redouble its efforts to ensure billionaires pay their fair share and hold tax cheats accountable,” he said in a November 4 statement outlining the panel’s priorities.