Rubbish Check
Guardian Business · 16 October 2026
source“The ultra-rich are spending one million dollars a day fighting California’s proposed billionaire tax”
R2/ 10
Lightly altered
Rubbish Rating — 1 = base fact, 10 = pure rubbish
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In short
Rubbish Talk rates the Guardian's claim that opponents of California's Prop 40 are "spending one million dollars a day" a 2/10 because state campaign filings show the no campaign spent $21.2m in 19 days in September, which is more than $1m a day, exactly as reported.
The Verdict
Lightly altered, not spin. The headline states a real, sourced figure almost exactly as the article presents it, with the only looseness being that it generalises a specific 19-day September spending surge into a blanket "a day" rate rather than flagging it as the campaign's accelerated, closing-stretch pace.
What actually happened
Tech billionaires have raised more than $340m to fight a California wealth tax, and the campaign funding that effort is spending more than $1m a day to defeat the measure, according to state financial disclosures. During the first 19 days of September, the opposition campaign plowed through at least $21.2m to fight the billionaire tax, surpassing $1m per day, according to the most recent campaign filings. Voters decide on Proposition 40 in early November.
Key facts
- The no campaign spent at least $21.2m in the first 19 days of September alone, surpassing $1m a day, per the most recent campaign filings.
- The biggest donor is Google co-founder Sergey Brin, who has contributed at least $102m to fight the tax., a figure independently corroborated by multiple outlets reporting his donation to Building a Better California.
- The runner-up donor is former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, who has donated more than $42m.
- The yes on 40 campaign has raised a total just shy of $33m, mostly from the healthcare union sponsoring the measure.
- Since July, committees opposing Prop 40 and backing the two pre-emptive countermeasures have received more than $297.8m, most from the Building a Better California Super Pac.
- A late-September poll showed 45% of voters likely to vote yes and 42% no, down from a 7% lead a month earlier, as opposition spending increased.
What to watch for
Watch whether the $1m-a-day pace holds or escalates further as the 3 November vote nears; a later filing could push the daily average higher still. Also watch Propositions 41 and 42, the opposition-backed countermeasures that could nullify Prop 40 even if it passes, since that structural wrinkle matters more to the outcome than the daily spend figure alone.
About this scoreThe R-Score is Rubbish Talk's editorial opinion on how far a headline's framing sits from what the underlying facts support. It is a judgement about presentation and emphasis, not an allegation that any outlet has acted dishonestly. Every figure we rely on is linked under Receipts so you can check it yourself.
