Informed Rant

As California confronts looming healthcare funding shortfalls and widening wealth inequality, a new proposal to tax the state’s billionaires has ignited a fierce political debate. Supporters argue the measure would generate billions to offset cuts to programs like Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act, while critics—including Governor Gavin Newsom—warn that the tax could drive the ultra-wealthy out of the state.In this interview, journalist Joshua Scheer speaks with leading tax scholar David Gamage about the proposal, which would impose a one-time 5% wealth tax on California billionaires payable over five years. Gamage, who helped develop the policy and previously worked on Affordable Care Act regulations, explains why billionaires often pay dramatically lower effective tax rates than high-earning professionals—and why fears of a mass billionaire exodus may be overstated.The conversation also explores how modern tax strategies like “buy, borrow, die” allow vast fortunes to grow largely untaxed, the historical roots of wealth taxation dating back to the Gilded Age, and why California could once again set a national precedent in tackling extreme wealth concentration.

In this episode of Informed Rant, host Joshua Scheer speaks with Venezuelan‑American analyst and CodePink organizer Leonardo Flores about one of the most explosive geopolitical stories of the year: the U.S. bombing raid and kidnapping of President Nicolás Maduro. Flores walks through the media distortions, the collapse of international law, the revival of the Monroe Doctrine under Trump, and the economic and political realities inside Venezuela that the U.S. press refuses to acknowledge.From the myth of the “Cartel de los Soles” to the role of U.S. envoy Laura Dogu, Flores offers a detailed, historically grounded account of how Washington manufactures narratives to justify intervention — and why Venezuela’s constitutional order has held despite the assault. This is a deep dive into sanctions, oil politics, propaganda, and the future of Latin America under renewed U.S. pressure.