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As national Democrats search for a unifying theme ahead of the fall’s midterm elections, a California proposal to levy a hefty tax on billionaires is turning some of the party’s leading figures into adversaries just when Democrats can least afford division from within.Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders traveled to Los Angeles on Wednesday to campaign for the tax proposal, which has Silicon Valley in an uproar, with tech titans threatening to leave the state. Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom is among its outspoken opponents, warning that it could leave government finances in crisis and put the state at a competitive disadvantage nationally.At an evening rally near downtown, Sanders told cheering supporters that the nation has reached a crisis point in which “massive income and wealth inequality” has concentrated power over business, technology, government and the media within the “billionaire class,” while millions of working-class Americans struggle to pay household bills.He said enactment of the proposed tax would show “we are still living in a democratic society where the people have some power.”“Enough is enough,” Sanders said to a pulse of applause. “The billionaire class cannot have it all. This nation belongs to all of us.”The senator, a democratic socialist, is popular in California he won the 2020 Democratic presidential primary in the state in a runaway. He’s been railing for decades against what he characterizes as wealthy elites and the growing gap between rich and poor. Health care union is pushing proposed tax to fund services A large health care union is attempting to place a proposal before voters in November that would impose a one-time 5% tax on the assets of billionaires including stocks, art, businesses, collectibles and intellectual property to backfill federal funding cuts to health services for lower-income people that were signed by President Donald Trump last year.Debate on the proposal is unfolding at a time when voters in both parties express unease with economic conditions and what the future will bring in a politically divided nation. Distrust of government and its ability to get things done is widespread.The proposal has created a rift between Newsom and prominent members of his party’s progressive wing, including Sanders, who has said the tax should be a template for other states.“The issues that are really going to be motivating Democrats this year, affordability and the cost of health care and cuts to schools, none of these would be fixed by this proposal. If fact, they would be made worse,” said Brian Brokaw, a longtime Newsom adviser who is leading a political committee opposing the tax. Split among Democrats comes as midterm elections loom Midterm elections typically punish the party in control of the White House, and Democrats are hoping to gain enough U.S. House seats to overturn the chamber’s slim Republican majority. In California, rejiggered House districts approved by voters last year are expected to help the party pick up as many as five additional seats, which would leave Republicans in control of just a handful of districts.“It is always better for a party to have the political debate focused on issues where you are united and the other party is divided,” said Eric Schickler, a professor of political science at the University of California, Berkeley. “Having an issue like this where Newsom and Sanders among others are on different sides is not ideal.”With the idea of taxing billionaires popular among many voters “this can be a good way for Democratic candidates to rally that side and break through from the pack,” Schickler added in an email.It’s already trickled into the race for governor and contests down the ballot. Republicans Chad Bianco and Steve Hilton, both candidates for governor, have warned the tax would erase jobs. San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan, a Democratic candidate for governor, has said inequality starts at the federal level, where the tax code is riddled with loopholes.Sanders did not mention Newsom in his nearly 30-minute speech but name-checked a handful of billionaires, including Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Google co-founder Sergey Brin, as examples of a wealthy elite that in many respects “no longer sees itself as part of American society.” Sanders urges support for billionaires tax Citing protests against federal immigration raids in Minnesota, he urged the crowd to support the tax, saying Californians can show that “when we stand together, we can take on the oligarchs and the billionaires.”Coinciding with the Sanders visit and an upcoming state Democratic convention this weekend, opponents are sending out targeted emails and social media ads intended to sway party insiders.It’s not clear if the proposal will make the ballot supporters must gather more than 870,000 petition signatures to place it before voters.The nascent contest already has drawn out a tangle of competing interests, with millions of dollars flowing into political committees.Newsom has long opposed state-level wealth taxes, believing such levies would be disadvantageous for the world’s fourth-largest economy. At a time when California is strapped for cash and he is considering a 2028 presidential run, he is trying to block the proposal before it reaches the ballot.Analysts say an exodus of billionaires could mean a loss of hundreds of millions of tax dollars for the nation’s most populous state. But supporters say the funding is needed to offset federal cuts that could leave many Californians without vital services. Michael R. Blood, AP Political Writer
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E-Commerce
Baby care brand Frida is facing online backlash after screenshots of sexual innuendos in its marketing materials began circulating on social media. Frida, which describes itself as the brand that gets parents, sells a range of baby care, fertility, and postpartum products through major retailers, including Target. Last week, an X user shared images of several products packaging, writing: sexual jokes to market baby products is actually sick and twisted @fridababy this is absolutely appalling and disgusting. The post has since gained almost five million views on X. Among the examples highlighted is a social media graphic promoting the companys 3-in-1 True Temp thermometer. The image shows the device next to a babys bottom, accompanied by the caption: This is the closest your husbands gonna get to a threesome. sexual jokes to market baby products is actually sick and twisted @fridababy this is absolutely appalling and disgusting pic.twitter.com/cXhiksoaY8— stace (@staystaystace) February 12, 2026 Other screenshots highlighted by critics include phrases such as How about a quickie? printed on a thermometer box. An apparent Instagram post from 2020 that has since resurfaced also features a baby with what seems to be snot on its face. The caption reads: What happens when you pull out too early. @pink3424 What do yall think? #fridababy #marketing #babyproducts White blank page Mumford and sons – m a r e k s Parents and critics online have accused the company of sexualizing children in its marketing choices, with posts on parenting forums calling for boycotts of the companys products. A Change.org petition to hold Frida Baby accountable has more than 4,000 verified signatures at the time of writing. Not everyone agrees with the criticism. IMO, this is akin to Disney putting in jokes that only parents will get, one Reddit user wrote. They know who the decision-makers are. Frida is marketing to the parents. Others argue the tone crosses a clear line. A statement from Frida emailed to multiple publications reads in part: Our products are designed for babies, but our voice has always been written for the adults caring for them. Our intention has consistently been to make awkward and difficult experiences feel lighter, more honest, and less isolating for parents. It continued: That said, humor is personal. Whats funny to one parent can feel like too much to another. Fast Company has reached out to Frida Baby for comment. A scroll through Fridas social media shows the brand has long leaned into a deliberately risqué tone, often relying on double entendres and innuendo to target parents. In April, it teased a new product on Instagram with the line, Take your top off. Its current Show us what your boobs can do campaign aims to destigmatize breastfeeding by spotlighting what it calls milk-making boobs. View this post on Instagram As more brands adopt informal, attention-grabbing voices online, the lesson here is clear: context matters.
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E-Commerce
When Sergey Brin spoke at Stanford Universitys school of engineering centennial celebration recently, the Google co-founder was open about his career mistakes. When you have your cool new wearable device idea, really fully bake it before you have a cool stunt involving skydiving and airships, he joked, referring to the infamous Google Glass flop. But one misstep he admitted to might surprise a lot of people who dream of the day they can quit their 9-to-5. I actually retired like a month before COVID hit, and it was the worst decision, Brin said. He was such a failure at retirement that he has since returned to everyday work at Google, spearheading its efforts to catch up in the AI race. Going back to work just for fun might sound like a uniquely billionaire move. But a stack of research suggests that Brins dissatisfaction in retirement and subsequent decision to return to work isnt that uncommon. His story contains an essential but often overlooked lesson that can help anyone better plan their retirement. Why Sergey Brin unretired Like many people, Brin had a relaxing vision for his post-working life. I was gonna sit in cafés and study physics, which was my passion at the time, he told the Stanford audience. Fate intervened in the form of Covid. But Brin wasnt dissatisfied with his retirement just because he was locked in his house all day. I was just kind of stewing and felt myself spiraling, not being sharp, he recalled. After the Google offices partially reopened, he started going in occasionally. Eventually, he started spending more and more time on what later became called Gemini, which is super-exciting. To be able to have that technical creative outlet, I think thats very rewarding, as opposed to if Id stayed retired. I think that wouldve been a big mistake, he added. Retirement struggles arent just for billionaires Brins issues with retirement are his own. More people dream of days on the golf course than pouring over physics textbooks. But Brins feelings of listlessness and intellectual decline are not at all exclusive to billionaires. When researchers from European business school Insead surveyed entrepreneurs who had gone through a big exit and become financially independent, they discovered many decided to retire. And many soon regretted it. It is perfectly normal to discover that life post-financial freedom isnt as happy as one might have expected it to be, the researchers summed up. Its not just restless entrepreneurs. Another recent study of retired Japanese salarymen revealed similar patterns. Having given so much of themselves to their careers, they often felt unmoored and purposeless when they left their jobs. Their retirement was characterized by boredomhaving nowhere to go to or having nothing to do. The sense of boredom led to a sense of isolation and low confidence in old age, explained study author Shiori Shakuto. Adherents of the popular financial independence, retire early (FIRE) movement scrimp and sacrifice to retire early. Only for many of them to discover their dream of post-work life does not match reality. Several have written about the experience. If youve spent decades in a career working 40 hours a week, its hard to suddenly stop working. Many early retirees feel uncomfortable feeling unproductive. As a result, they unretire to work on something meaningful. Its easy to get bored with 40 hours of extra free time a week, wrote ex-FIRE early retiree Sam Dogen in one such blog post. A good retirement isnt all about money All of this evidence, as well as Sergey Brins experience, point in the same direction. We tend to think of a successful retirement as a numbers game. If you save enough to be comfortable and indulge in whatever activities you enjoy, the end of working life should represent the start of the golden years. But all the people involved in these studies were set financially. Brin has a net worth north of $200 billion. Clearly, money is not the issue. The problem is purpose. As Brins fellow billionaire Bill Gates recently wrote: As life expectancies go up, many people are living for years and even decades after they stop working. That sounds like a luxury, and it is in a lot of waysbut it is also a lot of time to fill. Gates fills his time with philanthropy. Brin is back to building AI. The rest of us will probably not spend our post-work years doing anything as grand. But the same truth applies. If you think only about finances and not enough about how to meaningfully fill your days in retirement, youre probably not going to enjoy yourself much. You also might, in Brins words, feel less sharp. Science has shown having purpose helps stave off dementia as well as boosts happiness. Sergey Brins lesson for te rest of us This doesnt mean we should all work until we drop, of course. Instead, experts insist the essential takeaway is the need to plan for meaning as well as money. Its never too early, or too late, to start thinking about what you would want to do after achieving financial freedom. What would you do with your money and time? the Insead researchers ask. So the next time you check the balance of your retirement savings account, take a moment to think not just about how much you will save, but also how you will spend your time. As Sergey Brins unretirement reminds us, even billions of dollars cant guarantee you a good retirement if you dont plan for purpose in your post-work life, too. Inc. This article originally appeared on Fast Companys sister website, Inc.com. Inc. is the voice of the American entrepreneur. We inspire, inform, and document the most fascinating people in business: the risk-takers, the innovators, and the ultra-driven go-getters that represent the most dynamic force in the American economy.
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