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Brian and John run through the California ballot measures voters actually need to understand. They cover four: Prop 40, the SEIU-backed billionaire wealth tax, both brothers oppose it, both note that billionaires are the easiest Californians to lose, and John warns it's really an everyone tax once the legislature starts filling the budget hole they'd create. Prop 42, the tech-backed countermeasure funded by Sergey Brin and others that would amend the Constitution to prohibit new taxes on personal property, and could act as a poison pill to kill Prop 40 if both pass. Prop 43, the Local Taxpayer Protection Act backed by Howard Jarvis, which would require a two-thirds vote for any special tax at the local level.

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To learn more about John Kabateck's firm visit Kabateck Strategies
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In this episode, Brian and John dig into the Supreme Court's recent 7-2 decision blocking Trump's executive order on mail-in voting. Brian walks through the timeline: the March executive order, the August Supreme Court ruling calling it premature, a September federal judge in Boston striking it down as unconstitutional, and then the Court's final word just days before recording: you can't do this by executive order, and certainly not this close to an election. Alito and Thomas dissented.

Then the debate gets personal. John believes the voting system needs a serious tune-up and points to the LA mayoral race vote count as something that doesn't smell right. They don't agree — but they both agree on why voter confidence has eroded, even if they disagree on who caused it.

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Brian and John take stock of where the national midterms stand - and find themselves in unusual agreement. The House looks like it's flipping: Republicans hold a slim 222-213 majority, Democrats need a net five seats, and polling shows plus seven or eight gains on the way. John, a Trump supporter, concedes the tariffs are unpopular, the war has gone on too long, and even stalwart Trumpers are tired of talking about Trump. Brian says it's a totality of the circumstances: broken promises, Pete Hegseth, a $400 million jet from Qatar, and gas at seven dollars a gallon. The Senate is murkier, both brothers think Republicans squeak it out, with Brian calling Ken Paxton one of the worst candidates his party has put up in years, but still giving him better than 50-50 odds in Texas.

On California: all statewide constitutional offices stay blue, probably darker than blue. John calls one-party rule unhealthy. Brian says the only race of real interest is insurance commissioner — and it's Dem vs. Dem anyway. Steve Hilton, both agree, is not winning.

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To learn more about John Kabateck's firm visit Kabateck Strategies
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In this episode, Brian and John tackle two end-of-session battles as Sacramento races toward its August 31st deadline. First: a late push to limit how wildfire victims and their insurers can pursue Southern California Edison, which has all but admitted to causing the Eaton Canyon fire. The proposals include caps on pain and suffering and wrongful death damages, changes to strict liability standards, and a ban on insurance subrogation that would shift Edison's costs onto California policyholders already paying too much. Both brothers agree the victims are being kept in the dark and used as pawns.

Then they turn to a bipartisan ADA reform bill authored by newly-named Senate Republican leader Roger Niello with Democratic co-authors — that would give small businesses 120 days to fix compliance allegations before facing suit. It passed the Senate without debate. It died in the Assembly. John is furious. Brian had reservations too, but for different reasons.

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In a rare episode where Brian and John agree on both topics, the brothers break down two major measures on California's November 2026 ballot. Proposition 40 — the SEIU-backed wealth tax imposing a one-time 5% levy on Californians worth over $1 billion. Sounds simple, but both brothers call it a trojan horse. John warns it gives the legislature power to expand to savings, home equity, and retirement accounts, lower the threshold, and make it annual. Even Newsom and Becerra oppose it. Both predict it fails, but not by a landslide.

Then there's Proposition 43, the Local Taxpayer Protection Act backed by Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association. It would close a court-created loophole allowing citizen-initiated special taxes to pass with a simple majority rather than two-thirds. John calls it a game changer. Both predict it passes.

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To learn more about John Kabateck's firm visit Kabateck Strategies
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In this episode, Brian and John have some fun at the California Assembly Republicans' expense, which, given that they hold 19 out of 80 seats, is not a difficult target. The story: Heath Flora, the Republican Assembly minority leader from Modesto, was ousted amid FPPC investigations into alleged campaign fund expenditures at a Sacramento dive bar called Chargins — including an $11,000 tab — and allegations of multiple extramarital affairs. One was with a lobbyist who lobbied a committee he led. The other involved someone named Pebbles. The real kicker: the lobbyist affair became public in 2022. Republicans elected Flora their leader in 2025 anyway.

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To learn more about John Kabateck's firm visit Kabateck Strategies
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In this episode, Brian and John get into the nuts and bolts of the California governor's race and agree on more than you'd expect. The central question: is there any realistic scenario where Steve Hilton wins? John calls it a steep climb. Brian asks him to rank it against a unicorn carrying a leprechaun and Brian himself pitching for the Dodgers. The ranking speaks for itself.

But beyond the horse race, both brothers push on the harder problem: neither candidate is telling voters how they'll actually do what they're promising. Becerra says he'll make California more affordable, tackle insurance, utilities, childcare, groceries. Hilton says he'll get gas to $3.

They also debate whether Becerra is a potential Pat Brown-level game-changer or just a caretaker — and whether California voters, worn out by Newsom's wars, might actually be ready for someone a little less combative.

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To learn more about John Kabateck's firm visit Kabateck Strategies
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In this episode, Brian and John tackle one of the most charged issues in American politics — immigration — and find more common ground than either probably expected. They start with the numbers: a majority of Americans support deporting undocumented people, but more than 60% in some polls also say the Trump administration has gone too far. John isn't surprised by either figure. Brian thinks the rhetoric has badly distorted the reality of who undocumented workers actually are and what they contribute — in hospitality, agriculture, construction, and households.

Both brothers acknowledge that multiple administrations, Democrat and Republican, share decades of blame for a system nobody fixed. Brian walks through George W. Bush's pre-9/11 work with Mexican President Vicente Fox on a guest worker program that nearly happened, and never did. He lays out what a reasonable compromise might look like: fast-track removal for recent arrivals, but a clear pathway to citizenship for people with long roots, U.S.-born children, jobs, tax records, and clean records.

John agrees the methods matter — even if he won't put it all on Trump — and suggests Marco Rubio, if given room to lead, could be the unexpected hero of a real immigration deal.

If you enjoy hearing what we have to say, albeit somewhat irreverent and rarely do we agree, please subscribe or follow and us and leave a comment. We would love to hear from you.
To learn more about John Kabateck's firm visit Kabateck Strategies
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