[Benman]

What's hurt California isn't the politicians but the voters. Proposition 13 gutted the fairness and stability of property taxes as a method of financing government. What you've got is million dollar mansions paying far less in property taxes than smaller houses simply because the owner hasn't moved around as much. Say what you want about taxes, but to the extent you have taxes they ought to be fair and logically administered. CA is a good example of why republics are better than pure democracies.