Only those who lack sense or are ideologically committed to class warfare would fail to learn the clear lesson from California’s example.

◼ A California lesson in progressive income taxation

Brown wants to do exactly what Obama proposes on a national basis — to increase revenues by hiking taxes even further on a declining class. Both talk about paying a “fair share,” but as the Sacramento Bee reports, the 0.5% of Californians who qualified for the current class-warfare treatment in 2009 accounted for 18.8% of all taxable income in the state — and 32% of all income taxes paid. That’s hardly an issue of the higher income earners failing to pay a “fair share.”

Plus, no one is quite sure why the number of the $500K+ filers dropped by a third. The downturn certainly has something to do with it, but it might also be that the highest income earners have a greater ability to relocate to a more friendly state. Either way, thanks to the heavy progressive tilt of the income tax system, the state is much more vulnerable to economic downturns, especially when it comes to capital gains income in a year where capital gains are difficult to produce...