Investors Business Daily lays out how California has gone down the tubes: High taxes, over-regulation, a government that seemingly lacks the most rudimentary understanding of what creates an attractive climate for business.  What they didn't add -- but could have -- is that the state penalizes productivity and rewards failure, while fostering a political class that reeks of arrogance and entitlement.

In light of the way that California's big-taxing, big-spending policies have worked out, it's more than a little unsettling that now, Washington seems to be headed down the same road.