They refuse to understand that the state income is highly dependent upon the success of our innovative companies and the high capital gains they generate when the economy is doing well. Our state taxes these long-term gains as short-term income which is great for creating occasional windfall income increases. Texas does not tax long term as short-term gains, a partial answer to why Texas is growing in high tech with more technology exports than California and draining our technology base.

However, when the economy goes south, this strategy creates even bigger decreases in the state income at a time when state demands increase.

Brown seems to be the only one in Sacramento that has his head screwed on correctly.