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Californias quest to tax itself into oblivion looks to be taking another great leap forward, with the state legislature approving a plan that will hike gas taxes by 12 cents a gallon. That will solidify the state's standing as one of the highest gas-taxers in the nation. Add requirements for "clean-burning" gas to existing taxes and Californians were already paying 67 cents a gallon more than the national average to fuel their cars.

The money raised by the new tax will supposedly go to road repairs, but count The Scrapbook skeptical. California is famous for playing a classic shell game. Step 1: Waste money on shiny, unnecessary projects (high-speed rail, anyone?). Step 2: Point to neglected but popular needs such as dilapidated roads, understaffed police departments, and underpaid teachers to justify tax increases. Step 3: Repeat.

Except that in the case of California's latest tax-hike, that standard strategy proved insufficient. Critics are now accusing Gov. Jerry Brown of buying reluctant votes. He succeeded in persuading key lawmakers to raise the gas tax by promising to fund infrastructure projects in their legislative districts. You know the whole process is unseemly when your governor is forced to explain to reporters the subtle nuances between legal and illegal bribery. Which is just what Brown did last week: "When somebody says, 'Here is $10,000, I want your vote,' you got bribery. It's illegal. When someone says, 'You know, I think this bill would be better if you included these projects or these ideas or these rules,' we listen, because that's democracy and that's openness and that is a compromise spirit that makes democracies work."

There you have it: backroom tax-hike horse-trading as the democratic virtue of "compromise spirit." Now you see why California is called the Golden Statethe state finds a way to get all the gold.

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In not necessarily unrelated news, growing numbers of people are leaving California. According to an article in the Orange County Register by urban affairs experts Joel Kotkin and Wendell Cox, a net 110,000 California residents "outmigrated" last year. The bulk of those fleeing were escaping the densely populated urban areasLos Angeles, The Scrapbook is looking at youwhere Gov. Moonbeam's style of left-wing rule is most entrenched. Even San Franciscothe playground of the leftist plutocrat classlost population to the tune of 12,000 in 2016.

Kotkin and Cox focus on the desire of families to find "affordable, less dense housing." Some have been moving within the state in search of less expensive towns to livemodestly priced Modesto, for instance. But compared with the number moving into California, far more are moving out of the state altogether. Many of them are going to places such as Florida and Texas. Not only is the housing more affordable, but it's clear that for all the double-talk of politicians such as Jerry Brown, people are quite capable of comparing state tax burdens.

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Becau$e That'$ Democracy, Baby - The Weekly Standard