State and local lawmakers have been floating a parade of proposals aimed at wealthy residents: expanded income tax brackets, exit taxes, wealth taxes on unrealized gains, and a handful of Bay Area-specific measures targeting top earners to fund everything from transit to homelessness programs. The pitch is always the same: the rich aren't paying their "fair share," and if we just tweak the tax code one more time, we'll finally solve [insert chronic California problem here].

Here's the part nobody in the Capitol wants to talk about: it's not working. California already has the highest top marginal income tax rate in the nation at 13.3%. The top 1% of earners pay roughly half of the state's personal income tax revenue. And yet, the budget deficit last year ballooned to nearly $32 billion. At some point, you have to ask whether the problem is on the revenue side or the spending side — and the answer is painfully obvious to anyone who's looked at a state budget line item.

Meanwhile, the exodus continues. High-net-worth individuals and the companies they run have been relocating to Texas, Florida, Nevada, and Tennessee at an accelerating clip. Every departure shrinks the tax base, which creates more pressure to raise rates on whoever's left, which incentivizes more departures. Economists call this a death spiral. Sacramento calls it a policy platform.

As one SF resident put it, "We keep acting surprised when people with the means to leave actually leave."

The national attention isn't a badge of honor — it's a warning sign. Other states are watching California's experiment and doing the exact opposite. There's a reason Florida doesn't have a state income tax and is gaining population while we're losing it.

Fiscal responsibility isn't about protecting the wealthy. It's about building a tax system that's sustainable, predictable, and doesn't chase away the very people funding your government. Until California figures that out, every new "tax the rich" proposal is just another headline — followed by another moving truck headed east on I-80.