From Tuesday's Opinion Journal comes this comment about what happens when liberals take control:

What Californians have witnessed is what the modern liberal coalition looks like in power: a gerrymandered majority dominated by the "progressive" special-interest trinity of trial lawyers, unions (especially of public employees) and environmentalists.

Their priorities are the transfer of wealth from working people to an ever-expanding public sector; more mandates and rules on business that enhance union power but reduce the ability to invest at a profit and create new jobs; and of course legal standards and workers' compensation loopholes that create more openings for trial-lawyer assaults.

These columns have recorded the litany of this achievement frequently over the past five years. But note well that even with their Governor at risk of being recalled, these liberal interests have shown no restraint. As their final, pre-recall act, they pushed through a radical new mandate requiring all California businesses with more than 50 employees to provide health insurance. Governor Davis, trying to save his skin by pandering for more liberal votes, signed it during the weekend.

This reminds me of the frequent complaint from Utah Democrats about the lock Republicans seem to have on every office in the state except for the congressional seat dominated by Salt Lake County. It's true that we have a lot of right wing loonies, but Utah also consistently ranks as one of the best managed states in the union. Like most state legislatures, ours seems to be dominated by special interests, but they are mostly business types rather than unions and environmentalists. There aren't even all that many lawyers and those who are tend to be tax attorneys rather than trial lawyer types.