“To those whom much has been given, much will be required,” California Gov. Jerry Brown told The Los Angeles Times at the kickoff of an event for his Proposition 30 tax hike campaign on Wednesday. Having thus invoked the Gospel to justify his philosophy of a free-spending government, Brown went on to describe his proposed $8 billion tax hike as “an opportunity” for the state’s highest-income earners “to give back.”

Many high-income earners are taking the opportunity, all right … to get the heck out of town before the tax burden gets even higher.