California’s woes also illustrate the dangers of extremist politics.

We’ve gone from California’s “Golden Age” of the 1960s, when Democratic (Pat Brown) and Republican (Ronald Reagan) governors worked together on education, infrastructure/transportation and innovation to make California business-friendly and dominant in industries ranging from high-technology to aerospace. Our education system was excellent at all levels. Our infrastructure and transportation/road system was designed for efficiency and speed and the business climate was conducive to continued solid growth in diverse markets and industries.

Juxtapose that with the present situation, especially the gridlock in Sacramento, the erosion of nearly all of our competitive advantages, most critically in education, and a business-unfriendly environment that is driving companies to Nevada, Texas and Arizona. The extremists of both parties essentially control just enough respective power to ensure that nothing gets done, nothing gets fixed and a realistic budget never gets passed.

We’ve gone from dominance to a cautionary tale in two generations.