Go no further than the following chart from Deutsche Bank to understand that tax rates do not necessarily correlate with tax revenues.  The effective U.S. corporate tax rate — i.e., taxes actually paid — fell to a 40 year low of 12.1 percent in fiscal year 2011.

Why do we have this feeling California is about to learn the same hard lesson.   The highways are already jammed with businesses and people fleeing to Nevada and Texas.

(click here if chart is not observable)