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Taxed to death:

California's sales tax rate of 7.25 percent is highest in the nation.

California is sixth-highest in a ranking of the 50 states' corporate income-tax burdens.

California ranks at No. 11 in a ranking of the 50 states' property-tax burdens.

California is sixth-highest in a ranking of the 50 states' individual income-tax burdens.

California is No. 8 among the 50 states if you measure the dollar amount of state taxes paid per resident. As of Jan. 1, the California average was $2,214, according to the Tax Foundation.

There are four of us now in the PrestPundit family, so that would be $8,856. I'm a full time dad during the week, and I work both Saturdays and Sundays, and my annual take home income is within the range of that tax burden. Two kids, two cars, a new home -- you do the math -- direct and indirect California taxes basically appropriate my whole take home pay. So my weekends are dedicated to paying for the retirement at 50 (at 90% pay) of government employees -- and other such things the politicians thought they needed to do to in order to advance their careers.

Also quotable:

Bill Ahern, Tax Foundation spokesman, says that although California taxes aren't high in every category, they're high in the categories that matter most to companies making decisions about where to do business. That's what gives California an anti-business image, he says ..

In a California Business Roundtable survey of 400 companies statewide, 20 percent were planning to move or expand out of state.