It wasn't difficult to read between the lines when Gov. Gray Davis pledged in his State of the State Address last January not to "advocate" for a tax increase. The governor's crafty election-year rhetoric provided the perfect escape: he wouldn't advocate for a tax hike, but he wouldn't veto one either. Taking their cues from the governor like nervous freshmen in a high school theater production, Davis' fellow Democrats in the Legislature stepped in to do the one thing they're really good at: finding creative, new ways to soak taxpayers. Not only were they creative, they were amazingly thorough. Since...