Here in America and in CA our governments have been "captured" by the special interests and since governments are the instruments which levy taxes, I don't have much hope here for change until a '60s style public uprising occurs. It can happen, just as it did in response to the Viet Nam draft, but more hell has to come first.  All indications are, especially here in CA, that conditions are ripening for just such a hell. I'm actually optimistic.

In the end, might makes right. Nothing has changed since the caveman.