Colorado, Washington, and Oregon’s slide into progressive quicksand proves once again that aping California’s nanny-state playbook—endless regulations, green-energy mandates that jack up costs, and a blind eye to skyrocketing crime and homelessness—is a recipe for exodus and economic stagnation. These states, fresh off a decade of luring families with jobs and fresh air, are now hemorrhaging residents and businesses because Democrat overlords like Colorado’s Jared Polis prioritize virtue-signaling over viability: resisting deportations in Denver while crime festers, or slashing Portland’s cops post-riots, turning downtowns into ghost towns with 25% drops in foot traffic and 90% fire-sale office discounts. It’s no coincidence that while Texas and Florida rake in surpluses and migrants, these blue havens bleed billions in shortfalls and watch startups flee burdensome taxes and red tape.

The data doesn’t lie—net migration flips from +390,000 in Colorado’s boom years to a pathetic +24,000 now, with job growth cratering below the national average. Blame the one-party stranglehold that’s turned purple promise into blue despair: Washington’s tax hikes under Inslee, Oregon’s sluggish economy chasing firms away, and all three’s EV mandates and zoning strangleholds inflating housing beyond reach. Families aren’t fleeing for the weather; they’re escaping the mirage of “equity” that leaves everyone poorer. Time for these states to ditch the California cargo cult and rediscover the conservative basics—cut regs, back the badge, and let free enterprise breathe—before they join the Golden State’s hall of fiscal shame.