WILLIAM BENNETT: California's welfare state is a fraud machine. It could make all Americans into victims

It’s a difficult time to be an honest Californian.

The state faces the highest cost of living in America and some of the highest taxes, levied to fund a massive welfare state. For that investment, taxpayers do not get less poverty or a better quality of life, but rather an epidemic of fraud — with an estimated $180 billion or more stolen under Gov. Gavin Newsom alone.

Consider this a warning for America as Democrats look to export the state’s model nationwide. Fraud is not merely an enforcement problem...