California’s Bad Bet Makes JPMorgan’s Look Minor

Congress ordered JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s chief executive officer, Jamie Dimon, to testify about $2 billion that his bank lost on an investment bet.

Worrisome as that gamble was -- after all, the banking crisis was largely due to bad bets by banks -- it is unfortunate that Congress has never called hearings on a far bigger bet, one that has had more catastrophic consequences for millions of taxpayers.