Torture memo author John Yoo offers "How to Save California: Outlaw Public Employee Unions" [1]. That's definitely an idea worth considering, but Yoo oddly enough is ignoring a more fundamental issue that would help California even more. That issue, of course, is immigration and specifically illegal immigration.

One of the reasons why there are so many public workers is because of massive immigration by low-skilled workers and their families. That means we need more school teachers, more benefits program administrators, more policemen, more prison guards, the list goes on and on. And, even though they don't vote (for the most part, as far as we know), illegal aliens form a power base for the Democrats and unions in general. For instance, many Service Employees International Union workers are here illegally, and their dues are then spent on advocacy for increased spending in general. Massive illegal immigration helps prop up far-left, free-spending legislators, and at the same time leads to some higher-skilled workers moving to other states.

Sharply reducing illegal immigration isn't a panacea, but it would definitely strike at the free-spending far-left.

Yet, oddly enough, those like Yoo [2] consistently ignore the elephant in the room. They just aren't serious about solving California's problems. If Yoo makes a public appearance somewhere, please ask him why he wasn't discussing immigration when it's a more fundamental issue.

[1] http://ricochet.com/conversations/
How-to-Save-California-Outlaw-Public-Employee-Unions
That link is, of course, promoted by Glenn Reynolds (pajamasmedia.com/instapundit/107184).

[2] Others ignoring immigration include - but are not at all limited to - Joel Kotkin (see the link) and Steven Greenhut of the Pacific Research Institute (http://online.wsj.com/article/
SB10001424052748703699204575017182296077118.html).