Cailfornia’s Khmer Rouge regime

Kay Lim and Ken Chea — or their families — survived the murderous Khmer Rouge regime of Pol Pot in Cambodia, when a third of the Cambodian people were murdered in the name of the people.

In America, the government of California is murdering their business, Angelo’s Drive-In of Fresno:

FRESNO — After the Monday lunch rush at Angelo’s Drive-In, a man in a blue work shirt came in and laid a thick manila envelope on the counter, asking for the owners’ signatures.

Kay Lim and Ken Chea thought they were signing the papers to sell the 1950s diner to the state to make way for high-speed rail. They agreed to accept an offer of $160,000 for a burger joint that opened in 1954 and holds nostalgic appeal for generations of Central Valley families.

Later, they realized the deal was not yet final: The papers represented a second, state-authorized appraisal, boosting the price for their restaurant’s land and building to $140,000, from $100,000. They expect to sign the final papers for the larger figure this week.

The offer for the business remains $20,000, bringing the total to $160,000. The couple bought the restaurant for $300,000 nine years ago. They said it makes about $50,000 a year.

Experts said the couple have a good case for contesting the estimated value of the business, but Lim and Chea, Cambodian immigrants, are unwilling to fight the state.

“When you’re a little guy, you can’t pay for lawyers,” Lim said. “What can we do? I came to this country with nothing, so hey, we can do it again.”

So they paid $300,000 for the business, but will get just $160,000 from the government thieves. Living under Gov. Jerry Brown and his preposterous socialist choo-choo train project isn’t exactly as bad as living under socialist Pol Pot, who took everything including maybe your life, but the principle of looting is the same. You work 16-hour days to build up a business, the government grabs it and does what it wants with it, and with you.

Given that it’s likely the High-Speed Boondoggle won’t even be built, the business could end up being destroyed for absolutely nothing. The property could sit unused for decades, then be sold to some Big Box developer in 2043.

But I admire Lim’s pluckiness. He’s going to try again. Assuming the government in “free” America allows him.

And I checked on Cambodia’s top income tax rate: With Pol Pot long gone, it’s just 20 percent.

By contrast, in Pol Pot-ish California, the top rate (state plus federal) is 53 percent.

Opening a new business in Cambodia would be a better bet — and not just for those who came from there, but for all of us.