Fidel Castro, the communist dictator of Cuba for more than 50 years, long has had his admirers in California. I remember when Rep. John Garamendi, when he was Insurance Commissioner, met with our editorial board at The Orange County Register. He told us that Castro’s socialized medicine system should be a model for America.

But now, while Garamendi has gone to Washington and is imposing socialism, Fidel is going capitalist. The BBC:

Cuba has announced radical plans to lay off huge numbers of state employees, to help revive the communist country’s struggling economy.

The Cuban labour federation said more than a million workers would lose their jobs – half of them by March next year.

Those laid off will be encouraged to become self-employed or join new private enterprises, on which some of the current restrictions will be eased.

Now, Cuba’s population is about 11 million, compared to 38 million for California. So if we follow Castro’s lead, the state government would fire more than 3 million workers — at the state and local levels.

Now that Fidel has seen the light, California needs to do the same to get rid of our $19 billion socialist deficit. And also follow Fidel by getting rid of the tens of thousands of ridiculous regulations that tie down our entrepreneurs.

That’s worth lighting up a good rum-dipped Cohiba today.

¡Viva Cuba Libre!

¡Viva California Libre!