So the Republican contenders for Governor of California are working it up and down the state and, since the name of the game right now is getting the support of the base, they are making the usual promises to punish illegal immigrants. Carla Marinucci tells the story in today's SF Comical.

It seems that millionaire Steve Poizner wants to stop illegal immigrants and their children from using all services, that would be public education, hospitals, public health and so on. If he could stop them from driving on the roads and walking on the sidewalks Wonks Anonymous supposes that he would. Millionaire Meg Whitman has a more measured position on the issues. Meg just wants to keep them out of state colleges and universities.

To make up for her moderation Meg has appointed Pete Wilson as her campaign adviser. That would be the man who promoted the last attempt to deny immigrants public services, Proposition 187, which got him elected but was declared unconstitutional. Wilson has no regrets as is shown in another story exclusive to the dead tree edition:

We did it because it was essential to protect the state. we did it because it was the right thing to do.

Which is curious because after the initiative was rendered invalid in 1994 the state experienced a period of fairly strong growth and prosperity.

Also curious is how it could be right to deny people who pay sales taxes, who pay rent to landlords who pay property taxes and who often pay income taxes, public services paid for by these same taxes.

Now palling around with folks like this has its problems such as alienating the ever increasing Latino vote but not to worry:

But some Republicans say the party has come a long way since 1994 in understanding the nuances required to explore a sensitive issue with critical impacts. Still, they say it can resonate with voters - and particularly Latinos - if the discussion centers not on immigrants but on budgetary concerns, particularly impacts on the job market, public services and public safety.

"You've got a 12.5 percent unemployment rate - and in the Latino community, it's closer to 20 percent," said Hector Barajas, a GOP strategist working for Whitman's campaign. "You've got large dropout rates and high foreclosure rates. And these are the issues that Latinos care about.

"Without a job, our Latino families have no future; without an education, that family continues to be stuck in a cycle of poverty," he said, adding that's why Whitman's campaign has kept the focus on "creating jobs, controlling spending and reforming education."

Of course none of this will be available to your kids unless they prove that you are here legally and everybody will want to check your birth certificate if you are Latino but that is a small price to pay for a Republican state.

Pay no attention to the Brown Shirts behind the curtains.