A campaign for California to secede from the rest of the country over Donald Trump’s election is gaining momentum, with supporters allowed to start collecting signatures for the measure to be put to a vote.
California’s Secretary of State Alex Padilla gave the green light on Thursday for proponents of “California Nationhood” — also known as Calexit — to start collecting the nearly 600,000 signatures needed for the measure to qualify on the November 2018 ballot.
The 585,407 signatures required by July 25 represent eight percent of registered voters in California — the most populous state in the country with nearly 40 million residents and the world’s sixth-largest economy.
There is even talk that California will withhold taxes to the federal government to fight President Trump:
Officials are looking for money that flows through Sacramento to the federal government that could be used to offset the potential loss of billions of dollars’ worth of federal funds if President Trump makes good on his threat to punish cities and states that don’t cooperate with federal agents’ requests to turn over undocumented immigrants, a senior government source in Sacramento said.
The federal funds pay for a variety of state and local programs from law enforcement to homeless shelters.
“California could very well become an organized non-payer,” said Willie Brown, Jr, a former speaker of the state Assembly in an interview recorded Friday for KPIX 5’s Sunday morning news. “They could recommend non-compliance with the federal tax code.”
It’s fair to say that California has declared war on President Trump. I guess that’s what happens when California votes so differently than the the other 49. Mrs. Clinton beat Mr. Trump by 30 points in California, or 4 million votes.
Where do we go from here?
First, California is indeed one of the top GDPs in the world. However, it is also an overtaxed and highly regulated state, as any business person will tell you. I’m not sure that many industries or taxpayers will stay behind if they have to change their passports from the U.S. to the Republic of “choose your gender” California.
Second, California may find out that all of those military bases, and the jobs that they create, will start packing east the minute that California leaves the rest of us.
Third, and very important, how are all of those interest groups going to work together when they don’t have President Trump to blame for everything? What happens when President Jerry Brown calls for more tax increases to pay for a state with unsustainable public sector contracts?
So it won’t happen. California will remain a state and that is a good thing for them and the rest of us.
However, one good thing about California being a foreign country is that a LA Dodgers vs Texas Rangers final would literally be a World Series. The winner will finally be the actual world champs.
Tags: California secession To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the My View by Silvio Canto, Jr. Thanks!
