The Time Has Come for 51

American Thinker ^ | February 11, 2017 | John Steinreich

[Kaslin]

After nearly three decades in L.A. County, Nestlé will soon move its headquarters from California to Virginia. This food services giant with an estimated $235 billion in assets worldwide will by the end of 2018 remove 1,200 jobs from a state that relies heavily on income taxes to fund its massive public sector.

Nestlé's exodus follows other big employers, including Toyota, Campbell's Soup, Dunn-Edwards Paints, and eBay – which took with them tens of thousands of jobs – and mirrors the flight of mom-and-pop operations, entrepreneurs, families, and individuals who have ditched the once Golden State for places where the weather is less clement but the business and tax climate is welcoming. With Republicans, conservatives, and Reagan Democrats hightailing it out of high-priced California, the remaining statist majority has a voice that is progressively increasing in volume, and with it, the call for a "Calexit" secession from the Union grows louder. With some cynicism and a bit of righteous indignation, many Americans long to look westward to San Francisco, L.A., and Sacramento and wave goodbye and good riddance.

[Leaning Right]

> If California secedes, war is INEVITABLE. <

it all depends who’s president at the time. President Chuck Norris would probably stage another march to the sea. President Chelsea Clinton would giggle, then give CA half our nuclear arsenal.

[Yaelle]

What about three or four small states?

Southern CA from OC to the border could be conservative. LA county and environs can be a liberal state. Make Jefferson higher up and east including a lot of central. And a Bay Area state around SF and Silicon valley..

[central_va]

Forcing CA back into the union would solve nothing and kill a lot of people. We'd be back to square one.

Secession is the answer, not unconstitutional and CA leaving the USA solves a whole slew of political problems and relieves a lot of pressure from the body politic.

For these reason I am for CA secession. How can I help make it happen?

[Salvation]

I’m so glad I don’t live in California any more. It was great to say “Good-bye.”

[Leaning Right]

> Secession is the answer, not unconstitutional... <

I agree with the second part of that anyway. As I’m sure you will agree, one of the flaws of the Constitution is that it provides for no mechanism for a peaceful secession.

Any state should be able to secede. Just the threat of it might scare DC straight. But it should be a VERY slow process, with plenty of time for reflection. Maybe it should be a 10 or 20-year process.

[central_va]

The Constitution is silent on secession. Makes no laws either way.

[vladimir998]

“President Chelsea Clinton would giggle, then give CA half our nuclear arsenal.”

Not if she wanted to be re-elected. California has 55 solidly Democratic electoral votes. If California secedes, there’s a chance no Democrat will ever sit in the White House the rest of this century.

[Pknicker]

In total, the federal government owns 47% of the total area of California. It isn’t just a few military bases; it’s also national parks, monuments, etc. By the way those military bases include some prime ocean front properties.

[central_va]

When CA secedes they get it all. Lock stock and barrel. Good riddance. Worth every acre and penny.

There is a reason why divorce is so expensive, because it's worth it!

[CyberAnt]

I agree .. I’m in San Diego, and we’re mostly RED .. we have a great Mayor; and we’re loaded with all the Seals and SpecOps people.

If you lose us .. who you gonna call to rescue you ..????

The only fair divide is three (3) pieces:
No CA: Border of Oregon, to just North of SanFran;
Central CA: North of SanFran to just south of L.A.
So. CA: Just south of L.A. to Mexico Border.

That would break up the cabal the DemocRATS like to exploit.

[cradle of freedom]

California has 55 electoral votes but aren’t those votes inflated due to the huge number of illegal aliens who are not supposed to be there? If the illegals were gone do you think that California would lose some of those electors?

[RedStateRocker]

They cluster in cities. Cities create a different mindset, I think .

It isn’t “California” that is weird, it’s LA and SF. Well, Sacto, but Sacto is just any government capital anywhere, ever in history where money flows freely.

Even in the ultra liberal area I live in, the wine country, most of my friends and neighbors have their heads screwed on straight. The one out of 5000 lunatics are the ones who have the time to make all the noise.

Sacto is outrageously corrupt, but compared to some other statehouses or the capitals of other countries with similar sized economies not so much....

Then there is Silicone Valley, but that is a self selecting environment- if you are both brilliant and you’re willing to work 120 hours a week to prove it (while making a few billion dollars) it’s where a lot of other people like that are, attempts by other states and countries to replicate it notwithstanding.

[Lysandru]

The asshats who advocate a Calexit have no comprehension of how easy it would be to crush them.

As others have noted here--and I noted myself from the get to--was that the new Snowflake Republic would have a built-in insurgency yearning to return to the U.S.

Secondly, someone was making a point about the Silicon Valley types thinking that they would be able to continue to do business as usual. Wrong--a blockade (pardon, a "quarantine") is an option for the federal government. This quarantine could also be applied to cyberspace. What happens to Google when NSA Hackers go after them with a vengeance?

Thirdly, U.S. forces could block the flow of the Colorado River into SoCal. Couple that with pro-U.S. militias in the high country holding the water sources, and things will get desperate real fast.

In point of fact, I have been pondering for over a year a board wargame about a 21st Century American Civil War. I guess that I need to think about a California scenario now.

[Vigilanteman]

I agree, especially with the 10-20 year process. Just to illustrate, let's say 10 years. Let's just illustrate.

Year 1: State applies for territorial status to start the 10 year clock. A vote is scheduled and held within the year to determine the popular will.

Year 2: Based on election results, counties are divided into three categories:

1. Class A: Counties with less than 40% favorable vote.
   
2. Class B: Counties with more than 40% but less than 60% favorable vote.
   
3. Class C: Counties with more than 60% favorable vote. The executive branch, with consultation of congress, appoints three territorial governors over each group. The Class C counties are given the most home rule and little or no Federal Aid.

Year 4: Class A counties may begin application for statehood. Class B counties may schedule a new vote to see if Class A or Class C status is more desired. They may also vote to partition the counties based on the two year old result. Class C will schedule a vote for path to independence or to remain a territory. Based on the results, the number of Class B counties should diminish.

Year 7: Everyone should be aware of the results of the last six years. Many Class A counties will, by this time, have applied for readmission as separate states (some minimum size would apply in area & population as every county can't be an independent state). Class B counties should largely be partitioned into Class A or Class C status if they have not made a clear choice. Class C counties should be ready to take the final plunge into independence (60% majority required) or remain territories.

Year 9: No Class B territories remain. They are either Class A, preparing for statehood (or already admitted as such), or Class C, preparing for full independence. Final election is held. Those who vote for independence have one year to reconcile and negotiate debts and continuity with their former government.

Year 10: No Class C counties remain. They are either independent, territories or readmitted sovereign states.

Note the multiple elections so they have ample time to ponder which direction they wish to go. Secession remains an option, but a slow, orderly and deliberate option.

[BlueDragon]

They be stealin' roar of TEXIT thunder. (just kidding around here).

But;
At least Texas has (mostly) it's own power grid. California imports a lot of electricity, and with the impending closure of the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant will soon be importing yet more.

[otness_e]

I disagree with CALEXIT, for a couple of reasons.

1. As some people have pointed out, there are far too many national parks, landmarks, and military bases that we can’t afford to just let go. Heck, California is home to the San Diego Naval Base. Are you going to advocate gutting a large part of the military just to appease some local nuts who want a secession?

2. The prior attempt at having states secede led directly to the Civil War, which led to lots of bloodshed, and ultimately, none of the states even considered seceding again up to now. And since there’s illegals in California who don’t give a darn about rule of law, that would end up making the situation even worse.

3. Even the one thing that might actually be sound reasoning: To essentially exile the radical left from America, is just going to fail if we try it. While we might succeed in preventing radical leftards like George Lucas and Mark Hammill, who at least were born in California and have shown no interest in moving out, from trying to influence American policy by turning it to the left, we have to remember that other radical leftists who weren’t actually born in California but moved there, like Jeffrey Katzenberg, Bob Iger, and Michael Eisner, to name a few, will simply move back to their home states and pursue their leftist views there, leaving us right back at square one.

I do think that there needs to be a way to fix California, even if it mandates Executive Orders or Martial Law, but having it secede is just a stupid idea that would cause more problems than it would actually solve. And this is speaking as a Conservative.

Besides, there have been quite a few true Conservatives from California. Remember Ronald Reagan? Or how about Richard Nixon or Barry Goldwater? I think a few more conservative names also popped up as well.

[afterhoursarmory]

It is their debt on bonds, coupled with the pensions and the unfettered flow of illegals that will kill them. Ticking time bomb as more and more retire and more come in on the dole.