Good Luck On Seceding, California

California doesn’t have a clue.

Ever since President Trump’s election in November, California’s been screeching with a furious vengeance—every day there’s a new story about “resisting” the White House, even leaving the Union.

Why are they so upset? They didn’t get their way.

California voted overwhelmingly for Hillary Clinton, who won 61.5% of the popular vote in that state. In fact, California single-handedly tipped the national popular vote in Clinton’s favor.

But although the popular vote is basically meaningless (we have the electoral college for good reason), many of California’s more radical fringes have been using it to justify their dreams of secession. Even moderates are playing it up as a way to gain more autonomy.

For example, California recently announced that they would oppose President Trump’s withdrawal from the Paris Climate Accord, and institute their own climate policies to abide by the deal. They also banned collegiate travel to other states, and intend on making independent deals with foreign entities.

Since when did democrats love states’ rights?

Now, these are all just cries for attention, but let’s take them seriously for a second. Could California actually go it alone? Are they up for it?

California’s Economy Isn’t All It’s Cracked Up To Be

California’s economy is junk—although they claim to be an “economic powerhouse” the cracks in the facade are showing after decades of mismanagement.

First off, California’s running a $1.6 billion deficit—70% higher than in 2008-2009. Not only that, their spending is allocated bizarrely. For example, they spend the equivalent of 17.7% of their state budget on illegal immigrants.

This mismanagement has led to California receiving tons of money in federal subsidies and spending (to the tune of $368 billion annually). And in classic liberal fashion, they demand even more: they want hundreds of billions of dollars for their collapsing infrastructure (which they neglected, because they were too busy spending their taxes on illegal aliens).

Oh, and they already have some of the highest tax rates in the country.

All totaled, the California Policy Center estimates that the state’s local and state debt is $1.3 trillion. That’s a lot, but to be fair their credit rating is AA-, the highest it has been in 14 years (but still lower than most other states).

And debt be damned, California’s still trying to implement a single-payer healthcare system that would probably leave them bankrupt—much like Illinois, another democrat stronghold.

Stuff like this is why so many Californians have moved to places like Texas (it doesn’t help that California’s housing market is the most expensive in the nation.

Taken together these facts show just how obnoxious California truly is—especially when they get on their high horse and call for secession.

Remember that? Some Californians (probably more than we’d like to admit) want to leave the US now that we have President Trump.

I say go for it—just so long as we get to keep what’s ours.

The Federal Government Owns Half Of California’s Land

What’s ours? Apparently 45.8% of all land in California.

That’s right. The United States federal government owns 45.8% of the total land in the state of California.

This works out to 45.9 million acres of land. It’s administered by federal agencies like the Department of Defense, Bureau of Land Management, and Forest and Fish and Wildlife Services etc.

On top of that, a lot of this land is used for national parks and other conservation projects.

Look at the adjacent picture: all the colored bits are lands owned by the federal government, not the State of California.

If they leave, I say what’s fair is fair—we keep our share.

Of course, this may change. There is actually a very compelling argument for California (and the rest of the western states) to gain control over the federal lands in their states.

But for now, if California wants to leave, we keep our half.