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With Donald Trump back in the White House, he’s resuming his longstanding feud with California and its political figures, most famously Governor Gavin Newsom.
Trump has referred to Newsom as “Newscum” in his social media posts, and Newsom called a special session of the California Legislature to pay for steps to thwart Trump’s policy orders.
The transcontinental sniper attack raises an old question: Can California cut ties with the United States and become an independent state again?
Based in San Diego County Independent California Institute think so. He cited California’s world-class economy and its status as an “influential and well-known actor on the world stage, particularly in humanity’s collective fight against climate change.”
The institute has released a new poll claiming that more than 60% of Californians agree that they “would be better off than California if they peacefully seceded from the US at some point in the next 10 years.”
Strong majorities, the organization says, want California to form a commission dedicated to secession; to use its border stations to check arriving cars for drugs, weapons and other contraband; seek ownership of federal property and use hard-line tactics in Congress, such as withholding votes on the federal budget, to push for independence.
None of this is likely to happen, of course, but on paper an independent California might be feasible.
Canada, which also shares a long border with 47 other contiguous US states, is comparable in many ways to an independent California.
California’s population, just under 40 million, is nearly identical in size to Canada’s, but there is a big difference in economic output. Canada’s economy is $2.3 trillion ranks ninth in the world while California, at $3.9 trillion, ranks fifth or sixth.
of Canada a national budget of $534.6 billion Canada’s ($372 billion) isn’t much more than Newsom’s proposed a state budget of $322 billion. However, about $100 billion from California comes from non-tax sources, mostly from the federal government.
Much of Canada’s budget resembles California’s, namely spending on education, health, welfare and housing. One big difference is that Canada also spends about $40 billion on military defence, less than 5% of the United States’ $825 billion spend on defense.
This raises an interesting question about how an independent California would defend itself. Would it, like Canada, depend on its much more powerful neighbor to provide military protection if needed, or would it build a substantial military of its own? This is one of the many aspects of governance that a California nation must address.
The US government now collects more than $560 billion a year in taxes for Californiansso without raising general taxes, the new nation would have that money to fund not only a military force, but other programs that are now covered in whole or in part by the feds, such as health care and social security payments.
The federal government now covers about 50% of Californians’ medical expensespaying out roughly $200 billion a year through Medicare, Medi-Cal, Obamacare, and coverage for military and federal retirees.
The social security system pays approx about $10 billion in benefits each year to more than a million recipients in California.
The independent California Institute predicts an independent California will continue its left-of-center politics, and Canada could be a model for that as well. However, The Canadian economy has been in crisis lately; its budget has a $40 billion deficit and its long-serving prime minister, Justin Trudeau is forced to resign.
Trump proposed a troubled Canada must become a country. So the final question is, would swapping California for Canada be better for everyone?
