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Declare Independence, California

July 3, 2009

The United States Declaration of Independence of 1776 was the outcome of a long deliberation by a diverse group of leading men. There were less than four million inhabitants of the 13 British colonies that became the United States of America at that time. I recently read that Slovakia became a nation in 1993 and still has a population of less than 6 million. Yet it has a representative in the United Nations and seems to be doing better economically after slitting with the Czech Republic.

There are about 37 million people in California. That is plenty for an independent nation.

A good argument against independence (other than the usual argument of central governments - bullets) is that California is a remarkably poorly governed state. It is arguably the worst governed state in the nation. It might be even more of a mess if it becomes independence.

But if you examine the governance of California, much of the disaster is a direct or indirect consequence of being a subject part of the United States of America.

Take the economy and taxes. Liberals want to keep up spending on welfare and education. Many people believe California should have some system of universal health care. Conservatives, in particular fiscal conservatives, have become the bad guys to these liberals (and vice-versa). Conservatives point out that the tax burden on Californians is already aptly described as crushing. To add to that tax burden endangers the very economy that produces the goods and services that liberals are happy to redistribute.

But if you look at why it is difficult to raise taxes in California, there is one glaring reason: California can only tax what is left after the Federal Government has raped and pillaged the wallets of Californians. If you are in the unlucky tax bracket I am in, having to pay about 15% for Social Security/Medicare and 25% income tax, 40% of every dollar you earn is grabbed by the feds. It does not matter if I think that Social Security and Medicare are good programs, or that I may like certain other federal programs. 40% is a big bite (My wife and I, each with our own small businesses, typically make, altogether, about $55,000 per year, with no benefits). Throw in California's real estate tax, sales tax, and income tax, and we start to envy the light tax burden suffered by medieval serfs.

And were does that federal income tax go? Over half of it goes to a military establishment that endangers America by pissing off people in other nations who otherwise could care less about the citizens of the United States of America. Much of it goes to not quite making even the interest payments on the National Debt.

Eliminate the middleman, the federal government, and we can get the benefits of government at wholesale prices. We would not need an army or navy, since we should have friendly relations with all nations. Businesses would like to relocate to California to take advantage of our creativity, industriousness, and low overall tax rates.

Another burden we suffer from being entwined with the increasingly dysfunctional United States is dominance of the Democratic Party and Republican Party two-party system. The nightmare of misgovernment in California won't end until the voters stop letting the party machines pick who will misrepresent the citizens in Sacramento. If we were independent of the United States we might be able to move to a multiparty system. Even if the Democrats and Republicans maintained their existence during the independence process, they would at least be free to reform themselves. The Republicans, in particular, would seem a whole lot more attractive if they were not associated with the anti-evolution, anti-abortion, anti-gay, nut cases that run the Republican Party in most states.

A good place to talk about independence would be at a state constitutional convention. Even if we remain servants of Washington, the current constitution of the state of California is a nightmare. A constitution should be a simple framework showing how government should function, not a detailed set of laws accumulated over the ages like barnacles on a shipwreck's hull. (See our California State Constitution)

Declare independence! Think outside the box! Change is coming whether we like it or not. We will adapt to it best if we work together as Californians to meet its challenges.

William P. Meyers