A week after President Trump takes office, "Calexit" gains new momentum

Link

Calexit supporters got a victory on Thursday after receiving approval to start collecting signatures for a 2018 vote on the "Yes California" proposal. They would need a minimum of 600,000 signatures and they have six months to gather the signatures.

While the president isn't mentioned directly in the proposal, many supporters of the proposal cite Donald Trump's election as a reason for it, pointing out that Trump would never even be considered as a party nominee in California.

In my opinion, it will be interesting to see how far this goes. Especially since if California leaves, then so will an almost guaranteed 55 electoral votes for the Democratic nominee of the next election. California hasn't voted for the Republican nominee for President since 1988.

Trump would have won the popular vote by 1.4 million votes if California wasn't part of the US this past election. That, as well as the amount of Democratic congressmen California provides to Washington, would probably be big reasons traditionally blue states wouldn't want to let them go.

Wouldn't there have to be an amendment to the constitution for California to leave? Unlikely that would ever happen.

Then they'll lose every benefit of being part of the US.

Good to see the nice folks of California dropping to the level of Rick Perry.....

And all the US military hardware will move East.

I love this idea. Great way to keep Trump in the white house and democrats out (forever).

While complete fantasy land, this will be fascinating any way it goes.

If anything we'll see a civil war, though frankly I don't see it ever getting remotely close to that. The government is going to fight tooth and nail to preserve the Union.....this is just another way for people to verbalize the extent of disgust and hatred towards Trump and his government. Support will rise, it'll get a bit further, and nothing will come of it. If not, then I suspect California will have roadbloack after roadblock ahead of them and eventually get hammered into compliance through force if all else fails. It's futile.

Still, it's great in the sense that Trump not only has to deal with this, but also come to face the fact that he's so reviled that an entire state (not to mention one that holds the world's sixth largest economy that could easily be its own nation) is motioning proposals to secede. Inauguration pics? It is trials like these when we will see if Trump's capable when his time comes. His governance will prove to Americans that they were right or wrong in casting their ballots for him. He's already being come at on various fronts: domestically, internationally and legally through his abrasive style. That style is going to be his downfall. This is glorious.

Put Trump to the fire, let's see how he leads under the greatest of pressure.

Just when I thought Cali couldn't get any stupider they go ahead and prove me wrong, impressive to say the least lol.

I know it's very unlikely but I hope it does, and not for the same reasons they do.

I live in California and I see a golden opportunity coming out of this.

Trump loves Brexit he should be OK with this. Even happy.

The US constitution doesn't allow for anyone(state) to leave, does it?

Best idea i'v heard in a long time.

California is so far gone from the rest of america that it may as well be it´s own country.

It does and it doesn´t

For a state to succeed it has to have a ok from all other states. As stated by Texas vs White.

Meaning that it will probably be almost impossible for California to actually leave.

Oh, and charge for water from Lake Mead or cut it off.

Hahaha.....with all the protests he gets you have to be dreaming if you think people will stay home on election day again.

And the US would lose their massive contribution to the fresh produce industry. It would be disastrous for both sides.

Only fools think this is going anywhere. You can't get your way so you cry kick and scream. How has you life change under Trump? I'll answer, your feelings were hurt.

California could do well for itself as a nation. As America's largest economy, California alone accounts for about 13-14% of America's economy. California is also the most self-sufficient state in the country, which means America needs California more than California needs America. If California were a nation, it would have the sixth largest economy in the world, bigger than France.

On the other hand, the consequences for the US would be dire. The US economy would take a huge hit. Not only would it lose the 13-14% of its economy contributed by California, but most of the other US states that depend on California would also lose take a huge hit to their economy. America would no longer be the world's largest economy, but China would replace it as the world's largest economy. And politically, America could become a single-party dictatorship, under a Republican party that is leaning increasingly towards far-right fascism, with not enough opposition to resist them. Ethnic cleansing could also become a reality, with brutal crackdowns designed to drastically reduce the populations of targeted communities, under the pretense of "illegal immigration" and "national security".

It's not going to happen.

I failed to mention it in the original post that the 2018 vote would not be for an instant declaration to secede from the United States. The vote would be to amend the California Constitution to remove language stating that California is an inseparable part of the US, which would allow for a special election in 2019 to ask voters if California should be an independent nation.

Assuming that both votes went through, the third step would be a Constitutional amendment to allow them to secede. It would have to go through Congress first before being ratified by at least 38 states, and would probably receive resistance from other blue states because of the loss of representation from almost reliably blue California.

Plus, there is the fact that the 2018 midterm elections would have already passed by the time the 2019 special election was scheduled and that may result in fewer Republicans in office.

With that in mind, by the time they are close to getting the amendment passed, for all we know, Trump may be out of office and a Democrat may be in the White House again, defeating the purpose of seceding for some of the people pushing for it. There are some others that want California to secede for reasons unrelated to Trump's election.

They can try to bypass the constitutional amendment process and just declare themselves independent like the Confederacy did over 160 years ago, but that may be met with legal or even physical resistance from Washington.

There were similar rumblings in Texas when Obama won the white house. People just need to have thicker skin. Vote next election. There's a very high chance that in 2 years - at the mid term election - that the republicans lose significant seats in congress. Running away never solves anything.

Exactly.

Trump is doing you a favor alienating every single demographic besides the shrinking white one. The Trump presidency will likely leave a permanent stain on the GOP the same way the Civil Rights Act of 1965 did, losing a large demographic forever to the opposition. By the time we reach the tipping point of white marginalization, the Democratic party will basically run unopposed every single year. Instead of reaching out to new voters, the GOP decided to circle the wagons around their dwindling and aging rural white base at the cost of an olive branch to Millennials, Hispanics, and minorities. In the long run, that sets you on a path to nowhere.

So has there been an actual analysis of California succeeding with all of the actual consequences/changes? The impact of losing water from other states against their agriculture, the need to instantly create their own currency, and the period leading up to the succession where private and federal property can and will be removed? I do not see California legally ever leaving the U.S. and if some tried and forced it then that opens up a whole slew of retaliatory measures. Given that they would need to also create their own citizenship, the act of being nationalized elsewhere opens up even having your U.S. citizenship removed.

Just kind of curious, since it seems so many think Cali would leave the U.S. and remain almost exactly as it is now, or that they discount just how much California gets buffered.

California leaving would also give the alt-right more strength, and given one poster in the forum likes a single-party America in vain of China here...

We've always wondered how sustainable California's produce industry is because most of the land they're grown at are normally desert.

There's plenty of dormant farm land in such states as New York (and others east) where irrigation systems are not required. They can take up the slack in the absence of California.

I might be more concerned if California is a big producer of staple crops such as wheat. I know California produces plenty of rice. But, not wheat or corn.

They're doing so well not too long ago they had to send out IOU's to it's citizens for their tax returns.

This is just like the numerous Southern states that petitioned to secede when Obama was elected. California needs to focus on push-back to Trump, rather than any of this foolishness.

cali accounts for $2.4 trillion in GDP. The per capita GDP is only $43k though, when it should be closer to $65k per, with the reason being the massive income redistribution from Cali to the welfare red states. If they suceeded peacefully, alot would change financially.

Cali has a lot of debt. They also need the water they get out of state. Good luck. lol morons.

Cali and the US can still continue to trade with each other.

Agreed. Give the conservatives a taste of their own medicine instead of running away.

Sure, and if I had wheels I'd be a wagon.

Sure, and if you had a brain, you'd have the common sense not to support Trump. =)

Except that it's a act of treason, and if they were to do it, all the US would have to do is blockade it and watch the country starve. This is as absurd as when Republicans were talking about Texas seceding back during President Obama's first term.

Great

Let the delusional bastards go off on their own.

Which would be foolish, as the US is more heavily dependent on Cali than the other way around.

Or is it declaring independence from a tyrannical government just like our founding fathers against the tyranny of King George III? Remember, we must understand them instead of belittling them!

LOL

What now?

So you are saying you were in favor of Texas seceding back in 2008/9? That if I were to a search in your posting history back than that you would share same viewpoint now with California and not be a complete hypocrite?

........ Thank you for the incredibly ridiculous response.. Here I thought water was not only needed for agriculture but the actual survival of human beings, something California severely lacks and depends off areas around the state to help.. My mistake.

Again, it would be foolish to block the water supply...

Sure. Mexico can have Texas back anyways.

But really, I enjoy watching the sides flip and eating popcorn.

Yeah, no. California is a dominate power even on the world stage because it is a center in which American resources and American wealth pools before going out to the rest of the world. Everything done there can be done elsewhere in the United States. California on the other hand can't even power it's self without help. If the rest of the nation simply cut power exports to the state California would be a post-apocalyptic hellscape in a few weeks. America only needs to refuse to render aid to California and it will shrivel into a husk. I mean come on, look at the natural gas numbers alone. It meets 60% of their energy demand, and only 1/6th of that comes from California. 50% of the power they need to function gone with a flick of a switch, and that is before you start going into their other imports,

And all those big money makers would be the very first ones to pull out, leaving the low income types to choke on dust. Cooperation is fantastic for America, but a necessity for California.

........... Do you understand reality? The US has a vast amount of food stores for such supposed emergencies, California does not.. Furthermore do you understand that no state has their own infrastructure that is connected to another in the mainland? States share electrical grids, water sources etc etc.. It's like people fucking don't understand how complex a relationship is with a state in how they were between commerce, resources and infrastructure is.. This would be like your arm deciding to leave your body, forgetting the fact that it's system is connected to it to function properly.. And this is completely ignoring the entire fact that it is a act of treason and California wouldn't have the power to secede to begin with..

California's economy would go bankrupt over night because industries depend off resources and the like across state lines.. Lines that would not be allowed to pass..

And how long do you think California can keep that up with the massive drought they had and have in the next few years.

The fresh produce can be moved to more viable areas in the rest of the us ,

California should be allowed secede only if they tear down every federally funded infrastructure the state has.

It can't happen...the Constitution is Perfect Union. Read your history.