Much has been written about the possibility of California seceding from the United States. I say let them go. Nothing would please me more than watching California turn into a third world country. No one really believes California could or would secede from the US. They see it as a foil to attack Donald Trump. Let’s examine what it would take to secede and what the results would be.
What would the process for secession be? First there could be a voter’s referendum on the matter. If that referendum were passed, the California legislature could let that stand or they could confirm the will of the people. The vote would likely fail badly because people aren’t that stupid. But for the sake of the argument, let’s say it passes. Now, it goes to the United States congress and they would have to vote to allow California to leave. The republicans wouldn’t be their biggest foe, the democrats would be.
Why is that? They would lose two senate seats and 53 House seats. Democrats would find it difficult to ever get the majority in either house of congress without them. And forget the UN. They can’t do a thing. But for the sake of argument, let’s say congress approves California’s request and they become their own country.
The gross state product for California is 2.496 trillion. How would that be affected by secession?
Military bases of course would be abandoned. Here is a list of military bases in California:
Riverside, California Military Bases
Dublin, California Military Bases
Monterey, California Military Bases
San Luis Obispo County, California Military Bases
Monterey, California Military Bases
Barstow, California Military Bases
Monterey, California Military Bases
Herlong, California Military Bases
Alameda, California Military Bases
Petaluma, California Military Bases
| State | California (CA) |
| Dollar Amount of Defense Contracts Awarded to Contractors in this State from 2000 to 2015 | $537,311,342,851 |
| Number of Defense Contracts Awarded to Contractors in this State from 2000 to 2015 | 723,841 |
| Number of Defense Contractors in this State | 29,594 |
| Number of Counties in this State | 58 |
| Defense Contract Totals for Contractors in this State Contract Count/Contract Dollar Amount |
|
| 2015 | 67,976/ $31,262,715,793 |
| 2014 | 54,688/ $31,950,237,707 |
| 2013 | 52,841/ $35,553,059,892 |
| 2012 | 54,307/ $41,219,307,375 |
| 2011 | 56,334/ $41,694,649,191 |
| 2010 | 59,457/ $41,430,873,638 |
| 2009 | 58,764/ $43,309,244,116 |
| 2008 | 62,378/ $40,605,976,926 |
| 2007 | 57,586/ $35,903,371,784 |
| 2006 | 50,594/ $33,956,034,265 |
| 2005 | 54,739/ $32,965,464,492 |
| 2004 | 27,242/ $30,270,089,168 |
| 2003 | 23,272/ $30,670,711,145 |
| 2002 | 17,507/ $25,447,963,680 |
| 2001 | 13,422/ $20,982,438,478 |
| 2000 | 12,774/ $20,097,348,06 |
How about piers?California has some of the biggest and busiest piers in the United States and they will practically dry up and blow away. Why? It’s a simple matter of logistics. When exporters send merchandise into the United States, they have to have people help get the products into the country, but if they were to ship to California for goods meant for other states, they would need to cross two borders. That freight will begin docking on the East Coast and into the Gulf of Mexico.
California is rich with oil and gas but they refuse to allow drilling, so there is no income from that. Companies will move out of California if they sell their goods throughout the fifty states. And the agriculture industry that brings in so much money for California will face even more problems. It’s harder to import druits, vegetable and meats into the United States and many other countries.
Other problems inclde:
Will need to negotiate trade agreements before they can export their goods.
Will have to pick up the tab for projects like the high speed rail bondoggle.
Will have to come up with the money to support the tens of millions of illegals they have welcomed.
Current SS recipients should be able to continue to collect from the US but all future ones would need to be paid for by California.