California’s been described as a nation unto itself. Could it be?
“Yes California,” a pro-secession group, filed paperwork with the state attorney general in November for a proposed 2018 ballot measure to strike language in the state constitution binding California to the United States.
This month, the group announced the opening of a “cultural center” in Moscow — “the first of many planned California culture centers which will serve to build a bridge between the nation of California and the nations of the world,” read a statement on Yes California’s website.
If its ballot measure succeeds, Yes California would pursue a 2019 vote to declare the state’s independence. At least half of the state’s voters would have to cast ballots and 55 percent would have to choose independence for California to become its own nation, according to document Yes California filed with the Attorney General’s office.
Talk of California secession is nothing new. But it gained momentum after Donald Trump’s election. Hillary Clinton got 62 percent of California’s vote in defeating Trump, the largest margin of victory for a presidential candidate in the state since 1936.
The November election, which gave Republicans the White House and continued congressional dominance, underscored California’s political divergence from the rest of the country.
While the GOP controls most state legislatures and governorships, Republicans are a shrinking minority in the Golden State, where Democrats control the Legislature, 39 of 53 congressional seats and all statewide elected offices.
California’s Democratic leadership has vowed to fight Trump over his plans to deport undocumented immigrants and repeal Obamacare, and California’s battle against global warming is at odds with climate change skeptics in Trump’s cabinet.
In arguing for independence, Yes California contends that the state’s tax dollars subsidize the rest of America and that red-state politics marginalize California’s more progressive values. California can stand alone as a world economic power, secession advocates say.
“We believe in two fundamental truths,” reads a statement on Yes California’s website. “(1) California exerts a positive influence on the rest of the world, and (2) California could do more good as an independent country than it is able to do as a just a U.S. state.”
http://www.dailynews.com/government...elieves-california-should-form-its-own-nation
“Yes California,” a pro-secession group, filed paperwork with the state attorney general in November for a proposed 2018 ballot measure to strike language in the state constitution binding California to the United States.
This month, the group announced the opening of a “cultural center” in Moscow — “the first of many planned California culture centers which will serve to build a bridge between the nation of California and the nations of the world,” read a statement on Yes California’s website.
If its ballot measure succeeds, Yes California would pursue a 2019 vote to declare the state’s independence. At least half of the state’s voters would have to cast ballots and 55 percent would have to choose independence for California to become its own nation, according to document Yes California filed with the Attorney General’s office.
Talk of California secession is nothing new. But it gained momentum after Donald Trump’s election. Hillary Clinton got 62 percent of California’s vote in defeating Trump, the largest margin of victory for a presidential candidate in the state since 1936.
The November election, which gave Republicans the White House and continued congressional dominance, underscored California’s political divergence from the rest of the country.
While the GOP controls most state legislatures and governorships, Republicans are a shrinking minority in the Golden State, where Democrats control the Legislature, 39 of 53 congressional seats and all statewide elected offices.
California’s Democratic leadership has vowed to fight Trump over his plans to deport undocumented immigrants and repeal Obamacare, and California’s battle against global warming is at odds with climate change skeptics in Trump’s cabinet.
In arguing for independence, Yes California contends that the state’s tax dollars subsidize the rest of America and that red-state politics marginalize California’s more progressive values. California can stand alone as a world economic power, secession advocates say.
“We believe in two fundamental truths,” reads a statement on Yes California’s website. “(1) California exerts a positive influence on the rest of the world, and (2) California could do more good as an independent country than it is able to do as a just a U.S. state.”
http://www.dailynews.com/government...elieves-california-should-form-its-own-nation
