California is the real melting pot of our nation now. It has had a long run of prosperity in part because of the industriousness of its large immigrant population and its great natural wealth. It has great universities and research institutions. It has the most beautiful stretch of undemolished coastline in any developed nation. It has vast wilderness areas and a massive water distribution infrastructure built by prior generations. It has the best financial base of any state in the union with a GDP greater than all but five of the nations on earth. How has it gotten into this mess? I have only lived here for the last sixteen years but I have a little different perspective from the pundits that make their living analyzing these things. I am convinced that it is because California is a nation and not a state at all that its state government is failing. California needs to secede from a union of states that drains more cash out of its pockets than it could ever return. California's economy is as large as those of France and Italy and it has often given those far older nations a run for their money. In order to continue to succeed it will need a national bank and its own currency. I vote for the Bear Dollar and the Bull Five.

The prospect of removing California from the Union flies in the face of the phenomenon of uniting Europe. Uniting the nations of Europe has created a currency challenging the dollar for international dominance, the Euro. The current battle over the process of creating a European constitution provides an example of how hard it will be to unite those diverse states into a single nation. California is a nation-state in all except the power it wields to manage its own destiny. Why not remove the power to manipulate its economy from the Federal Government and give it to the people here? If the taxes collected here by the Feds were directly paid into the state coffers there would be a substantial surplus this year instead of the deficit that is one of the causes of the mess.

California is in the mess it is in because it provides a nice rich target to the predatory pirates in Washington D.C. and elsewhere. If California had its own standing army and air force and navy those thieves in political guise would be unable to operate on our wallets. As a sovereign nation California would be able to tax the flows of goods that pass across its borders into the rest of the USA. That alone would take care of the deficit. Yeah, lets secede and eliminate the Federal system entirely.

What about the fact that California cannot govern itself? Well if you believe the radio talk shows Grey Davis is worse than Saddam ever was. Now I've met Grey Davis and while he is a mild mannered guy and not terribly impressive he seems like an honest enough sort. During the energy crisis he developed a conservation plan that saved Californians billions of dollars in overcharges. His leadership is not of the dynamic dramatic sort that a Ronald Regan could project, but then he is no actor. Reagan left massive debt behind when he left the Presidency. The divisive politics of this period in history has cost Grey Davis more than most governors but he is trying to solve problems with a broken state government apparatus. The California legislature is built on a framework of limits made law by initiative and referendum that keep it from working effectively. Most of the budget is defined by those limits. We badly need a new constitution here and if the only way we can get it is to secede from the USA then I am all in favor of that act.

Representative democracy only works when the legislators have the power to make it work and the incentive to keep it working. The gerrymandering that has given most of the legislators in California safe districts combined with the term limits that keep rotating them out of office just when they become effective has created a failing government. Add to that Proposition thirteen and others that have reduced the taxation powers of the legislature greatly and leaven it with the yeast of two thirds majority requirements to pass a budget and you have a recipe for the disaster we are experiencing. As California goes so goes the nation? Well this time we may not want to wish that on you all. Meanwhile we are facing a recall vote for governor designed by Rube Goldberg. Nearly three hundred candidates have appeared already and the ballot gets larger every day. Keep tuned and watch this as it develops because your economic future is tied to that of California in many ways. It will remain so unless we secede from the union. Maybe Hawaii will join us and we could buy Baja from Mexico? God bless and keep you safe in these easy to recall times.