Bluexit? A wholesale reduction in federal taxes, and a concomitant rise in "regional," state and local taxes to build (in my case) a real, regional set of 22nd century citizen tools and experiences to lower allostatic load and raise life quality (high speed rail, futured cities with actionable urbanism, free higher education, functional medicine, science-based climate readiness, et cetera) in the megalopolis between Boston and D.C.? To witness the same up and down the West Coast? Today.
I think this should be a major wake up call for liberals to abandon the federal government. We do need an ambitious decentralization program and a weakening of the executive branch. I think some things are impossible to decouple, like transportation, energy grid and defense. But there are other areas we can start with immediately. For example education. And entitlements. Let's shift entitlements to the states and drastically decrease federal income tax and social security tax. Let's drop federal workplace and environmental regulations. Shift more of that burden to the states. If we really want to take it to the next level we can even have some restrictions of movement of people across blue/red line, movement of capital, trade and immigration policy. Of course this is all fantasy. In order to really make it work you would pretty much have to redraw state maps. While Dems lost the Midwest, you still have a long slice of blue areas along the lake shores from Cleveland to Detroit and from Chicago to Milwaukee. Also there might be a way to create a land bridge through Arizona to connect Colorado/New Mexico to California. Maybe along the border through Tucson, and perhaps all the way to El Paso and Brownsville. Red America might appreciate having an extra buffer from Mexico with two layers of border checks.
Cross posted, only half-jokingly, from the Trump Stupidification thread: Well Jaysis Christ on a Krispie Kreme would ya get a load of this. Evantesticle snakeoil salesmen lay hands on the Great Satan. Look at those faces. The devil aint hoppin out of him no matter how hard you think about your new Mercedes or vacation home in the Ozarks, dummies. Although it'll never happen, I wouldn't mind splitting Jaysisland off from us Coastal Elites. Y'all keep yer Jaysis, guns & grits and we'll stick to our lattes, gay sex and Subarus. It just might be better that way. The people who feel they're trapped in the wrong place could migrate like Okies.
But a drastic decentralization program is not fantasy. It's possible. If the idea gained momentum on the left, it would have plenty of partners on the right. Let's face it. They want to build their utopia where abortion is illegal and schools become bible schools. These people are a ball and chain to progressivism. The problem is that this divorce makes most sense for solid red and blue states. A little more complicated for purple states.
Not ever gonna happen for one. And sure, I'm tired of subsidizing the millions of sponging knuckleheads in the Opioid Belt. But it's also the frustration of dealing with Red Staters & their pols. Opioidia's voting power drags anyone in blue states with hope of advancing as a country down with it. Example - friggin coal jobs were a thing in 2016 when there are many more green jobs to be had in the future all over the US.
Sure lots of black, hispanic and american indians in red states rely on federal support. State governments in places like Kansas and Oklahoma are some of the most unresponsive to peoples' needs in the developed world. But there's a lot of white trailer park types as well in those states that are in the same boat. The arrangement really only works for the top 20-30% red state income earners. It takes responsibility off their hands. We subsidize their inequality. I say pull the rug from under their feet. Let those incompetent state governments deal with it. It goes one of two ways. Either the working class finally wake up and realize that they want to be a blue state too and join the developed world. Or they simply leave. Having a migration of people from red states to blue states is not a bad thing. Broader tax base, more labor, more diversity. Right now blue states are actually losing out demographically because red states can offer deregulation and lower taxes while getting bailed out by federal government for services. Look at Tennessee, North Carolina, Texas and Arizona. They're growing better than the Northeast and the blue parts of the Midwest. Of course in the long run that will backfire for those red state governments. As they attract businesses they also become more educated and thus more purple. Which goes back to my original obstacle for this. Decentralization doesn't necessarily solve the polarization problem for purple states unless we redraw state lines.
When ever I think of succession I always think of Kurt Vonnegut's take that a country should be no bigger than Denmark. I am paraphrasing of course.
Another reason this is a bad idea: federal budgets harmonize a lot of our spending/tax policy. If you cut it to near nothing and ask states/local govt to raise funds on their terms for roads, schools, healthcare, etc, you're going to end up with wildly different forms of taxation. We see this to some extent already. Some states do high prop tax/low income tax. Others the opposite. Some impose sales tax at the school district level to fund schools. Some are property tax. Some are a mix. But the federal funds are collected the same way and dull the differences. If you're a business in multiple states, the regulatory burden without federal tax would be a nightmare because the differences at the state+local levels would increase and the dollar amounts would also increase as state/local rates go up to fill duties voided by the fed. Our regulatory burden is the lowest of any federal system of government among large economies. It's already pretty optimized consider the layers and powers of various components of govt. The only countries with lower burdens are more harmonized via unitary government. If we decentralize further, our ability to maintain efficiencies can only drop.
IOW...New Jersey! We got beaches We got hills Try to make a left And you'll get the chills We got tomatoes And salt water taffy Our governor eats them both And it makes him happy Our roads are crowded And always broken My tire flew off the Pulaski And landed in Hoboken Up north it's Giants & Yanks Down south it's Phils & Eagles You can watch the ponies at Monmouth Or walk in Branch Brook with your beagle Its crowded & messy And often gives you agita But I still like it here Until retirement then it's Florida
Ha....It should be noted that dapip and brummie along with a few other distinguished posters claim Florida as their own. It's apparent that the Floridian Welcoming Committee isn't all that choosy!