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4. DEBT AND TAXES
Since 1987, California has been subsidizing the other states at a loss of tens and sometimes hundreds of billions of dollars in a single fiscal year. As a result, we are often forced to raise taxes and charge fees in California, and borrow money from the future to make up the difference. This is partly why California presently has some of the highest taxes in the country, and so much debt. Independence means that all of our taxes will be kept in California based on the priorities we set, and we will be able to do so while repaying our debts and phasing out the current state income tax.
5. IMMIGRATION
California is the most diverse state in the United States and that is something we are proud of. This diversity is a central part of our culture and an indispensable part of our economy. As a U.S. state, our immigration system was largely designed by the 49 other states thirty years ago.
This immigration system has since neglected the needs of the California economy and has hurt too many California families. Independence means California will be able to decide what immigration policies make sense for our diverse and unique population, culture, and economy, and that we’ll be able to build an immigration system that is consistent with our values.
6. NATURAL RESOURCES
Certain minerals and other natural resources like coal, oil, and natural gas are being extracted from California at below market value rates by private corporations with the permission of the U.S. Government. While a small portion of the revenue is shared with us, our share has been withheld during times of sequestration. That means the U.S. Government is paying their debts with royalties collected from selling off California’s natural resources. Independence means we will gain control of the 46% of California that is currently owned by the U.S. Government and its agencies. We will therefore take control of our natural resources and be the sole beneficiary of royalties collected if and when they are extracted from our lands.
7. THE ENVIRONMENT
California is a global leader on environmental issues. However, as long
as the other states continue debating whether or not climate change is real, they will continue holding up real efforts to reduce carbon emissions. The truth is this country accounts for less than five percent of the world’s population yet consumes one-third of the world’s paper, a quarter of the world’s oil, 27 percent of the aluminum, 23 percent of the coal, and 19 percent of the copper. Independence means California will be able to negotiate treaties to not only reduce the human impact on our climate but also to help build global resource sustainability.
8. HEALTH AND MEDICINE
The Affordable Care Act was enacted by the U.S. Government to lower the cost of health care and expand health insurance coverage to the uninsured, yet millions of Californians still lack access to quality health care because they can’t afford it. For many, access to hospitals and medicine is a life or death issue. Independence means we can fund the health care programs we want and ensure everyone has access to the medicines they need because our taxes will no longer be subsidizing other states. Finally, California can join the rest of the industrialized world in guaranteeing health care as a universal right for all of our people.
9. EDUCATION
California has some of the best universities but in various ways, our schools are among the worst in the country. Not only does this deprive our children of the education they deserve, but it also costs taxpayers billions in social services and law enforcement expenses linked to lacking opportunities resulting from poor education. Independence means we will be able to fully fund public education, rebuild and modernize public schools, and pay public school teachers the salaries they deserve. On top of that, independence means freedom from federal education policies and one-size-fits-all standards set by political appointees on the other side of the continent.
IS AN INDEPENDENCE REFERENDUM EVEN LEGAL?
The Constitution says that each state in the Union shall retain every
power which is not by the Constitution given to the federal government.
The Constitution does not give the power of secession to the federal government, nor does it expressly prohibit the states from exercising this power. Therefore, the power of secession is reserved to the states, or to the people, per the Tenth Amendment.
Further, the Supremacy Clause of the Constitution says that treaties ratified by Congress are the supreme law of the land. In 1945, the United States ratified the UN Charter, a treaty that guarantees peoples the right to self- determination in Article I. Thus, by ratifying this treaty, the United States adopted the right of self-determination as the supreme law of our land.
Lastly, Aristotle wrote that the state “is a culmination of widening circles of human association based on human wants,” and that it is “the highest form of human association.” Why is this important?
It is important because in 1948, the United Nations adopted its Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Article 20 of that Declaration provides that “No one may be compelled to belong to an association.” This campaign takes the position, as Aristotle argued, that the state is an association and therefore we Californians may not be compelled to belong to the State, or the country, that is the United States of America.
Regardless, if the original 13 American colonies didn’t pursue their independence from the British Empire because King George and the government in London said they had no right to do so, then this country wouldn’t exist today. Therefore, when a government says to its people that they have no right to seek their independence, history shows us that has not deterred the cause of freedom or self-determination.
WHAT TYPE OF GOVERNMENT WILL WE HAVE?
When California becomes an independent country, or perhaps during the process of becoming an independent country, the people of California will choose the type of government system we want to have. Will we have a democratic-republic like the United States with a president and a bicameral legislature, or will we establish for ourselves a parliamentary republic with a prime minister and a parliament? Possibly, with all our ingenuity and imagination, we can craft an entirely unique system of governance.
However, these are questions to be decided by future elections, not by
this independence referendum. While it is a very important question, this referendum is only asking whether or not you think California should become an independent country. It does not declare California’s independence from the United States, nor does it establish any new system of government. It does not remove any elected official from office, nor does it take away your U.S. citizenship. In short, the referendum is a way to gauge the sense of the people on whether we Californians prefer the status quo of statehood, or if we want to see a change towards nationhood.
Voting yes on the referendum is essentially voting yes to reform our system of government as well as our political and elections process to:
• guarantee a more responsible and responsive government;
• move away from a two-party system;
• reduce the influence of big money in elections;
• restore the principle of one person, one vote;
• establish a system of proportional representation; and,
• engage disenfranchised voters
These are goals Californians and others are currently fighting for, yet under the corrupt U.S. political system, they are unlikely to be achieved.
Sion;9486628 said:Won't happen
HOW WILL THIS IMPACT OUR ECONOMY?
The economy is such an important part of this debate. The choices that the country of California makes, and whether those choices will be easier or harder than those faced by the state of California, will greatly depend upon how much money is available.
For that reason, the United States Government and California’s critics desperately want you to believe that California would be poorer as an independent country, be greater in debt, and that it would therefore have to raise taxes even more to make ends meet.
But that simply isn’t true. In fact, it’s not even close - California is a donor state which means that we have been subsidizing many of the other states with our federal taxes. This has been happening for decades now and we lose generally tens and sometimes hundreds of billions of dollars in a single year because of this.
For example, the Federal Government’s own figures show in 2014, the last year for which data is available, that Californians collectively paid $369.2 billion in federal taxes and received federal payouts totaling approximately $355.8 billion. That’s a loss of more than $13.5 billion in a year when California was still working its way out of the recession.
Since 1995, California has lost about $16 billion each year. To put that in perspective, California’s entire state budget in 2014 was $156 billion. So when we talk about how much money is available in our budget, California as an independent country would have about 10% more without any additional taxes and before adjusting our budget priorities.
By keeping all the taxes you pay in California, we will be on our way to budget
Page 14 YESCALIFORNIA.ORG
surpluses instead of deficits. By remaining part of the United States, not only will the 49 other states ensure that we keep subsidizing them but California will always be in debt, will always be forced to borrow money that puts us deeper into debt, and will always have a massive national debt hanging over our heads. Today that national debt is over $19 trillion.
In short, we pay the highest taxes, we have been subsidizing the other states at an average loss of about $16 billion a year since 1995, and California is hundreds of billions of dollars in debt. Had California been an independent country since the 1980s when we started subsidizing other states, we
would have had $120 billion more available to us since that time and would not have had to accumulate so much ?debt, or raise taxes so much. So the question you have to decide is who should receive the taxes Californians pay every year: the people of California, or the people of the 49 other states?
HOW WILL THIS IMPACT OUR BUDGET?
Independence will stop the United States from using our taxes to subsidize other states. However, returning California’s taxes to California’s budget represents only a portion of the fiscal benefit of independence.
When California is an independent country, every dollar in federal taxes you pay will be sent to Sacramento instead of to the U.S. Government. This will not only keep your taxes in California, but it will also dramatically increase the size of California’s budget by hundreds of billions of dollars.
As independent country, however, California will assume much more responsibility and therefore have a range of budget items from Social Security to national security that we will be responsible to fund with that budget each year. This is where a substantial fiscal opportunity arises for us to align our budget priorities with our values as Californians, and thereby secure the funds we need to invest in the healthcare, education, and infrastructure programs we can afford only through independence.
Take national security for example. In 2015, the U.S. Government dedicated more than half of all discretionary spending on its military. In dollars, that means they spent nearly $600 billion on its military that year, about 16%
of the entire $3.8 trillion national budget, and over three percent of the nation’s Gross Domestic Product.
If California as an independent country spent 16% of its annual budget, or over three percent of our Gross Domestic Product on military defense, not only would that conflict with our values as peace-loving Californians, and not only would it be a massive waste of tax dollars, but it would frankly render this campaign largely unnecessary and even unworkable.
One of the benefits of independence is the ability to spend less on weapons
of war and more on education, healthcare, infrastructure, and other quality of life issues that matter to the people of California in their daily lives. Spending three percent of California’s $2.46 trillion Gross Domestic Product (or 16% of our annual budget) on military defense would give us a military defense budget of about $70-80 billion a year.
Why spend $70-80 billion a year to maintain a military apparatus in North America where Canada defends itself with just $18 billion a year? Israel’s military defense costs them $18 billion a year, too. In fact, California spending even $70 billion a year on defense would afford us a military larger than Russia’s - and Russia is 40 times larger than California.
By reducing military expenditures while adequately providing for our defense, we will have about $50 billion more a year on top of the billions we retain
by the ending subsidies we pay to other states. Combined, this is about
$75 billion a year - and that’s after we fund the military! So all you need to decide is how you want that money spent: improving your quality of life, or on subsidies to other states and a bloated military budget?
WILL WE HAVE OUR OWN CURRENCY?
An independent California may eventually have its own currency but that is a question to be answered in future elections. The day after independence, California can continue using the U.S. Dollar and if anyone tells you something different, they are lying.
That is because the U.S. Dollar is a “fully-tradeable” international currency, which means any country can use it if it wants to without requiring the U.S. Government’s permission. Many countries have already done away with their own currency and instead use international ones like the U.S. Dollar, so having our own currency is not something we absolutely must have.
WHAT ABOUT OUR WATER AND AGRICULTURE?
Even with the water shortages we faced in 2014, California’s 76,400 farms produced $54 billion that year - a more than five percent increase in cash receipts from 2013. No other state in the county has a larger agricultural output than California so it is no doubt that this industry is a very important part of California’s economy.
About half of California’s water is used for environmental purposes such as maintaining habitats and scenic rivers or keeping seawater out of the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, which is an important source of our drinking water. Another 40 percent of California’s water is used for agricultural irrigation while urban usage represents the remaining ten percent of water usage.
Technological innovation has allowed for agricultural and urban water usage to decline although farm production and the population continues to grow each year. This is good news for the environment as well as the economy.
While an independent California will continue to foster the technological innovation and promote the environmental conservation that has led to the decline in water usage across California, independence means we can actually increase the water supply. More water means California’s $2.46 trillion economy - the sixth largest in the world - can continue to expand because farmers will be able to grow more crops and we as a nation will be able to support an ever-growing population.
In normal years, the snowpack supplies about 30 percent of California’s water as it melts in the spring and early summer. The larger the snowpack, the greater the likelihood California’s reservoirs will receive ample runoff. However, this snow and the associated runoff is on federal lands and managed by federal agencies subject to the federal budget. The problem is the federal government is mismanaging these lands by allowing the forests of the Sierra Nevada mountains to become too dense. Not only does that negatively affect the health of our forests and increase the likelihood of forest fires, but more trees means that more water is being consumed and therefore there is less runoff.
As an independent country, we will take control of our forests. This will put us in position to increase mechanical thinning and restore meadows. In doing so, we will allow our beautiful Sequoias to grow and flourish, reduce the threat of forest fires, and increase the water supply available for hydropower, agriculture, and urban water usage - the economic benefits of which would be sufficient to cover the costs of these restoration projects.
Not only has the federal government mismanaged our forests but they have also been allowing private corporations to extract California’s groundwater from these forests with permits that have been expired since the late 1980s. While this does not represent a huge portion of our water supply, every drop counts - especially in a drought.
An independent California will have oversight authority to not only make sure that private companies extracting our groundwater for profit are operating with valid permits, but also that they adequately compensate the people of California for this precious resource. The federal government permits these companies to extract millions of gallons of our water for just $527 a year!
On top of all this, because we will no longer be subsidizing other states
and also spending less on the military, an independent California will have more money to pay for the maintenance of existing water infrastructure facilities - such as those near Sacramento, one of the most “at-risk” areas for a catastrophic flood resulting from levee failure, as well as new projects, including Eco-friendly desalination along the coast.
http://www.yescalifornia.orgHOW WILL WE DEFEND OURSELVES?
Only one country has ever invaded California - the United States. Modern- day California doesn’t have military enemies and in fact, there are 23 countries in the world, including Iceland and Panama, that do not have a regular military and yet they manage to remain free from invasion. Unlike these countries, however, California will have a military that is ample for our defense in North America.
What does ample for our defense in North America mean? Well, Canada defends itself with about $18 billion a year while Mexico protects itself with even less. In fact, the global average for military budgets is about $17 billion a year. Only the United States spends way more, so it is no surprise that this country remains one of the only major industrialized countries in the world that can’t guarantee healthcare, among other services, to all of its citizens.
An independent California will be able to refocus our priorities on these important quality of life issues while still providing for the defense and security of our country. However, independence does not mean the U.S. military is going to leave California right away. Although this campaign does not take many specific policy positions, instead leaving them to be decided by future elections, we do take the position that California will negotiate a military base agreement with the Americans.
These military base agreements will require the Americans to lease the
land their bases are on just like they do in many countries around the world. These leases will bring in revenue each year that we can use to subsidize California’s defense and national security budget. Perhaps most importantly, an independent California will be more secure and at less risk of attack simply because we will no longer be involved in all of America’s military activities that actually perpetuate and instigate terrorism around the world.

SUMMARY OF POINTS
California is a unique place - the home of forty million souls who collectively make up the sixth largest economy in the world. We have the people, the resources, and the economy to make it as an independent country.
When the time comes to make a decision in the ballot box in 2019 on whether to vote yes or no on the Calexit independence referendum, remember no matter the results of the referendum, you will not lose your U.S. citizenship or any of the benefits, services, or privileges that are afforded to U.S. citizens.
Nothing will change overnight. The day after the historic independence vote, California will still be a state and still have representation in Washington and you will unfortunately still have to pay your federal taxes. Voting yes
on independence will simply express your will that California becomes an independent country. In order for that to actually happen, the government of California and the government of the United States will have to negotiate the details over a couple of years.
We highlight these two points first and foremost because the fear-mongers of the U.S. government and those who would prefer that California remain subservient to Washington are going to try and scare you into voting against independence by raising questions about citizenship issues and by implying that economic and/or political anarchy will ensue if the referendum passes. This is not the case. With that settled, keep in mind the following points:
1. California loses an average of $16 billion each year by remaining a U.S. state. That is the deficit between the amount of federal taxes we pay each year versus the amount of federal spending in California.

2. As an independent country, we can adjust the amount of spending we allocate for weapons of war to an amount more consistent with our values as peace-loving Californians. This will free upwards of $50 billion a year and get Californians out of the business of subsidizing the United States’ imperialist and militaristic foreign agenda while adequate providing for our defense in North America.
3. With these funds freed up, an independent California will be able to improve the quality of life of our people by reinvesting in schools, hospitals, and infrastructure. We will be able to do this while maintaining every job, agency, program, grant, and service that you currently receive from the state or federal government. However, with an entire level of government bureaucracy eliminated (the federal government), there is bound to be quite a bit of streamlining which will save even more taxpayer money.
4. These savings will not only improve the budget situation in California, but it will allow us to over time pay down our debt and perhaps even eliminate some taxes and fees - taxes and fees we have to pay today to make up for the loss of billions of dollars a year in a tax deficit with Washington.
5. Lastly, California not only has the potential to do so much better for our own people by managing our own affairs, but as an independent country we will have the capacity to help build a better world. Building a better world
is what California is all about. It is unfortunate that today we find ourselves stuck in a country that is making the world more dangerous and divided.
Let’s change that.
BOSSExcellence;9486636 said:so bein born and raised in Cali will a nigga be able to have dual citizenship!?
my DL is still CA and i still got shit that goes to my mommas addresss?? lol
Joker_De_La_Muerta;9486687 said:California gonna be the most flaming gay nation in the world. That state is broke because it's run by idiots and have been they started believing the reputation alone would pay their bills. Plus they elected Arnold Swarzenegger as governor. They won't last long on their own.
dallas' 4 eva;9486649 said:Sion;9486628 said:Won't happen
Donald Trump just became president after literally talking shit about EVERYONE whonwas supposed to be who you need to win an election.... and a lot of those people voted for him. Hell the Cleveland Cavaliers won the NBA finals... coming back from a 3-1 defecit. Bruh anything is possible.
Sion;9486628 said:Won't happen