States right to leave the United States.

As a Californian, I would say the facts are right and the conclusions wrong.

California suffers from a type of government that allows laws to be enacted--even ones that drive spending and taxation--by direct vote ("propositions"). The only thing less courageous than the politicians is the populace. So stupid propositions (like Prop 13, which destroyed California's ability to govern) get voted in and there's no counterbalance. People will vote for spending increases, but not the taxes necessary to support them.

People have been writing off California for decades, but to us it just sounds like envy. It is a beautiful place with some serious problems. We can live with that.

 

Yup. California goes a long way to support the "Red" states that don't pull their weight. (Ironic to see states filled with anti-Federal haters yet they suck up so many Federal dollars.)

Secession wouldn't hurt California from a military standpoint, either. Once the government got serious about closing bases, California lost way more than its share.

Talk of secession regarding any state is silly, of course. But I love hearing it from those welfare Red states. Oh, the irony.

 

Crude oil production has been scaled down because of federal restrictions on drilling. This not only includes land drilling but "shallow water" drilling in the gulf. Were Texas its own nation I'm sure that would change and they'd drill everywhere. Also, in natural gas production Texas has hit the motherload. Basically when it comes to energy, left to our own devices we've pretty much got it made in the shade. Would that financial boon offset the military industrial complex? Probably, but that's pure speculation on my part but I'd be willing to bet we'd give Mexico, South America and probably the Middle East a run for their money in energy production. Besides that, we refine and would probably refine even more with federal regulations lifted.

We also have large agricultural resources but I think these go mostly untapped. The tech sector here is very healthy as well. All of that said, talk of secession is irresponsible but I do wonder what will become of the individual states were there ever a total financial collapse of the federal government. The thing that truly unifies us is the almighty dollar, if that were to lose its weight individual states may decide they are better off going it alone.

 

To derail the thread to answer NorCal:
I moved from California to Colorado a year ago. I find my cost of living (including all taxes and fees) to be about the same including the cost of real estate.
[Public university education is much more expensive here than California.]

 

Nope. The reason is geology, not politics. Crude oil production has been scaled down (by two-thirds) because all of the biggest oil fields in Texas were found and exploited long ago. Only the smaller and less accessible fields are left. One petroleum geologist in Texas puts it like this:

The same model applies to other petroleum-producing parts of the world, including Alaska, the North Sea, and the Middle East.

 

Hmmm...I wonder about shallow water drilling in the gulf then.

 

The shallow-water (state) offshore wells are relatively unimportant for oil production purposes. They do have more importance for natural gas, but I was focusing on crude oil.

The State of Texas Comptroller's official estimates for Texas Proven Crude Oil Reserves are shown in Exhibit 4-11 here. The most recent numbers, for 2006, are as follows:

Texas Onshore Reserves: 4,871 million barrels
Texas Offshore Federal Lands (Deep Water): 155 million barrels
Texas Offshore State Lands (Shallow Water): 3 million barrels

Notice how the offshore numbers are small compared to the onshore number. Also notice that the onshore number has generally dropped over time; it was 7,152 million barrels in 1986.

The Texas Comptroller also notes:

 

I agree. But for most people that don't reside in California don't understand is that our infrastructure is currently supporting far more people than it is designed for. We have millions of undocumented and illigal immigrants here because of our close proximity to Mexico. That puts a tremendious strain on our infrastructure which is currently supporting millions who are not paying into it (as much); and our very liberal state governement officials will not take a stand and strengthen our enforcement policies at the risk of being unpopular (which politically makes good sense). All you have to do is cross the border, have a kid, file for financial assistance; free housing, free healthcare, and essentually free automatic income, with no fear of being forced to leave. If I was living in a 2nd/3rd world country that was bordered by a super power with that many incentives, who could blame you for entering the other country illegally. However,the entire situation is killing our state and forcing many to move elsewhere.

 

And that ain't all.

There are too many special interests controlling the state-- public employees and educators among them. The state owes way too much in employee benefits (e.g. retirement), and cannot cut jobs effectively lest it run afoul of the unions. Not only are the unions huge campaign donors/mobilizers, but they are also well lawyered up.

Immigration isn't the only problem here by far.

 

I was able to make a trip to California once. I stayed in a place on Van Ness St. in San Francisco and had a very good time. Then I stayed in a place in SanDiego. VERY good time. Beautiful beaches is what I remember most. Overall I would consider this to be a great place to live. I really don't know anything about California politics but, to the op's point, I can't see any state following through with cessation from the union. Obviously every state has it's own situation but in general it would seem that whatever they might gain, they would stand to lose much, much more.

 

That is also true to certain extent. What complicates the states extremely generous retirement system, is the fact that people are retiring younger and flat out living longer. Advances in medicine, healthcare, and our climate all play a role in that. But changes to the retirement system are already in the works as the PERS 3%@50 is going away slowly but surely and full medical and dental for the entire family is no longer being offered with the exception of a select few areas.

 

Wow...so even though oil and gas (to include refining and corporate spending) is our largest industry, it still is only a small percentage of our GSP followed by aeronautics and defense contracting. Tech is about where I thought it would be but I underestimated our agricultural contribution and financial sectors. I read your link and several others. Our economy is much more diversified than I first thought. Of course in looking at the geological map I am basically sitting on a giant natural gas bubble, so naturally it seems like everyone I know works in energy.