The Daily Caller points out this Sean Hannity statement on secession:
On his Friday radio show, conservative talker and Fox News host Sean Hannity warned that the United States may fall apart if tax rates remain high.
“The states are now fighting and battling against their own federal government,” Hannity said. ”Same thing with individuals. If you live in a state like New York, New Jersey, California [or] one of these high-tax states [where] 60-plus cents of every dollar goes to taxes, you’ll say, ‘What the hell am I doing this for?’”
“A lot of people have told me that,” Hannity continued. “A lot of people are moving. … I noticed that Bobby Jindal moved to remove his state income tax. He’s not stupid. You know what’s going to happen in Louisiana? The same thing that is happening in Texas and Florida — their populations are soaring. They’re doing a lot better. State governments are fine. They’re surviving. They don’t have the property taxes they do in New York, which is obscene. In New York, you just pay and pay and pay and pay.”
States with lower taxes may soon decide they want to stop shouldering the burden of states with higher taxes, Hannity warned.
I don’t dispute that secession is appropriate – I’m actually for it. While I would prefer that we actually govern ourselves under a true federalist national model as the Founders intended, I’m beginning to believe that is going to be impossible. I agree with Mark Levin:
You know folks, I’ll be honest with you. I just told a friend of mine — even though I sit behind this microphone and I try to be civil and so forth — I can barely contain my fury about what’s going on in this country. I’m just being honest with you. I can barely contain it. I’m so frustrated by this tyranny, you have no idea. Now we can analyze it, we can intellectualize it, we can parse it and so forth and try to unravel it. But I’m just telling you, from an emotional point of view, it is just so damned infuriating to see the greatest country on the face of the earth run by a bunch of lilliputians, who are constantly attacking it from within.
I think think the catalyst, the spark that sets the whole shebang aflame and finally pushes this over the edge will be what comes of three things that I was thinking about when reading about Hannity’s statements:
- States with lower tax rates are going to draw greater populations and more revenue generating businesses,
- They are going to object to paying for the spending in the spendthrift states,
- Population and business shifts will deplete the tax base of states with entrenched governments, unfunded pension liabilities and powerful public sector unions, thereby exacerbating the problems in states like Illinois, New York and California.
I predict that the straw that finally breaks the camel’s back will be a lawsuit, one filed by a high tax state like California against states that have low or no state income or property tax rates because they are unfairly “pricing” their states, the effect of which is to rob the high tax states of the taxpayers necessary to support their respective state governments. If the burden is increased in one state by out-migration to another, that will be called “unfair” and I think these states will turn to the courts for a remedy.
There is a possibility that a governor or a state attorney general might try the invoke the Commerce Clause but I think it is more likely they would try to use the Fourteenth Amendment which states, in part:
No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.
Sound ridiculous?
Maybe, but if the courts agree that when one state with lower taxes draws a taxpayer away, it is equal to depriving the people of a bankrupt state of the “privileges” in that state associated with being a “citizen of the United States” and that based on the equal protection clause, all states must have “equivalent” tax rates to prevent taxpayers shopping low tax states.
This argument has already been used effectively in the federal takeover of education when it comes to programs offered and levels of funding. The Feds simply institute things like Title IX and you either comply or your funding goes away and you get sued. I think we will see an attempt before the end of Obama’s next to last term (if Jose Serrano gets his way) to apply the same technique to taxes. The debasement of the Tenth Amendment has already done damage, potentially irreparable damage, to state sovereignty – so I would not be surprised to see such a gambit attempted.
Bobby Jindal is about to get the ball rolling with his proposal to eliminate Louisiana state taxes, to which reliable “progessive” Kevin Drum of Mother Jones replies:
I see that Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal wants to raise taxes on the poor as a way of funding big tax cuts on the rich. He doesn’t put it that way explicitly, of course (“It’s time to…foster an environment where businesses want to invest and create good-paying jobs”), but it’s hardly buried in the fine print, either. Basically, he wants to increase the sales tax (which hits the poor and middle class heavily) in order to eliminate income and corporate taxes (which are paid largely by the well-off).
The battle lines are about to be drawn in a little more stark relief.
Mark my words, we are headed for a crisis of constitutional proportions and it will be started by a lawsuit.
The Rio Norte Line 
I agree. We have no shortage of lawsuits over Constitutional matters already … and many more being planned or pending. One of these lawsuits over taxation policies will finally break the camel’s back (i.e., a tax that hits the wallets of a number of Free Sh*t Army members), then Obama’s sycophants will turn on him in enough numbers that chaos will follow. You can mess with a tremendous amount of stuff in this nation apparently, but you cannot mess with people’s personal money.
The shit is about to hit the fan. Wait for it, wait for it …
A friend of mine teaches at a local college. He related to me yesterday his students are mad as hell their social security taxes just went up.
They are saying, they promised taxes would only go up on people making more than $200 thousand a year ….
And the recently retired military personnel that are now back in college ain’t giving up their weapons either.
They are saying we didn’t serve our country to come home and not be free.
A crisis or a civil war?
They’re both C-words Kells………..Gradations of a coalescing set of Deep Disatisfactions felt amongst different groups.
Coalescing is a C-word too. What these groups hopefully will discover Soon….is that the solution to their grievances lies in the same place. And that is Drastically Limited Government….the solution which helps everyone.
And that Solution already exists within the Constitution and Bill of Rights ….. no need to re-invent the wheel. no need for New regulations…..just the opposite….the Application of the Constitution and its guarantee of Individual and States rights is the answer……….Those Students and Retired Military Personnel need to start talking together….that’s what’s needed to get the solution up and running.
I cannot believe you’re bringing up the C-word! Well, aren’t you the saucy one?! I think you aught have just said, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”
Then again, there is that shaky gun……
“Then again, there is that shaky gun……”……Ur trippin on UR kilt here Kells…..shaky “Gun” indeed … ;- )) .
THE C-word….THE C-word !??…..I’m not hip enough to even Know THE C-word…..only the Concentric Set of Co-active C-words.
If you know the M word, I can gaurantee you know the C word. Must I give a tutorial and explanation with my comments? Oh, the pain!
“Must I give a tutorial and explanation with my comments? ”
Uh Huh !.. :- )) .
@Kells,
Well, I have to do so for you, so… 🙂
There once was a boy named B.
Who wanted to know the word C.
I told him it’s best
to not fail the test
and leave the cunning linguist to me.
That Still leaves the M word Hon.
So speaketh the man, er, foolish man……
The M word’s important because
It is one of our womanly claws
Try as we might
We do seem to fight
For men to take a brief mental pause.
I do believe I should challenge you, silly Don…..Bulldog in the doghouse……bring it, baby! By the by I have the pics of you and Trapped. Uh-huh! Not only will I show Sally, I will sell them to every flippin progressive Mother Jones’ site I come across! See what happens when ya cross the line??!!
No worries … they’re probably just Pics of us hammering new moldings up on Old Victorian Bay Area houses. The Mother Joneses will equivocate between us engaging in a useful hobby to house “the needy”… or condem us as vile Capilalists ( unless the Politically Correct Napa wine is featured prominantly in the photos of course).
But please don’t sully me with Sally ! I couldn’t live with the shame … ;- )) .
M is for mistress of memories and C is for the Commendant of Cute….there’s my stab at it ( until OFraudster and Joe the Putz Executive Order the outlaw of Knives ).
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The first constitutional crisis will most likely be when Obama tries to use executive order to grab guns. We’re living in some very scary times.
We actually had someone in CA tell us we had no right to sell our CA properties to move to another state. His take on it was we had a biz in CA so we somehow owed CA because we had made money in our biz. Of course, he neglected to consider how CA got rich off the taxes all the successful biz here paid in to the state.
Libs hate the idea that any entity would compete with another, even states. However, many states not run by libs will be happy to sweep up CA refugees and the biz we bring with us. Libs can have CA, where they can make all their rainbow, unicorn dreams come true! I’ll be down south enjoying life back in America.
Trapped I found a website written by a guy in Calif. his Dec 30 ‘list of 10 predictions you might find interesting ……http://www.calwatchdog.com/2012/12/30/10-predictions-for-california-2013/
There was a Dec 20, 2012 article on Rush’s site titled,,,”Death-spiral states eye exit taxes”….about just this issue !! He referenced an article from… **Real Clear Markets : when will death spiral states impose taxes on fleeing citizens ? by Bill Frezza Dec 17 **. In it they talk about States Forbes says are Bad Bets financially and could come after former residents for revenue…..kind of like Perpetual Tax-slavery……they will try and FORCE former residents to pay for their Collectivism….and in the case of Calf…to pay for illegal aliens , even after you’ve left the state…….What made me think of you was the fact that BOTH Calif and South Carolina were on the Forbes list….. :- ((. 11 States in all . Texas was NOT on the list. You might want to look this up.
Best Don
I know, CA is a big mess, but it’s certainly no surprise to us. They’ve been running biz out of here for yrs now. Blithering Idiots, all of them. Prediction #5 is my daily reality, only people staying are ones with kids or elderly parents. My husbands Mom passed not long ago at age 93. Our 1885 Queen Ann goes on sale this summer & I expect we will be gone this time next yr.
I know about the Forbes List, but I’m bully on SC because I love old cities, full of history and Charleston is visually stunning and not too far from Hilton Head. Also, Boeing likes SC and I think it will do fine as more folks move south. SC is filled with conservatives and we have family there, ret. Air Force. Also, it makes leaving the Victorian here easier if we can buy another old house or at least one that looks old & areas around Charleston full of great homes on a couple acres. Heaven!
As for CA coming after us for more $ all I can say is…..MOLON LABE.
Charleston is Beautiful !! Great food too. We almost bought an anteBellum 6000 sq ft 0n 3 acres in Camden which is inland( Really really cute town ). After the Hurricanes Andrew perhaps ??? The houses left standing on the “islands” were ALL antebellum, the 20th century look-alikes were ALL flattened…..something to keep in mind when House-property Hunting.
The absolute BEST by far NEW construction we saw was in Alabama east side of Mobile Bay…..superb quality work….4x4s instaed of 2x4s…..local craftsmen with pride in their work…..these were high-end houses too.
As long as U get out…..the South and Conservative areas definitely needs and welcomes good conservatives !
Don,
I started planning my escape in 2005, so I am beyond happy to finally be moving on.
You mention Alabama and while I like their politics I don’t remember there being much going on there. Have you spent time in Alabama? If so, what did you think? We are planning to visit TX later this year, but it seems like they are already being inundated with Californians.
At the age we find ourselves I think we probably won’t go for another historic house. We want a one story on a couple acres about half hour from a big city. I’d prefer not to live too near the ocean, maybe Summerville area right outside Charleston if we go to SC. Looking forward to lots of long walks with the dogs, dinner at Jestines, season tickets for the opera & lots of volunteering for Secession efforts and historic preservation while surrounded by conservatives or what I always think of as “normal people”.
And I hope you are right about the south welcoming us, because we’re going to try and make a difference wherever we end up. Our country needs all hands on deck right now.
We are not in the Liberal parts of Texas…the College towns (Dallas, Austin etc..). You will always be “not from the area”….but I think folks are suspicious of the usual Californians….so identifying yourseves as being conservative and traditional minded will go a long way to fitting in. Church communities are strong in Texas….don’t know about SC……but we liked the people in SC very much ( and Hush-puppies too w/honey-butter.. :- )) . We had considered Camden as a place with a commute to Columbia….but saw a fair number of places inland and all along the coast…..prefered South to North Carolina, but didn’t really get inland in NC.
Minimal time in Alabama….Fairhope Montrose, Mobile area the Most. Fairhope was very upscale….kinda like Marin….beautiful houses and very pretty. Also looked east of Fairhope along *10*, * 90* and *27* ….VERY well kept up farms at that time very impressive….not run-down, lot of pride.
Wanted to go to Pensacola in Fl but never made it. My wife goes to Tampa, St Petersburg ,St Pete’s beach and the area quite a bit….she likes it quite well. I’ve never been to Florida. although I have cousins there who moved from Calif too.
Can’t really say the rural parts (or semi-rural parts) of Texas have been inundated by “the Califf’s” ( nor thank God the Kardashians)….you don’t run in to them all the time .
Ahhhh Don,
LOL, How can I possibly move some place I have no chance of running into Kardashians!
Actually, I feel sorry for you Texans, having tons of Californians descend on you can’t be fun. Even if they are not Kardashians! My husband bought a house in Hermosa Beach in 1979 when it was just a little beach town filled with head shops and biker bars. We would grab our Rombauer, walk 5 minutes to the ocean and spend a lovely afternoon in the surf. Over the years, the people who work at the movie studios moved in, not the actors, but the makeup, hair, lighting, etc people. They changed everything and the natives who went to high school there felt invaded, they still do. I imagine Texas feels the same.
Thanks for all the info about different areas you’ve been. After the city house is sold this summer we will take some trips. The thing that grabs me about Texas is their attitude! Texans always seem to say what I’m thinking and that makes me think we would probably fit in quite well. Time will tell.