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How would Trump "cut-off" California? Is such a thing even possible? (Original Post) NurseJackie Feb 2017 OP
If he cuts off California, will he also cut off Oregon and Washington state? manicraven Feb 2017 #1
He can't. He doesn't control those funds. MineralMan Feb 2017 #2
Yes, he's blowing smoke... dchill Feb 2017 #5
Maybe he'd just seize all their agricultural production. Tommy_Carcetti Feb 2017 #3
With a yuuuuge chainsaw. In_The_Wind Feb 2017 #4
Maybe someone in the media could ask him that very question gratuitous Feb 2017 #6
Ohpleezeohpleezeohpleezeohpleeze! LastLiberal in PalmSprings Feb 2017 #7
K&R!!! n/t RKP5637 Feb 2017 #9
he'll put a string of nukes in the san andreas fault. unblock Feb 2017 #8
On secession. FigTree Feb 2017 #10
Should they join Canada? n/t RKP5637 Feb 2017 #11
No. "Cutting off California" means 1/2 the food and most of the tech in the U.S is affected. haele Feb 2017 #12
Does he think it's a one-way street? stopbush Feb 2017 #13
+1 Johonny Feb 2017 #16
Build a big beautiful wall using all the undocumented immigrants as labor. guillaumeb Feb 2017 #14
California is the largest source of federal tax revenue of all the states. procon Feb 2017 #15
California Could Cut Off Feds In Response To Trump Threats Jimbo101 Feb 2017 #17
He can't. Even if he thinks he has dictator powers. Xolodno Feb 2017 #18
He can't. Starry Messenger Feb 2017 #19

manicraven

(901 posts)
1. If he cuts off California, will he also cut off Oregon and Washington state?
Mon Feb 6, 2017, 03:41 PM
Feb 2017

Can we then have a West Coast exit, maybe WCExit? I'm game.

MineralMan

(146,321 posts)
2. He can't. He doesn't control those funds.
Mon Feb 6, 2017, 03:41 PM
Feb 2017

He might try to get appropriations cut by Congress, but I doubt they could, or would, just cut off a single state. Trump's just blowing smoke, if you ask me.

Tommy_Carcetti

(43,189 posts)
3. Maybe he'd just seize all their agricultural production.
Mon Feb 6, 2017, 03:41 PM
Feb 2017

Just a kind little suggestion from his new best friend Vladimir.

gratuitous

(82,849 posts)
6. Maybe someone in the media could ask him that very question
Mon Feb 6, 2017, 03:47 PM
Feb 2017

Instead of just mindlessly parroting President Trump's mindless temper tantrums, why not take seriously each and every brain fart that issues from him, and expose his bankrupt thinking for what it is?

7. Ohpleezeohpleezeohpleezeohpleeze!
Mon Feb 6, 2017, 03:49 PM
Feb 2017

We can take Oregon, Washington and Hawaii with us and make a damned profitable country.

It would be nice to stop giving money to the whiny red states while we get back only 72 cents of each dollar we send to Washington.

unblock

(52,277 posts)
8. he'll put a string of nukes in the san andreas fault.
Mon Feb 6, 2017, 03:51 PM
Feb 2017

he saw it in a movie or something, so, it could work....

haele

(12,663 posts)
12. No. "Cutting off California" means 1/2 the food and most of the tech in the U.S is affected.
Mon Feb 6, 2017, 03:54 PM
Feb 2017

No matter how politically insulated he thinks the rest of the country is, California is the sixth largest economy in the world, and the attempt to take that down will devastate the U.S. and throw it into such chaos and poverty - it will especially affect all those evangelical "Working Class Whites" and Suburban/Country Club GOP'ers that backed him hard.
California itself will recover quicker than the rest of the U.S. would. Even with water issues, we have more resources, trading partners, ports, and an home-grown knowledge base to bounce back than a place like, say, Kansas or Missouri.

If California goes, there is not a "Bug-out" kit to be found that will last long enough to protect anyone in the U.S. One would need a compound retreat with a decade's worth of food and ammo, and a loyal security force to wait out the economic turmoil. And we all know who has that sort of resource, now...don't we...

Not only that, as soon as any inkling that this is being planned vice threatened comes out, the Media will turn the rest of the world on Drumpf and his KKK "destroy the U.S. to remake the U.S." alt-reality backers so fast they wouldn't know what would hit them. Most of the U.S. Media is funded and based either through California or through New York - and NY knows it's next.

Even the most short-sighted GOP'ers would do all they can to avoid pulling the plug on California. The only people who would seriously think something like that is viable are either looking to bring about the destruction of the United States, or are delusional religious nut-jobs waiting for Jesus to return.

Haele

stopbush

(24,396 posts)
13. Does he think it's a one-way street?
Mon Feb 6, 2017, 04:05 PM
Feb 2017

Does he actually believe that he can cut off fed $ to CA, but that we'll continue to send Fed tax revenues to DC? We already get scalped of 28% of the fed tax $ we send to DC. We send $1, they return 72¢.

Hell, when Reagan was pres, we got back $1 for every $1 we sent to DC. The difference today amounts to tens of billions of dollars a year.

CA stopping paying fed taxes would be a windfall for our state. We'd be running surpluses in perpetuity. Could probably cut state taxes while we were at it.

guillaumeb

(42,641 posts)
14. Build a big beautiful wall using all the undocumented immigrants as labor.
Mon Feb 6, 2017, 04:16 PM
Feb 2017

And charge Mexico for the wall.

procon

(15,805 posts)
15. California is the largest source of federal tax revenue of all the states.
Mon Feb 6, 2017, 04:20 PM
Feb 2017

Trump thinks California won't risk losing $135M in federal funding over sanctuary city policies, but will he risk $405,851,295,000 the federal gov would lose if California made the same threat?

Play it out jerk!

Jimbo101

(776 posts)
17. California Could Cut Off Feds In Response To Trump Threats
Mon Feb 6, 2017, 04:23 PM
Feb 2017
CBS-KPIX

“The state of California is studying ways to suspend financial transfers to Washington after the Trump administration threatened to withhold federal money from sanctuary cities,” KPIX 5 reports.

“California is among a handful of so-called ‘donor states,’ which pay more in taxes to the federal Treasury than they receive in government funding.”

Xolodno

(6,398 posts)
18. He can't. Even if he thinks he has dictator powers.
Mon Feb 6, 2017, 04:44 PM
Feb 2017

Even if he got congress to go along with it, which they won't, California could turn around and redirect all federal taxes back to the state setting up a huge economic showdown, fiasco and turmoil not just in California, but the nation as a whole.

And yes, this would almost guarantee a Cal-Exit as well as set up a "Cascadia-Exit". The economic costs to the rest of the country would be catastrophic. As goods from agriculture to technology to defense would increase due to negotiated tariffs. Goods from Asia will also increase in price due to port fee's from the west coast. Then there is the massive loss in tax revenue, a lot of government projects, industries supported by government purchases, infrastructure projects, etc. would take a huge hit in the rest of the nation, triggering a very nasty recession.

California would suffer initially as federal programs such as medicare, social security would suddenly be gone. But, could be a blessing in disguise. Single Payer could be instituted and an actual retirement program that reduces the age to 60, which would increase employment opportunities while simultaneously implementing a tax that shrinks every year to phase out "social security" beneficiaries for those who choose to stay. And they will no doubt stay even if there is a minor reduction in benefits, because the reduction in benefits in the rest of the nation will be heavy handed due to the significant loss of California.

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