It does look stormy early in the week or ________________________________________ from knee-jerk reaction to a possible ballot measure. It just two weeks supposed to California to secede from the United States that collects it has moved closer to mainstream consideration. On Monday they guess California group filed a proposed ballot measure with the attorney general's office at weather. On the November 2018 gubernatorial ballot. Forces section is to the election of Donald Trump is a final indication the California a longer shares the goals, aims or ideology of the red states and would be far better off as its own nation. Joining me as a supporter of Cal exit, he's an associate Dean a strategic initiatives and professor of law at Thomas Jefferson school of law and scan Diego. ________________________________________ Welcome to the program. ________________________________________ At first blush this sounds like a crazy idea. Tell me why you think this is quick ________________________________________ If you would've asked me that question on November 7 I would've said yes it's a crazy idea. On November 9 I woke up and everything was different. That's what happened Tuesday night was the last straw for our relationship with the United States. ________________________________________ This all depends on the election of Donald Trump. That was the focal point. ________________________________________ That has been a turning point is not the sole reason and is not even the biggest reason. ________________________________________ Money, geography, ideology. First of all the money. We spend a lot more money on the federal government than the federal government spends on us. We pay far more out and tax dollars that we receive in federal spending. Geography. We are a long way from the rest of the United States. There are states in the middle but those states are sparsely populated and they do not share our police, goals, ideology. And realistically, we would function better geographically alone. ________________________________________ What about ideology quick ________________________________________ And that was what the recent election highlighted starkly. We voted overwhelmingly for the Democratic candidate in the election. Two to one. I believe that was a higher percentage of Hillary voters than any other part of the United States except Washington DC. Our votes are always ignore -- ignored. Nobody campaigns in California. Our votes come in hours later than the rest of the country and is often all over by the time our votes get counted. Politically, we are out of sync with the rest of the country. We are not getting a fair shake from the United States. We are not interested in becoming an enemy of the United States, we want to separate peacefully. This relationship has worked for a long time, but now it's not working anymore and we still want to be friends. We want to have free trade, we want to have free movement of goods and persons across the border. We don't want to have hostility and so this is still a very long shot. This is and something -- ________________________________________ What do we -- I mean what actually needs to happen for California to successfully succeed from the union? ________________________________________ Two things. A majority of Californians have to wanted. That's what the ballot initiative is about. The United States has to agree to it. Obviously, no one here wants to go to war with the United States. Also, we couldn't do it. It will have to be something that both sides agree to. And amicable breakup. Something that might happen sometime soon was Scotland and England and the United Kingdom. ________________________________________ We spoke with an opponent. He is a UC San Diego professor of political science and here's what he had to say. ________________________________________ What's important about this movement, it's not just that it's probably not practically going to happen but it is symbolically exactly the wrong message that we want to be sending to the rest of the nation. So just because they didn't agree with us, just because the rest of the nation in many ways because they felt left behind by the recovery that has been shared in places like Silicon Valley and San Diego but not in West Virginia, Ohio, and Michigan. Just because they feel left out and want to change direction, the direction of the state, were going to take our ball and go home? That seems like exactly the wrong way to deal with losing an election. ________________________________________ How do you respond to that criticism Park ________________________________________ Sometimes you have to say a relationship just as a working. Is time to acknowledge that it's over and you can't make this work. That's what's happened with the United States and California. And is not the first time that the state has consider this. There are similar initiatives under consideration in several other states. I believe Oregon has moved farther along the process. Eight years ago there was a similar movement in Texas. Texas for opposite political reasons can make many of the same arguments. It's a large state in population and underrepresented in Washington. It probably has legitimate reasons to believe it to do better alone. ________________________________________ Even without declaring independence, officials are making small moves to act in an independent way. State officials told the recent international climate change conference they would be willing to partner with nations on climate initiatives even if the US government want. Do you see that as a way to California could act independently without becoming independent quick ________________________________________ That's a good example. California has been acting independently for quite a long time. One of the things about the states of the United States, because were a federal company that's country, the states are somewhat sovereign. They have all the trappings -- of government. ________________________________________ So we're almost there is what you're saying. ________________________________________ Right. It would not be that big of a change for most people. We would have a different flag, we would have the same flack we already have but different pictures on the money I guess but other than that, things would go on very much as before except we would have a government that represents our interest in we would have lower taxes. ________________________________________ So I guess the next step is to watch for his signature gatherer near you on this particular ballot measure. I have been speaking with associate drain of strategic initiatives the professor of law at Thomas Jefferson school of law in San Diego. Take you very much.
A group calling for California to secede from the United States submitted a proposed petition Monday seeking a ballot measure that would strip the state constitution of language that says California is an inseparable part of the nation.
The Yes California Independence Campaign hopes to put a question on the November 2018 ballot authorizing a vote on independence in spring 2019.
The group proposed the secession idea more than two years ago, but the so-called "CalExit" movement gained serious traction on social media after Republican Donald Trump won the presidential election.
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Group Vice President Marcus Ruiz Evans said the organization now has 15,000 Twitter followers, 30,000 Facebook followers and 13,000 volunteers who have signed up to collect signatures for the effort.
He said the election of Trump proved proponents' point that working within the current electoral system is not sufficient to generate serious change.
The attorney general's office will review the request and submit language for a title and summary that would allow the group to begin collecting signatures for an initial referendum.
The final results of the election earlier this month will determine how many signatures the group will need to place its measure on the 2018 ballot.
The U.S. Constitution does not provide for state secession.
Experts say the only way to legally secede would be to change the federal Constitution, which requires the approval of Congress and 38 states.
But Ruiz said if 55 percent of voters approved a referendum on the issue, proponents hope to make their case to the United Nations under its treaty on self-determination. He said that threshold would constitute an internationally recognized threshold requiring the governor to apply to the U.N. for "the Republic of California" to become a member of the U.N.
"We know that you don't just vote and that it happens. This would be to start the conversation," he said. "You have to have something where you say this is what the public wants."
The group tried unsuccessfully to put several initiatives on the ballot this year, including a proposal to declare California a separate nation, to rename the governor the "president" of California, and to fly the California state flag atop the United States flag. Those signature-gathering efforts fizzled.
Repeated attempts to create a 51st state in Northern California, named the State of Jefferson, have also failed. That movement generally draws more conservative supporters who are dissatisfied with California's dominance by Democrats.
Still, Ruiz said State of Jefferson supporters are welcome in the CalExit movement, which would also shift many powers to county-level governments that he said are more in line with local residents' wishes.
The group moved up its original plan to ask voters to approve a referendum in 2020 because of the interest following Trump's election over Hillary Clinton, Ruiz said.
Backers expect to begin collecting signatures after Trump's January inauguration.
