Break Up America?

This episode goes over how much the federal government spends per person in broad categories. I also suggest allowing people to have a binding vote on a federal budget by broad categories that changes the budget by up to 5%. If Congress wants to spend MORE than what people approve, they need 2/3. If they want to spend less, a normal vote will do. The guardrails would require that a person has some...

Now that we have a budget again, X is split between the Epstein Files and Immigration. At least on my feed, your algorithm may vary. Around 15% of Americans are immigrants. How many are legal, how did they get here, and why will Indian H-1B visa applicants have an 80 year wait to become lawful permanent residents? Around 21 MILLION people applied for 55,000 visas in 37 days. This was for people in...

Click baiting title but his election showed how local areas have issues that aren't best addressed by 'one size fits all' policies. Fewer Americans feel proud to be an American and mid-decade gerrymandering by both parties feels like preparing for a civil war rather than a cold war. Fewer Americans also are willing to fight for their country as well but we can't count on that in a civil war. How c...

A recent NYT/Siena Poll says that around 2/3 of Americans think our country is too divided for government to work. An NPR-PBS-Marist poll from September shows that 25-31% of Americans think that violence 'may be necessary to get the country back on track'. My thought is that Congress has not only given up on passing bills to address the concerns of Americans unless their financiers support it, but...

President Trump's call to import Argentina beef to lower meat prices caused an outcry and complaints about federal regulation. My take after reading about processing plants is that the federal government ISN'T the problem. The shortage of processing options for small scale farms could be addressed at the state level. I have also been skeptical that enhanced federalism would deal with our political...

The House has been set to the same number (435) since 1929 when we only had 120 million people. The average House seat now has 770,000 people. The UK, Canada, and Germany have 70-100k per member of their parliaments for comparison. Seats this large make gerrymandering easier because it is easier to bury more of the opposing political party. It also makes most seats uncompetitive. Only 37 seats wer...

We are bitterly divided at the polls and on some social issues (level of religious beliefs, immigration), but not as far apart on others like voter ID, not cutting Social Security, and a majority in all parties support restricting participation in sports to biological sex. What we DON'T know is how it would affect spending. I am going to do the CFRFB 'Debt Fixer' and post in on my X page of 'Break...

This episode was recorded during a government shutdown. Instead of talking about the 'big shutdown' of a national divorce, I look at a symptom of a government that has been broken down for a while-the use of reconciliation to make big policy changes. It also talks about a barrier to a renewed federalism called the 'right to travel' (not the sov cit crap version). Finally, we would have to decide w...

Would a lot of people 'vote with their feet' to join a new country? The good news is that you probably could do it without going broke if you want to move--especially if you don't own a home. The hard part is that leaving relatives, your local ties, and the low interest rate you have on a house if you have a mortgage make it hard. If you could afford to 'get away', you probably already have unless...

Sometimes we end the way we began. This episode shows how much debt each new nation would take if we divided it per person. Taxes were to be 'apportioned among the several States...according to their respective Numbers". (Art. 1 Sec. 2, Clause 3). Two of the new nations would get a windfall, Texas would get a break, and one new nation would be very unhappy. Who? Listen and learn. References: https...

The six nation proposal has only one 'swing' region between current Democratic and Republican party control. However, some regions that border a new proposed nation would be on 'the outs'. I look at two areas: the 13 counties in Oregon in the Greater Idaho movement and the western counties of Virginia who probably would not want to be in the new New England based nation. Resources: https://www.pol...

We are focusing on the six nation proposal and looking at whether each region is a 'taker' or a 'donor' for payments from the federal government to the states. A common view is that the 'red states' are moochers. Surprisingly, the new nations are not massively subsidized. References: https://oldcc.gov/defense-spending-state-fiscal-year-2023 https://usafacts.org/articles/which-states-contribute-the...

I look at two proposals for breaking up America. One is by 'The Big Think' and the other is from Political Fronts. Links to the original proposals below. https://bigthink.com/strange-maps/us-red-blue-partition-plan/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZh1PSLBcZY

Not advocating for civil war or focusing on blame. Focusing on the nuts and bolts of a national divorce.