http://digg.com/political_opinion/Seceding_Arizona_from_the_US Actually makes sense. 40% raise for everyone with little to no downside.
The author conveniently forgets about social security, national defense spending, FAA, US patent office, you know small things like that. How about we just give AZ back to Mexico? Please succeed at once AZ, you are obviously a bunch of short-sighted morons.
Unfortunately you won't know enlightenment even if Buddha comes back and gives you a dope slap. Every secessionist thinks he can get something for nothing. If you don't have to pay for national security you save x%, if you don't pay social security, welfare, you save another y%, no health care, no education, no problem etc. In the end you might as well find an island somewhere and declare yourself a state. But I am sure you still want to be able to trade on the NYMEX or find other gold traders in a regulated exchange somewhere ... regulated by, oh, a powerful, stable government.
Well, let's see. We have some naysayers who bring up some worries but don't really have much substance. Social Security: Arizona has tons of military equipment that can be held as collateral to ensure DC fulfills its obligations. That money has been paid in already and DC will either pay their bills or we will sell off the equipment to make sure SS obligations are met. As far as the rest of the worries, a 40% increase in pay effective Monday alleviates almost all concerns. Think about it. What has DC and 40% of your money really done for you? Also remember we would no longer owe 20% gasoline tax to DC, so gas prices would drop immediately. Yes, we would have to pay for our own roads, but talk to an accountant about how inexpensive that would be relative to the 40+% taxes we pay DC.
National defense? Against what? Oil company contracts in Iraq? Defending pipeline deals across Pakistan? Protecting poppies in Afghanistan? No one is going to be attacking Arizona. I am not afraid of a Chinese or Russian invasion on Arizona. If you are, you have been watching way too many movies. FAA. Let's just adopt the European rules. Ok, so no more FAA. US patent office. Aside from the trivial amount of money required to maintain that office, it is really nothing more than a registration service. If you really want to get into some interesting stuff I have a really cool solution to this, but I will wait for more rational people to join the discussion. So National Defense, FAA, and patents are pretty much non-issues. I'd rather have a 40+% increase in pay.
To the moderators: this discussion belongs in Economics. It is not a political discussion nor religion. This solves our economic woes by increasing wages and decreasing expenses.
I've discussed most of your points above. As far as health care, Arizona has a very well-developed health care system that is independent of Medicare and not in need of federal assistance.