We all hear Donald Trump broadcasting things that will not likely happen: buying Greenland, ending birthright citizenship, annexing Canada, invading Panama, etc. But he does have a strategy. It gets people talking about Trump, his brand. In his carnival-barker mind, any advertising is good advertising, and certainly when it’s free.
I’d like to hear serious media people and politicians, who want to keep America a democracy, start talking about a two-state solution for the United States. If it sounds outlandish, all the better.
A serious conversation about a national divorce would serve as a guardrail for Trump, his oligarchs and his allies within red states, from going to0 far with their worst plans and largest crimes. That is the goal, – to create barriers for would-be fascists. You can’t argue in the current congress. It’s purchased.
I don’t expect a national divorce, even temporary, would come to pass, but the conversation itself would be a major plus in the war versus fascism. Biden sort of kicked it off in his farewell speech. I wish he made that speech on January 7th of 2021. He would not have to make this speech today had he done that.
This is not hindsight. Many reporters, and political scientists, and even myself, warned Biden to declare war on what appeared to be Russian interference in our elections, welcomed by a candidate and a political party. When Biden and Obama allowed that to go unchallenged , he opened the floodgates to oligarchy.
Most everyday Americans know we have become divided as a nation. That division was created by the enemies of our country and is echoed and amplified on corporate media. Our American citizens divided syndrome has always been there on some level. But, we have never had a president who led an insurrection before and calls decent tax-paying Americans who don’t respect him “enemies of the state”. Trump is a divider, not a uniter. And so the United States won’t work under Trump unless blue states suck up and go along with him. And I hope that is not going to happen. So we have no choice but to start the conversation about a temporary national divorce. That is the purpose of this post. To have the guts to start the conversation. It’s not easy in a broken marriage. But that is what we allowed to happen.
The far west and northeast states are blue. The rest of the USA is pretty much red, except for Georgia, which is split very closely. My sense is that each country, America Blue and America Red, votes for their own presidents, Houses and Congresses. Both the new country’s constitutions start the same. Nothing changes for citizens on day one. There can be no interstate taxes. Freedom to travel is guaranteed. If each country’s federal constitution and state laws change, that is when things change for citizens. People vote to have their own presidents every four years. There can even be a other parties in the elections.
The logical states to start this strategic conversation are California and New York. The governors of those states should immediately form a break-glass-in-emergency pact, and ask the governors of states that voted for Biden to help create the pact. It does not have to be enacted unless Trump crosses the line with an action blue states deem a bride too far.
I won’t pretend to know all the actions Trump could order, which should be deemed grounds for divorce. ICE raids that don’t insist that immigrants who have not committed crimes against US citizens before deporting them, could be a bridge too far. Others include: Refusing to help citizens stricken with national disasters. Going after his political enemies, who have committed no crimes. Invading Greenland or the Panama Canal. Lowering taxes on billionaires without also lowering taxes on everyday people in the same ratio.
What would happen the day after America Blue declares we are divorced? First, Blue America needs an election. All the current House and Senate representatives meet in a new building. Probably best it stays in Washington DC. And business continues as usual except when it comes to tax day. I don’t think the American two-state solution would last more than to the 2026 elections, and this is why.
There is far more wealth in the blue states than the red states. If we had a national divorce, it’s the people in the red states that would come crying back. It is that simple. And every two years, reps get a chance to run on what color they align with, and every four years, same for senators. And of course, America Blue welcomes back Red States but with the proviso than the 14th amendment, sec 3, be enforced in their states, and that no insurrection supporters be allowed to hold any office, executive, judicial, federal or within their state legislatures – exactly how it is written. That becomes our deal breaker for admission into America Blue.
Today red states are still hopeful Trump will care about them But not caring about others is the Trump family motto. They will know soon.
We would need to share the DOD expense, based on populations. And some other structures, such as bridges which span from red to blue states, need to cooperate. This would be a national divorce to prevent a civil war, not to cause one.
We need some governors to start talking about this now. Talk seriously. I honestly think this might be the way out. Most taxes go to the states in this model. Far less to the federal government, which admittedly has been wasting funds. Let states do their own things.
A simple change in the way people pay taxes is all that really needs to change. Let’s say a family is in the 28% tax bracket in income. We separate the defense budget from the rest of the budget and pay no federal taxes to the other “side”. In 2023, the Department of Defense spent about 13.3% of the federal budget on our defense budget. Red and blue state tax-paying citizens send 13% of their taxes to the DOD. The other 87% goes to their states. There may be some other expenses that would need to be shared, perhaps in transportation. But not in education or health. Intentional misinformation might be illegal in blue states, but not in red. The big idea in this cooperative agreement between two brother countries is to let Darwinian survival of the fittest states thrive, so that states that are not doing as well for their citizens are forced to learn better ways, or get voted out. This makes a lot more sense than what we have now.
The conversation itself would be very healing. The more serious, and the more controversial, the better. I think you get my drift, so I will keep in short.
Start these conversations now, before Trump takes power, or as soon as he starts his attacks on blue states post-inauguration. Red states have little bargaining power in this arena. I prepared this graph from non-partisan government statistics. Blue states produce 10% more than red states. I will prepare a per capita population study as well, so we can break it down by individuals, not just states.
Fellow believers in democracy, can we at least start being smart political strategists?
GET THIS DISCUSSION GOING!
It will, at the very least, serve as a firewall.
