Opinion: Hey, California haters: We’re rich, and we can make it if Calexit succeeds

To the editor: If The Times cares to indulge the out-of-state ignorance regarding our great state of California, it should probably be prepared to step in with some actual (as opposed to alternate) facts for their entertainment. (“Out-of-state conservatives are some of Calexit’s biggest fans,” Readers React, Feb. 4)

One letter writer from Colorado exhorted the members of the middle class to start planning their own Calexit because if California secedes from the United States, it will lose “all those billions from the federal government.” This would be a good time for a side note to this misinformation that correctly asserts that we give more revenue to the federal government than we receive from Washington.

I’m sure this will come as a shock to many California haters. An optional admonishment would be to inform the madding crowd that the most egregious “takers” are the red states.

Robert Remillard, Ontario

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To the editor: Dear Rest of the Union:

We will keep the Pacific Ocean, the beach, Stanford, Berkeley, Caltech, our particle accelerators, a little thing called Hollywood (whose movies I know you like watching), Silicon Valley, Apple (because we’re bringing the whole coast with us), Google, Tesla and all the almonds, strawberries and other food we grow. You can have the corn.

And when California “loses all those billions from the federal government,” we will be just fine. And do you know why? Because that money comes from California.

Our economy is bigger than France’s.

Jane Warden, Malibu

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To the editor: Here we are in California with the voters of other states and the federal government telling us how to run our lives.

Over the last several decades, the right of individual states to serve the needs of their residents has been eroded. Let’s bring education, medical care, environmental protection, immigrant support, human services and energy sourcing back to the state and local levels, where our unique needs are best recognized and reflected.

Steve Hawes, Sunland

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