Trump preparing large-scale cancellation of federal funding for California, sources say

That would break the bank. California is 4th largest economy in the world, after the U.S., China, and Germany. It would probably cause Trump to declare martial law and send troops to California.
- I mean, good luck? CA is also obscenely well defended, since most of its modern wealth came from it being considered a battleground vs Japan and Russia, so there's loads of bases.
  Most likely, this will just yet again be a defeat in court. That dude is just throwing shit against the wall and hoping some of it will stick.
- Yeah but how the fuck would he pay the troops without, you know, California's money?
  I maintain the quickest way for military and LEOs to drop support for Trump is realizing they aren't gonna get paid or that their money has become essentially worthless. Either scenario will pit them against him. If they can't feed their families they will turn, considering it's an all volunteer military. He would have to instate a harsh draft first to avoid that.
- If you subtract California from the USA is it still #1?
- Let’s get it over with.
- Sign me up for Cali's defense. Better to fight Trump and his kind, than to live with them for the rest of my life.
- To do what?
  California can just stop aiding the IRS in collecting tax.
Remember, the state doesn’t pay taxes, individual citizens do by filling out their annual federal income taxes.
So, if “California” were to stop giving money to the federal government, the governor would basically need to convince individual citizens not to file their 1040.
And all of those people would have to clinch their assholes and hope Trump didn’t sick the IRS on them.
- If Californians (Or everyone) just filed for extensions en masse, that alone would fuck shit up and would be totally legal.
- Presumably California would declare that they wouldn't comply with IRS investigations but those people would be vulnerable if they travel or have assets outside California
- California imposes a new law that companies operating in Cali cannot automatically collect federal income tax from Californian citizens.
  Cali raises the state tax rate to match the current federal rate (could probably go lower actually, since Cali is subsidizing most of the red states).
  Boom, no more taxes paid to the Fed.
  Or... Cali's creates a law where their own tax department collects the federal tax and pays it for their citizens.
- They can stop taking federal taxes out of state employee pay
- Also employers would need to all simultaneously stop withholding taxes from employee paychecks for federal taxes, since you can't just update your W-2 to a $0 withholding without claiming dependents, multiple other jobs, etc. You don't "choose" your withholding, you just check the boxes that calculates the minimum withholding.
- For private businesses sure, but Newsom can simply set up an escrow account and direct all state government entities to send their federal withholding to the new account instead.
- If we had less of a coward in sacramento, id say they could back us.
That's the problem California doesn't send taxes to the Federal government. People and businesses pay directly to the government. There's no mechanism to even stop it on a state level if a governor wanted to.
- ban local/state agencies from assisting the IRS with tax enforcement
No taxation without representation.
How could California do that when taxes are paid directly by the taxee to the IRS?
- Start cutting power, water, and gas to federal offices and facilities, let's see if they can do jack shit when it's 90 degrees outside and 110 inside. Mind you that is just me thinking reconciliation is stupid and shouldn't be considered as a possibility.
- ban local/state agencies from assisting the IRS with tax enforcement
- Change your withholding, then only pay state tax.
All the blue states should do this. Shake off the conservative parasites.
I was wondering about this. The new BBB or whatever increases SALT to 40k. I live in Jersey. I would have no problem with NJ just taxing me 40k outright. You just pay 40k to live in NJ. And then I just deduct that 40k from my federal tax burden, bringing it down below 0. What's stopping states from doing this?
- The irs wouldn't recognize the deduction and you would still owe the entire amount to the federal government.
Californexit
- Califexit. Or Cali Fecks Off depending where n your point of view.
That is exactly what should happen.

If the federal government isn't going to give California back the federal taxes paid by its citizens then it should stop paying federal taxes.

- I'm going to be fucking shook if Gavin actually does it. So far, the only people I've seen him meaningfully stand up to are bay area NIMBYs and homeless people.
- Taco Don doesn't understand how anything works.
- Is that functionally just seceeding?
I wonder how one could do this.
- The state of California could implement say, an 80% state income tax. This would be deductable from federal tax per IRS tax code. The state could then create an instant tax credit to credit back a gross 69% income, leaving 11% to the state to match their current tax rate.
  The Feds would only get tax on 20% of wages, unlike the 89% they do now
- Taxes are collected through the private for-profit banking system in a manner that's completely disjointed from the state of residency. Payroll taxes are incredibly efficient, with north of a 98% collections rate, for this reason. The private banks need the Federal Reserve and the Federal Reserve needs the US Treasury. So when the US Treasury says it's taking a vig on your employer's deposit at Bank of America or Citigroup or even your local Credit Union, compliance is instant and unquestioning.
  Going Unbanked is one way to get around this. But without an employer who is operating on the same wavelength and willing to play ball, unbanking yourself is difficult and expensive and fraught with criminal liabilities.
  So, the short answer is that there's no (practical) way for a State Government to intervene on Federal income tax collection. Not when all the transactions are taking place in a server farm hosted in a NYC boiler room, anyway.
- Simply don't do the thing.
its a good thing i stopped paying federal taxes.
- First pretty dumb to say this publicly if true... But second: you do realize that the rules about paying taxes literally, only apply to people like you and I? They 100% will continue to go after low hanging fruit, and that means people who can't afford a team of attorneys on retainer.
- You will lose against the IRS. The only way this works is if everyone acts together. You cannot beat Uncle Sam alone.

I don't know all the ins and outs of this, but somehow I doubt that Trump has as much financial leverage against the fourth largest economy in the world as he apparently thinks he does.

Add NY, MA, AND NJ and you have a block that is on quite solid ground.
I doubt it's him who thinks he does. Remember, Putin is calling the shots, and his goal is to destabilize and destroy the US.

if state funding is being canceled, that state should leave the union. why be apart of the united states government if trump is dismantling and destroying the united states government.

The American thing to do is fight for America.
The people who want California to just leave are the ones who want to dismantle the country.
- I’m Californian. The federal government, for my entire life, has just taken and taken and taken from me. I have received nothing in return. I don’t need your shitty union of thugs and mouth breathers, and I don’t need your bullshit military colonizing waste of time and money.
- Correct. But what you may have implied and got wrong is that this is somehow a bad idea. America is long overdue for a federal collapse. This cultural infighting is unsustainable.
  As a new Yorker I am sick of having my tax dollars go to subsidize hicks in the deep south and Midwest that ultimately vote against my rights. I am more than happy to see the bridges that unite us burn because the concept of "unity" in a melting pot is a ticking time bomb, as it always has been.
- The people who want California to just leave are the ones who want to dismantle the country.
  This Canadian is fine with it at this point. Fuck the USA. We've been your friend forever and you shit on us.
  Burn baby burn.
- I don't want what's best for America. I want what's best for California. It's in a bad relationship and is always the provider and the victim.
  Without liberty and justice for all, there can BE no one nation indivisible.
- I think it maybe time to change the dynamic of the USA. Maybe instead of 2 levels, maybe three. Federal, regional, and state. Where the federal hands over some powers to the regional government. I am not sure how that could happen, but it might be a good direction.

So Americans need to switch it off and on again. Gather up new founding fathers and mothers, write up a new constitution and declaration of independence - write up documents for a new federation between states...

Create a back up United States. Declare the old one null and void. Stop interacting with the old one. Start interacting with the new one.

Call all this something benign sounding. Try not to go to war about it. But yeah, you all need to switch this shit off and on again.

I agree. Time for a good old constitutional convention.
- I can't wait to be the United Coca-Cola States of Unilever America.
- Except that's exactly what the Heritage Foundation has been wanting for decades so they can turn the US into an official Christofascist nation.
Yup, by excluding the south east (Texas to Florida) they could easily reboot it in a much more progressive manner.
- Texas and Florida? You mean North Mexico and Cuba Libre?

California should cancel state funding for the federal government.

How about California cancelling paying federal taxes in turn? This would probably lead to a big loss for the federal budget, wouldn't it?

If the Federal Government boycotts California, then California should close every Federal agency, prohibit all Federal employees from working, and confiscate all Federal property, then make it illegal to pay Federal income taxes in California. Instead, Federal income taxes will be collected by the state, and used to provide free health care and college for all California citizens.

They should also form a state pact with Oregon and Washington, then form an alliance with Canada and Mexico. That would surround about 3/4 of the USA

That would allow them to cut off MAGA access to the west coast ports, and charge exorbitant taxes and fees to get shipments from Asia, or be forced to ship them through the Panama Canal to the East Coast.

The war that would result would be like nothing any of us have ever experienced, except for our veterans, perhaps, though they would never have had to fight their own people before. The only people who would truly know ahead of time what to expect would be those who came to this country from war-torn regions that had experienced civil war.
California is powerful economically, but do they have the military might to withstand the hell that the US Army can unleash? If other states join them, it'll be utter chaos, and who knows how it ends, but that might turn the tide for the rebels as the military would likely fracture as many might follow their states to the exit.
Aside from utter dissolution of the Union, the only way I can see California standing up to the USA would be to have a nuclear deterrent available immediately upon independence, which would likely mean seizing as many federal nuclear weapons as they could. Whether the California National Guard would be up to that is beyond my ken.
God help us all if Trump continues on this path.
- Considering that many members of the military have been based in California for a long time, it has become their home. They have met their lovers, raised families, known comrades, and steeped in the culture of California. I think it is a fair bet that a large chunk of the military in California would be loyal to the territory. Washington is a far off place, filled with cretinous and bonespur-ridden leaders who badmouthed the service of those who were willing to bleed.
  Here's hoping this assertion holds true. If not, the nation is well and truly lost to evil.
- Funny thing Is that Trump would nuke California. He’s speed running the Civil War movie that came out.

He's still mad that Schwarzenegger took over The Celebrity Apprentice

Holy shit. This would be so on brand for Trump that it's probably the main reason.

Is California secession still a thing?

Sounds like is sure could be. Also sounds like the basis for a court case.
There's an ongoing political effort to get it on the ballot called "CalExit"
I'm pretty sure Texas is the only "legal" state allowed to secede, but I'm not a lawyer and my info may be woefully out of date
- No state is allowed to. Read the 14th amendment.
- No, Texas (nor any other state) can not secede from the Union.
  https://www.sll.texas.gov/faqs/can-texas-secede
  Can Texas secede? I heard it is one of the only states that can secede from the United States.
  It is a common misunderstanding that Texas has the right to leave the United States. The Texas State Library and Archives Commission (TSLAC) addresses this on their page about Texas’s annexation:
  It is said of Texas (and, occasionally, Vermont) that it received a letter or document of permission to withdraw from the Federal Union if it so chose. […] In fact, Texas received no special terms in its admission to the Union. Once Texas had agreed to join the Union, she never had the legal option of leaving, either before or after the Civil War.
- Texas can split itself up into 5 states, but not secede.
- The US would never allow that much freedom. It has to ensure everyone is locked down.

California should confiscate Trump National golf course.

Finally a good use of eminent domain
- Turn it into a homeless shelter.
And spend 30 years building high speed rail through it, just to flex.
- Wind turbines

The University of California is the largest employer in the state.

In most other states, Walmart is the biggest employer.

Talk about giving higher education the middle finger!

It says a lot, by itself.
Is it because they are a hospital network like the University of Pittsburgh? (UPMC is the largest in PA)

anti-science funding. the threat to fascists states are usually intellectual and science so they are often the first to be persecuted before minorities are. most of the people in the industries are smart enough to leave the country before sht hits the fan.

The ICE raids are meant to cause the response we are seeing, and eventually an even more powerful response. The White House has already been throwing around the word insurrection, which implies the insurrection act. If the natural escalation that they expect takes place, it could create the conditions where the insurrection act can be invoked. Since the Federal level is under control of the Trump Administration, that leaves the National Guard, state police, county sheriffs, and local police departments. The only one of these capable of standing up to the Feds would be the National Guard. If things turn ugly over the next few weeks during continued raids in places like L.A., it could force the Governor to deploy the national guard given the numbers of people involved. Some of these communities are well armed and they are already fighting back. If the goal is to cause the conditions to invoke the insurrection act, it would take away the ablity of the California Governor to direct his national guard. They can be forced to follow the orders of the President, which is one of the reasons for using the Insurrection Act in the first place.

In a place like L.A., this leaves just the LAPD and Sherrifs department and they do not have the power to stop both the Feds and a national guard under White House control. L.A. seems to be heavily targeted by the Trump administration in many different ways. They are looking at bribery and corruption in many areas like LA Homeless Agency. The ICE raids targeted the Fashion District are meant as an economic attack, as many of those people worked in shops and factories. Other ICE raids targeted companies involved in agriculture. The Trump admin is also looking at other Federal funding to take away from California.

All of this combined could mean that the state Government, state and local police cannot protect these communities from what is being sent after them, partially as an overall form of economic warfare against California generally. You have the wildfire funds, the tariffs attacking the shipping areas of coastal California, and it's obvious that it is a well planned operation. Behind this too is a hostile DOJ and FBI, not to mention DHS, ICE, and everyone else. They are being hunted.

The State Government can't protect anyone either, they have been totally outmanuvered at every stage, because they are just coasting until 2026. The one advantage people have is their numbers. Peaceful protest is the way forward, it just takes a lot more people knowing about the raids and being present to protest them. If the Trump admin wants a Kent state or Tiananmen Square type situation on their hands, that will be on them...

"The takeover will be bloodless if the left allows it to be."
There's your choice, America.
- Just so others know that is an actual quote.
  "I want to encourage you with some substance that we are in the process of the second American Revolution, which will remain bloodless if the left allows it to be.” - Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts
  https://www.politico.com/news/2024/07/04/leader-of-the-pro-trump-project-2025-suggests-there-will-be-a-new-american-revolution-00166583
- They got guns, we got guns...
National Guard was already deployed by Trump to Los Angeles today.
- I posted that about 30 minutes before it happened.

Looks like a class action lawsuit involving the people of California and the Feds.

california doesnt even need federal funding. california funds everyone else.

And just like they did in Maine, California will sue him and win.

Raging war on the greatest state within the country that he rules. What a fucking sack of shit.

TACO.

Cali should stop paying taxes.

I'm not paying taxes to a fascist government. A State can figure out how to do it too.

Easier said than done. Payroll systems do this automatically
- So hire an A-Team of Payroll experts to figure it out. Use the money that would have gone to GovCo to pay their fee.
  It's not that it can't be done. It's whether or not they want to do it.

He’s just jealous because California has the best TACOs.

A Trump TACO tastes like diarrhea. It is like a Taco Bell, but the artificial meat product can't spark joy.

No taxation without representation.

Oh they still get representation, they just get told no.

The federal government has irrevocably been compromised, US states need to be able to leave it. Preferably like the UK left the EU, without a civil war. It's only going to get worse, and reform is no longer possible, as too many branches have been compromised and midterms are likely to be compromised by Agent Kraskov and friends. As much as the Trump-Musk sideshow feud keeps going, it's not doing much and is not likely to do much to stop Trump.

This is a test of the Union that formed after the Civil War. We should have scrubbed the Electoral College then and we should have forced the redistribution of land to the slaves. With federal forces providing local police protection. So the palm colored people couldn't hurt them.
- Unfortunately, Lincoln was murdered soon after the South surrendered, and Andrew Johnson, a drunken Confederate sympathizer took over as president, and led the post-war Reconstruction.
- This is no longer a test, it is a reality. Too many branches of the federal government are corrupt, with legal exceptions to back them up. If a bridge is no longer just in need of severe maintenance but is in the process of crumbling, do you still call it and use it as a bridge? That's the actual state of your Union right now. I don't think seceding is realistically an option right now because it requires opposition that just isn't there, but I don't see any other realistic alternative. Look at LA, that's falling directly into Trump's hands by giving him emergency powers and control of the national guard, the only difference if a state attempts to secede is that it has more of a chance to use its institutions to resist. The excuse under a dictatorship is always doomed to be manufactured if not forced.

So pandering to Trump didn't help Newsom amazing how that works

Wow, so I thought I was fucked when I had "California secedes" on my bingo card

You still are, just in a different way.

Next: California will not pay Federal taxes?

How many stories about a modern American civil war start with this exact scenario?

Opposite states of America

I'm so glad I paid my Federal taxes this year. /s

I've seriously considered not having any income taxes withheld, because with the IRS cut to the bone, they'd be hard pressed to collect
- Y'all are in for a rude awakening. The IRS will absolutely still collect, and they will continue to target low-hanging fruit because it is cheaper. That means people (presumably) like you and I who can't afford a bevvy of lawyers
- We all get to fight AI tax prep now haha. All they have to do is send notices, it's up to you to provide the man-hours.

better to just balkanize the blue states, and let the red states without welfare for a change.

the only people who want California to secede are tech freaks that want to establish a monarchy and see this as an opportunity to do that

Idk, im a lefty who would love to see Cascadia
If you build the dome in silicone valley, John Galt will appear beneath it and bless the Mars sperm ark.
- Who is John Galt?
I'm just waiting for The Big One™ I was always told would make us break off from the rest of the country to become our own island.

Another day another senile ramble

California should defederate

Viva Cascadia.

Aren't there a fuckload of Republicans in wine country?

I doubt they'll be happy about that

They’ll like whatever they’re told to like.
- Fucking RINOs, amirite?
There’s repugnicans everywhere in California. There’s just more Democrats.
I wouldn’t say there are more Republicans in wine country than any other agricultural region in the state. Probably slightly fewer.
- You misspelled "Republikkklans"

I hope California secedes, for California's sake

Krasnov and his Kremlin bosses always wanted to turn California into another fucking red run oblast shithole like Arkansas.

Lawsuit in 3....2...1..

secession is a necessity.

these stupid fucks love pissing in the wind for all of us to see

go on then ya citrus scrotum, show us once more how brilliant and clever you are

Then California should cancel sending money to the federal government.

California should secede

Yep. California pays more than it gets back, so this is a win for California.

What Tsar Vlad wants to see.

Maybe someone will cancel tRump. One can dream ...

I hope this convinces Californians to sign the CalExit petition, so that California can start researching the option to secede. The way things are looking, the dissolution of the union seems likely. It would be better if California and the other blue states got prepared for that.

CalExit

- Considering that Trump has killed all sorts of diplomatic relationships, I think it would be better for California and the other blue states to form their own arrangements with other powers, alongside internal ones.
  Trump killed NOAA. The weather service that helped all of the states to prepare their crops and disaster management, is now torn to pieces. Our schools are being barred from having students from abroad, which weakens America's abilities to have the best and brightest to join our nation. Tariffs are destroying our supply chains. The courts have become delegitimized, used to entrap people who dared to believe in the justice of law. The wall of flesh in Panama is failing.
  ...I had plenty of think, thank you very much.
  Our enemies have burrowed inside our flesh. If we don't remove them, we are truly screwed.
- More like Indyref.
- Have a think how brake up of Yugoslavia went for Slovenia (the richest YU republic).
- How are the situations similar? Because of the name?

Since Confederate States of America have gained a negative connotation and to avoid confusion, you could proclaim Libertarian States of America, I know most people here are not libertarian, but still fucking closer to that than typical trumpists, and they are going to steal the word otherwise. Said as a libertarian and a citizen of Russia, which means I'll enjoy watching the events from afar quite a lot, might even remember to make popcorn.

Since Confederate States of America have gained a negative connotation
No they did that to themselves by caring only about preserving slavery
- That's what I meant. I was joking, there's such a thing - joke