Many of you know me as the former operative for the National Organization for Marriage who worked against gay rights and eventually resigned out of newfound support for gay rights. I have increasingly been an advocate for civil rights in general ever since. What you may not know is what I've been organizing to do to change California and the United States using California's robust direct democracy ballot initiative system. Let me explain...
I am the President of Sovereign California, a political committee registered in the State of California with a number of filed ballot measures and a couple others still in our back pockets that we'll file in the not-so-distant future.
Ballot Measure 1
Our first ballot measure is called "A New Hope for California" and it creates a state panel to keep track of federal policies that hurt California. The panel will also be charged with determining if our relationship with the United States needs to be redefined. Sovereign California believes California needs and deserves to be redefined as an autonomous region but this panel will provide us with an objective publication with information for all Californians to take in before we make any decisions on California's future in the United States, not our future as an independent country. Just as Scotland has become more autonomous within the British national system, so can California within the American national system.
Ballot Measure 2
Our second ballot measure is called "The California National Flag Act" and it orders the display of California's bear flag as California's national flag in position of first honor. If California is to be a nation, we need to start acting like one.
Sovereign California takes issue with what the American flag has come to represent but in short, California's flag is not associated with America’s colonialism, America’s military and economic imperialism, America’s foreign wars, America’s use of nuclear weapons on civilian populations, America’s self-imposed role as the global police, America’s strategy of regime change, America’s covert military and intelligence operations, America’s war crimes including the use of torture, or America’s hypocritical international rhetoric on human rights while minorities in America continue to be discriminated against and women continue to work for unequal pay.
On top of that, California is better at freedom than the United States. California passed women's suffrage, ended school segregation, repealed anti-interracial marriage laws, repealed anti-sodomy laws, and legalized same-sex marriage all before the USA. Meanwhile, California has been reducing its prison population at a time that the USA has the second highest incarceration rate in the world. So for these reasons, we believe the California flag ought to be displayed in position of first honor on public property in California.
Ballot Measure 3
Our third ballot measure is called the "California Independence in State Elections Act" which prohibits election money originating from non-residents of California. In other words, this bars candidates or committees from collecting campaign donations from out of state. Sovereign California believes that when it comes to state elections and state ballot measures, our future should be decided exclusively by Californians. Over 81 million dollars from out of state was funneled into influencing California's elections in 2014 alone, as shown in this graph we put together.
This ballot measure would not impact candidates for federal office.
Ballot Measure 4
Our fourth ballot measure is called "The President of California Act" which is quite simple. This constitutional amendment would amend the title of the elected position of "Governor" to that of an elected position of "President". Granted, a symbolic move, but nonetheless an important symbolic move based on the fact that California is a republic, California is a separate nation, and the leader of a nation with a Republican form of government is, by definition, a president.
Ballot Measure 5
On April 20 during our Advocacy Day in Sacramento, we'll be filing a fifth initiative that establishes a state agency to provide a number of immigration benefits and protections to individuals present in California with or without authorization from the federal government by requiring registration upon arrival (in order to issue immigrant residency cards) and the payment of state income taxes.
I'm really excited about this 15-page immigration reform package that we've put together. Again, the USA can't/won't do immigration reform. Meanwhile, California has got about 3 million undocumented immigrants who ought to be able live without fear of deportation, ought to be able to provide for their families without being taken advantage of, and ought to be embraced by society. That's what this proposal will do.
Now, why are we doing this?
First and foremost, we love freedom and civil rights. We believe California has led the way on many fronts of civil rights throughout history (as touched upon earlier). California continues to lead the way with environmental issues. California has some of the strictest emissions regulations in the country, if not the strictest. Governor Jerry Brown is already working on the international stage to do something about climate change while the American government is still trying to decide if climate change is real or not.
I realize the knee-jerk reaction to this type of action is to label it a crackpot, right-wing, tea-party secession movement rooted in anti-Obama fervor but nothing could be further from the truth. Firstly, the vote on these measures won't take place until November 2016 so if this movement had anything to do with Obama, it's about six years late. Secondly, as I've mentioned, this campaign is motivated by the desire to protect civil rights.
The federal government is not only out of touch with the people but is corrupted, dysfunctional, self-serving, and borderline oppressive – particularly towards the people of other nations. Meanwhile, the constitutional system under which we live exists only on paper. The PATRIOT Act, mass government surveillance, net neutrality, the militarization of the police, far-reaching executive orders, and Citizens United all demonstrate that our constitution is only but a great historical document with little practical value today. On top of that, the U.S. Senate was recently openly in the business of undermining the President in foreign affairs. Autonomy through emancipation would allow us to help protect and distance ourselves from these problems that are only getting worse.
This is just for California, not a model for every state.
California is more than just a state – we are a nation-state with one of the world’s ten largest economies. In fact, California’s Gross Domestic Product of 2.2 trillion dollars is larger than Italy’s or Russia’s and is on track to overtake Brazil’s. When that happens, California will be the 7th largest economy in the world. Aside from that, California has the people, resources, and infrastructure to warrant autonomy though emancipation.
One additional noteworthy point concerns geography. California has a unique culture due to the fact that it is largely isolated from the main American population, which is heavily concentrated on the eastern half of the continent. California’s population is concentrated on the west. History shows that isolated populations inevitably pursue different paths and California is no exception – it explains why Californians have such different public policy preferences.
In this for the long game...
None of what we seek to change will be accomplished in one election cycle. Or two, or three. We are in this for the long haul. Heck, we've got plans for 2030 outlined.
This campaign reminds me of a story retold often by President Kennedy in his speeches. He told the story of a great French Marshal named Hubert Lyautey who went out to his gardener and asked him to plant a tree. The gardener objected, stating that the tree was slow-growing and wouldn't reach maturity for a hundred years. It was in that case that the Marshal said: "Then we have no time to lose. Plant it this afternoon."
That's what we have to do.
5:05 PM PT: I had forgotten to provide a link to the 15-page immigration proposal that extends immigration benefits and protections using existing state authority. We'll be filing this initiative on April 20, 2015.
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