Let Nebraska peacefully Secede

Many children try it – “Mommy, if you don’t let me have my way, I’m going to run away and never come back!”… “Okay, just remember dinner is at 5:30”

Let’s say hypothetically President Obama said “Sure, no problem”. What would that mean in reality?

First off, any reasonable person would expect Nebraska to assume its portion of the Federal Debt – either by paying it off or selling Republic of Nebraska Bonds to Goldman Sachs. The population of Nebraska is 1.9 million. Just rough calculation, the price tag to sucede is about $95 billion. That’s a lot of corn.

First, some practical questions – would residents of Nebraska cease to be US citizens or would they hold dual citizenship or have a transition time to move out of the state to retain US citizenship?

Let’s start with the obvious things that would change with sucession:

No Federal Income Tax (for Warren Buffett), Social Security Tax, excise taxes on Fuel, Phone Calls, Tobacco
No obligation to serve in the US military
No US Senators or House members
Nebraska would get a seat at the United Nations

So far so good.

Banks in Nebraska would no longer be part of the Federal Reserve system (go Ron Paul!). US dollars would become a foreign currency. No FDIC insurance. Nebraska would probably need to issue its own money and set up their own Nebraska State Bank. All banks operating in Nebraska would have to be chartered by Nebraska.

Stock Brokerage accounts would no longer be protected by the SIPC.

Retired federal employees and Social Security recipients would probably continue to get checks – we currently mail checks to expats living outside the U.S.

For schools, the meddling would stop
– along with the free lunches and Title One funds to pay for teacher’s aides and facilities for disadvantaged children. No more Pell Grants or student loans to attend college.

The border with Nebraska would now be an international border. Going in and out of the state would mean presenting a visa to show you are entitled to visit the United States. People from Nebraska could not work in the United States without a work visa. Doctors, lawyers and other professionals would not be allowed to work outside the Republic of Nebraska.

Mail Delivery would end. Nebraska would have to arrange something, and mail would become international. Packages would have to go through customs inspection and duties or tariffs paid.

Roads, railroads and airports would no longer be regulated by the United States. No federal money to maintain roads, no FAA employees at the airports. National Weather Service would no longer issue weather alerts. The FCC would no longer license radio stations and Nebraska would have to follow ITU rules regarding radio signals that cross international boundaries (and vice versa). Calling to/from Nebraska would become an international phone call. Nebraska would be put into its own country code on the Internet.

College Sports would have to exit the NCAA, graduates from Nebraska Universities would not have degrees from a certified university, teachers could not teach outside of Nebraska.

Sign here: ____________________