Letter to the Editor
Secession? Really?
I hate to break it to all you hard-core Southerners, but not only is the suggestion of secession idiotic, it's treasonous as well.
Setting aside the fact that you'd be starting a second Civil War, let's just say the federal government lets Georgia leave the union. You think your taxes are high now? Wait until Georgia has to pay for its own military. Have you looked into how much one F-16 costs? Have you thought about funding an army or navy? Oh, maybe one of you guys has a spare aircraft carrier in your carport.
Say bye-bye to Social Security, Medicare, unemployment insurance, federal disaster relief and any federal money for roads, schools, prisons, etc. All Georgia's military bases will have to close. Say goodbye to all the money they bring into the state. You'll probably need to get some startup money; maybe France will help out. Oh, that's right, you guys hate those pansies. Maybe China will lend a hand or Cuba; they're close by.
And so long, tourism. Who wants to go to some unstable startup nation whose government could be toppled by pretty much any other nation with a military?
Instability isn't attractive for business, either. Who wants their factory taken over or stripped down to the studs?
Maybe a few other states will join in the fun. Texas is toying with the secession idea. They're kind of expensive though; they've received $3.45 billion (that's with a "b") in federal disaster money over the past eight years.
Maybe you guys could have a bake sale after the next hurricane. The other Southern states aren't much cheaper either; they tend to have a lot of tornadoes, floods and hurricanes. Warm up those ovens -- if there is another Category 5 hurricane, you'll need to sell a whole lot of muffins!
Jewel Pullen
Grovetown
