The Third Republic

Yesterday, President Calderone of Mexico gave an outrageous speech criticizing Arizona's new immigration law. What's more, he had the gall to do so right in Washington D.C., in front of a Congressional audience. Even worse, many Congressmen and some administration officials stood up and applauded. Also, the chief of ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) has openly said that he might refuse to help Arizona to enforce its new immigration law.

This treasonous response by so many suggests to me that "piecemeal" solutions to America's problems are no longer adequate to what we face. But there is still one peaceful and legal option open to us; I call it "The Third Republic".

From 1783-1787, America lived under the Articles of Confederation, which was the time of the First Republic. From 1787 until the present day, we have lived under the Constitution, which is the legal foundation for the Second Republic. The Third Republic would be formed if all 50 states seceded from the current union and formed a new one, a third one. The new union could keep the Constitution as it is, or we could modify it in some fashion.

There is an important financial point in favor of the Third Republic. All of America's national debt is owed by the Second Republic. If all of the states seceded and formed a new union, the Second Republic would be nothing but an empty shell, but it would still be the debtor of record. The states and the people would escape out from under the huge national debt, to the benefit of our children and grandchildren. Wall Street wouldn't be able to collect a dime, and so it would fall with a tremendous crash. Good riddance.

A thorough preparation for a new union would take time; let's suppose that it would take approximately two years, and that preparations began immediately. Then, the state legislatures could schedule two votes for July 4, 2012. First, all of the states would vote to secede from the current union, and then they would vote to join the new union. If all 50 states would do this, we could keep America together. We could start over again with a clean slate.