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Besides the tax rip-off, constant political interference from Washington is making a mockery of the phrase "state sovereignty". In this dismal situation the question of what value Nevada has in remaining the 36th state in the Union, begs to be asked. Probably the most compelling arguement is that our tax money, when pooled together, provides the federal government with a large budget to defend us all. Yet the recent disclosure that 6 months after 9/11, the the INS sent letters to the now infamous Florida flight school approving the student visas of two hijackers, does not give us reason to feel protected. (7) Nor does US foreign policy in the Middle East. When the Wall Street Journal interviewed wealthy muslims in the Arab world about "Why do they hate us?" they found that many were angry with US foreing policy, not all Americans. They resented Washington support for undemocratic regimes such as Saddam Hussein's during the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s.(8) Even though it was well known Hussein was experimenting with biological and chemical warfare on the Kurdish population, the US Department of Commerce granted low-interest loans to Iraq for the purchase of "strategically sensitive" exports. In the early 1990's, the U.S. House Banking Committee investigating U.S. dealings with Iraq, discovered that "the Bush administration deliberately helped Iraq with military equipment and training while remaining silent on Hussein's human rights atrocities. Fuel air explosives, nuclear plant equipment, bacterial research technology—all were sold to Iraq, sometimes directly to the Iraqi Defence Department." (9) A similar logic was used to justify CIA support for religous extremists in their fight against the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan during the 80s. When word got out that "our allies" at the time had decapitated a school principal for providing an education to boys and girls, major media continued to insist that they were "freedom fighters" for their anti-Soviet resistance.(10) Later these forces became the Taliban that the White House tried to work with up until 1998 in building an oil pipeline to the Sea.(11) With dirty laundry like that, its no wonder the government was eager to reach a plea bargain with John Walkers defense attorney. Other muslims interviewed expressed resentment for the U.S. military being in their countries, especially the Islamic Holy Land of Saudi Arabia-another tyranny the U.S. defends despite money trails linking them to Al Qaeda.(12) In fact U.S. taxpayers support more than 800 military installations in 140 countries. (13) One might conclude the Pentagon is not lacking in their ability to persuade lawmakers on Capitol Hill. However, just the opposite is the case. The Pentagon routinely acquires a larger annual budget than they request.(13.5)The military industrial complex and their corporate lobbyists in DC wouldn't have it any other way. If the voters of Nevada were to exercise their 10th ammendment and vote to secede from the union, it’s a safe bet that the Pentagon would insist on keeping the Nellis Air Force Base in the name of protecting "economic interests".(13) In that case there'd be no point in putting up a fight. A rental agreement could easily be worked out. In the area of non-defense spending, money that is now sent to the IRS could easily be redirected for state programs to fill in for services once under federal authority. Others argue that secession wouldn't work because Nevada is not self-sufficient. Yet political autonomy does not hinge on whether or not a region can produce all of its own food and housing supplies. Rather in the world today even the smallest countries like Luxembourg, San Marino (surrounded by Italy), and Monaco are prospering. By engaging in trade with their neighbors even a small nation is able to offer its residents just about eveything the global economy has for sale... Finally, some point out that even if Nevada secession is possible on constitutional, (9th & 10th Amendments)(14) , and economic grounds, still the Federal government wouldn't allow it. They point to the Southern states that discontinued their membership in the Union in 1861 that led to the Civil War. While it's true that many elites favored a war to crush states rights and create a more powerful centralized government, the rank and file that fought on the front lines were mobilized in the preceding decades by a strong moral appeal to abolish the institution of slavery, not by centralist political theory. To imagine a call to arms over Yucca Mountain and a decriminalized plant in Nevada, is laughable. The people that feel the most passionate about the Nevada nuclear waste dump live in the immediate area, not in New York or Texas. And for marijuana, recent ballot initiatives in California, Arizona, and other states have shown that most voters now feel criminalizing a plant with medicinal properties is far more of a threat than legalization.(15)
Even if Congress were to coerce Nevada back into the Union through import or export taxes, a ballot measure on the issue of secession would be a success. It would clarify that the relationship between the states and the federal government is increasingly held together by force, not the shared values of liberty and justice. With that level of transparency, states where the preamble is still taken seriously can one day make a clear case for a powerful break from the Empire.
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