Latest Democratic tantrum against Trump: withhold state taxes and secession to join Canada

While Democratic leaders are digging trenches to confront Donald Trump’s second term with defiance, a New York state senator has gone a step further to offer her fellow party members a definitive solution. Liz Krueger has proposed the secession of four northern states to join Canada, thereby avoiding the Republican mandate.

In conversation with Politico, the powerful chairwoman of the Upper House Committee of the Empire State, stressed that "it is not unreasonable to think outside the box" before proceeding to also propose that New York retain the more than 300 billion in taxes it sends to the federal administration annually.

Keep the taxes to avoid possible economic retaliation from Trump

With this initiative - of rather dubious legality - Krueger explained that they would avoid possible reprisals from Donald Trump for non-compliance with his directions or regulations. The Empire State has a budget of $239 billion. It receives about $85 billion from Washington, much of it in Medicaid spending.

New York, meanwhile, sends about $362 billion in taxes to the federal government. "We're talking about a lot of money. We're talking about money that we couldn't replenish unless we started sending the feds a lot less money," the senator said.

She proposes separating from the U.S. states where "all the citizens are progressive Democrats."

Her other big solution would be, directly, leaving the U.S. to join Canada, whereupon they would no longer have to obey the president-elect. Something that, according to Krueger, could be done by at least four northern states (NY, Vermont, Massachusetts and Connecticut) in which "all the citizens are progressive Democrats" so they would "fit in quite well with the political philosophy of at least most Canadian elected officials."

"I know that Canada has basically said, 'Yeah, we’re not letting you all in if he wins.' As individuals, they basically made it clear. But that’s why I thought, 'Oh, why do I have to leave this country? I love this country, and if Trump wins a second term, it’s not actually my fault or that of the people in New York.' So I thought I would suggest to Canada that instead of us all trying to illegally cross the border at night without them noticing, which is pretty hard because there’s a lot of us, that they should instead agree to let us be the southeast province, a new province of Canada, and I offered, even though I hadn’t gotten agreement from other states yet, that I thought New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Vermont, would combine and be a great new province as the southeast province of Canada."

Trump wants New York to be "safe and strong and beautiful and affordable and vibrant again."

An attitude that contrasts with the conciliatory message delivered by Donald Trump during his rally at a packed Madison Square Garden just before the election. The president-elect pledged to work with Governor Kathy Hochul and NYC Mayor Eric Adams mayor to help make New York "safe and strong and beautiful and affordable and vibrant again."