This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
As I recently drove on I-15 past Hill Air Force Base on the way to the Salt Lake City International Airport, I thought about the concept that Utah should be a "sovereign state." A sovereign state, to my knowledge, is one that is not dependent upon another's power.
A recent op-ed by Don Guymon, the chairman of GrassRoots, states his concern that if Utah "accepts" money to expand medical care for Utah citizens who cannot afford it, it risks not being a sovereign state. And a Republican Central Committee member wants to go back to the day before Utah existed to when sovereign states "created" the federal government. To be such a sovereign state, they must both agree that Utah must not be accepting any federal money.
Following this logic, we should tell the federal government to get "their" Hill Air Force Base out of our state. We do not need those federal jobs in our state. We can protect our own borders through our own well-armed militia.
We should tell the federal government we do not need "their" funds to expand the Salt Lake airport. We can build it ourselves with local dollars. And we do not need the federal government to train and pay air traffic controllers. We can find Utahns who have experience flying remote control models and drones to fill these jobs.
We should tell the federal government to stop building and maintaining Interstate freeways like I-15 though our state. We can do just fine with our own two-lane roads.
We should tell the federal government that none of our Utah citizens want their Medicare. We can do just fine supporting our aging Utah citizens through donated health care. We know that every orthopedic surgeon in Utah will gladly do hip and knee and shoulder replacements at no charge for our senior citizens. And every oncologist and hospice will also gladly provide unlimited free treatment.
We should tell the federal government we do not want their Community Impact Fund Board (CIB), money that will be used to finance the new coal exporting port in Oakland, Calif. And we will find our own ways, using hand carts to transport the coal, as we will not use the federal government's freeways, or use rail lines or pipe lines that cross other sovereign states.
I agree that the federal government — especially our representatives Hatch, Lee, Love, Bishop, Stewart and Chaffetz — will at some point have to do their jobs and pass a budget that starts to balance the federal budget. These people are the federal government.
Utah will never be weaned from the federal government. Utah will never be self-sufficient. Instead, Utah citizens need to tell our members of Congress to do their jobs. They need to stop blaming everything on someone else. I agree with Guymon and Lowell Nelson that something needs to be done. I simply disagree that going it alone, which means not providing health care to the low income or seizing federal lands, is the right answer.
Robert Gilchrist is a mostly retired attorney who can now be found on the local pickleball courts.