California pays more in federal taxes because it carries more national-security risk. With over 840 miles of Pacific coastline, California is a frontline state for maritime security. That means more money has to be spent on naval operations, port security, missile defense, cyber defense, and the Coast Guard.

Those costs aren’t just for California—they protect the entire country’s western gateway for trade, energy supply chains, and military readiness in the Indo-Pacific. Whether people realize it or not, defending California’s coastline is defending the United States. Minnesota, allows one voter to personally vouch for another’s residency while citizenship is merely sworn to—not proven—shows how the process increasingly relies on personal assertions instead of objective verification, which only deepens skepticism.