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The Five

Secede from the Union? Let's try competition instead

This is a rush transcript from "The Five," November 14, 2012. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

GREG GUTFELD, CO-HOST: So in the wake of Obama's alleged re-election, some citizens are calling for secession. People from all 57 states have filed petitions in favor of seceding from America on the Obama administration's we the people Web site. So far, close to 700,000 have signed on and petitions from Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas have grabbed at least 25,000 signatures.

Now to me, secession is silly. But what's not silly is actual competition. Why not for four years pit red states against blue states with the respected ideas and have us put to the test and see who succeeds?

Red states will have fracking. Blue will have frappe.

Red states will have free markets. Blue will have free pills.

Red states, death penalty. Blue will have the death tax.

Red states will have competition. Blue will have regulation.

Red will have Kimberly Guilfoyle. Blue will have this.


GUTFELD: And there is only one rule. No borrowing from China allowed. Then maybe can see whose ideas actually work. In fact, blue state survived by acting red when they need to. While red states are survived by resisting the cool desire to go blue.

Which maybe why the most governors of the best states are Republicans and the worst cities in American are run by Democrats, Bob!

But secession is like running away from home. But this is your home.

What country are you going to run to anyway? Hawaii? They don't even have electricity.

Bob, are these just people -- go ahead, Eric.

ERIC BOLLING, CO-HOST: No, I just was pointing out they have birth certificates now, though.


GUTFELD: A terrible, terrible thing.

I want to go to you, Bob. After re-election, there are people that need to let off steam. Are they letting off steam or is it a serious movement that we should be concerned about?

BOB BECKEL, CO-HOST: You notice the map where most of them come from?

GUTFELD: What are you -- are you going to insult these people?

BECKEL: No, I'm not going to insult entire South. I mean, I think --

GUTFELD: You have.

GUILFOYLE: You really have.

BECKEL: No, I have not. I think there are some wonderful people in the South.

I think that after every election, there are people get upset with whoever got elected and they probably if there was a Web site available to them, there'd be another 700,000 who oppose when George Bush got in. I mean, I don't know. I don't know what's the big deal.

Six hundred thousand, 700,000 people represents less than 1 percent of the country. So, what's the big deal?


KT MCFARLAND, GUEST CO-HOST: But you know what? It really is like to original argument about the founding of the United States.

Some states don't want to pay for other states. And what we are doing now we are getting to the point where a number of states, East Coast, West Coast states are going bankrupt.


MCFARLAND: And legally cannot go bankrupt. So that means richer states, particularly the Southern states, are going to have to bail them out.

BECKEL: K.T., are you suggesting that Mississippi and Alabama are richer states?

MCFARLAND: I think their balances -- I mean, their budgets are balanced.

BOLLING: There are states in the union who are getting back, you know, 50 cents, 60 cents on the dollar that they pay in tax. Those states actually have an argument for seceding from the Union if they're paying a buck and getting 60 cents back.

No, actually, what this feels like to me is people are upset. They're mad. But calm down.

It's OK. We lost. We can come back. We have to figure out. Focus on the message, come back and win an election.

GUILFOYLE: I don't think we should calm down at all.

GUTFELD: I want to hear K.T. So, you're angry --

GUILFOYLE: -- sponging off the states making money.

Look at California. It's a complete mess. It's an embarrassment what's happened there. It's a complete disaster. They're going in the wrong direction.

Pretty soon, like strong states that have good business practices, they're going to be having to carry these other states. It's crazy. I don't think it's good at all.


MCFARLAND: States cannot go bankrupt. Businesses can go bankrupt. A person can go bankrupt cannot constitutionally go bankrupt.

BECKEL: Do you include Alabama in that crowd?

Let me say the two biggest recipient states are both red states, Alaska and West Virginia.

BOLLING: There's no question. If you break it down by red or blue, the red states definitely receive more than they put in. And blue states pay more than they don't. But how restructuring for tax codes?

BECKEL: Well, we don't mind carrying you all. I mean, it's important that we do that.

GUILFOYLE: Yes. You know what? Keep losing corporations, OK, by all of these ridiculous regulations.

BECKEL: We didn't stop paying for the red states.


MCFARLAND: We already have the second of the highest tax rate in the world, and we just -- President Obama wants to raise taxes on corporations.

BECKEL: Well, he wants to raise it certainly on 2 percent of the people that ought to have it raised.

GUTFELD: Somebody has to define what ought to means.

President Obama doesn't. They ought to have their tax raised.


BECKEL: You call it dividing the country, what is the line you use?


BECKEL: No, no, no.

GUILFOYLE: Class warfare.

BECKEL: Class warfare.


BECKEL: So other words, class warfare, 98 percent versus 2 percent. That's class warfare; is that right?

MCFARLAND: One percent.

BECKEL: One percent. So, it's 99/1. That is --

GUTFELD: We'll never convince you that rich people are human. I get it.

Coming up --

BECKEL: They're human. Look at Eric. He's human.


The Five, hosted by Bob Beckel, Eric Bolling, Kimberly Guilfoyle, Greg Gutfeld, Dana Perino, Juan Williams, and Andrea Tantaros, airs on Weekdays at 5PM ET on Fox News Channel.