Nice post, but a little unfair to Lincoln. The quote provided came from a letter to the New York Tribune, which he ends thus: "I have here stated my purpose according to my view of official duty; and I intend no modification of my oft-expressed personal wish that all men every where could be free."
Like now, NY was heavily Democratic, but at that time D=white supremacist. He was playing politics with this letter, but often in other places called for the end of slavery. And don't forget Abe's second inaugural address.
The Civil War was certainly about slavery for the Confederacy, and there is record of whites and blacks from every Conf. state except SC fighting for the Union side.

I'm sorry, but this comparison is hare-brained at best. You cannot base a critique of taxation on two states. Especially when a predominant industry in California is low-profit farming, while Texas takes in high-profit oil money. Following the logic, Alaska, with it's ridiculously low taxes on individuals, should be exploding with growth. As much as I like simple explanations, this (and the original article) are pretty lame.