With the flurry of legislative actions on new bills that have received the governor’s signature, the rift dividing the two Californias has been made a gapping political ravine that cannot be mended.
It is time the more conservative, more rural, and larger population that has lived under legislative tyranny free themselves politically and form a new state. The new state would gain complete control over the border with Mexico. There would be an opportunity to close many existing bond measures, balance the new state budget, a revitalization of job growth in the new state. Lower taxes, smaller state government, a fresh new approach to the public school system, fewer government regulations, less crime, less crowded prisons (most prisoners come from the counties that would be set adrift), greater enforcement of existing law, better highways, more water for agriculture, and much improved employment opportunities would be hallmarks of the new state. Oh yeah, we would need a new governor as Arnie resides in an area to be cast off. The referenced proposal to form the new state is a draft to start the process. It will require the dedication, wisdom, and energies of many to prepare a finished draft and submit it for the initiative process to voters. Although I would hope to have a role in the final draft, and subsequent state convention if approved by voters, it is not a necessity. The necessity is forming the new state. A coalition will need to be built. A coalition where all groups set aside their pride, differences and ambitions to achieve the established goal.
Monday I will begin the process of determining local support for the new state. I already have some possible large organizations in mind. Among them are organizations that fight state and local tax increases, California specific citizen rights advocacy groups tired of state infringements, dairy farmers that have recently felt state pressure to leave the state, nuclear power companies that are seeking approval to build new electrical generating plants (one here in Fresno by the way), auto dealers and distributors plagued by regulations requiring special equipment be installed on vehicles due to state emission regulations, Housing developers buried in fees, oil companies seeking to drill for more oil or natural gas and reopen or expand existing refineries, and those are just for starters.
It is time for a new fresh start.
I welcome all offers of assistance along with comments and suggestions.
Is this the State of Jefferson?
Having said that, I will agree with you that No. and So. California are as different as night and day. I Lived in So. Calif. and worked for Kaiser Steel, which was based in No. Calif., We didn’t even have the same holidays. They didn’t like us, and we didn’t like them.
Seriously, best of luck in your endeavor.
You would have to have some kind of vote of the citizens in the unshaded counties.
Has this every happened before? There is probably a need for a consititutional convention of the succeeding counties. (expect ahrnold to crash the party)
Of course western california will then go over the top left.
What about Sacramento? Seems like that’s where a lot of the problems are.
Sweet!
The State Of Fremont would be a good name.
This isn’t going to be fixed by dividing the state. It’s going to be fixed when CA can’t pay the debt service on its bonds, and Wall Street won’t roll over the maturity. Even then, it will take a couple of years before the CA voters realize that this can’t be fixed by increasing taxes. It will learn the same way that Michigan is now learning. Increasing taxes makes the population of the state smaller. It’s just a matter of a lot of economic pain over a period of several years.
Based on the map, I’d say the new state’s biggest problem would be border control. And I don’t mean the border with Mexico.
They have had terrific success with implementing a Two State solution in the ME
Brilliant.
If nothing else, this issue can be used to distract the opposition, and make them spend time on money on something other than stealing from taxpayers.
"Section 3. New states may be admitted by the Congress into this union; but no new states shall be formed or erected within the jurisdiction of any other state; nor any state be formed by the junction of two or more states, or parts of states, without the consent of the legislatures of the states concerned as well as of the Congress.
Is the power of the immigrant community tempered by the northern section? Would the split provide powers to them that are counter to the good of the current State?
Would the North allow the loss of the tax revenues that are generated by the South? Would the Congress approve such a move? If it resulted in the liberals being equaled by the conservatives, expect their hearty opposition.
There’s a problem here with the math or the timing. According to the statistics, California now has 33 million people, so the two new states would have a combined population far exceeding 16 million shown in the table. So it appears that somehow 17 million people vanish. Do they go back to Mexico?
Anyway, I like the idea, but I would be forced to move from my rural location in Northern Los Angeles County to the new conservative state.
I propose California be divided into somewhere between 5 and 70 states. 2 of which would be Democratic (LA and SF) and the rest Republican. It’s only fair since a state like Wyoming with barely 500,000 people gets two senators and a congresscritter, while California only gets two senators for 37,000,000 people.
You’ve enumerated all the positives for the rest of us to cast off the shaded areas of you map, but to make this happen, especially through a statewide intiative, I think you’re going to have to provide some selling points to the other side of the split.
Let them know that they have a real opprotunity to finally create the kind of gov’t they want without all those pesky conservatives in the red counties thwarting their efforts.
Here are some things they could finally acheive without us;
Taxpayer paid abortion on demand
Taxpayer paid embriotic stemcell R&D
Statewide gov’t healthcare
Near complete ban on firearms
Homosexual marriage
Unfettered control of school admin and curricula
These are but a few, but you get the picture.
Oh, BTW, since they will lose a common border with Mexico, we will provide safe passage (via boat, air, etc.) of undocumented persons to their new states.
Re-read the Constitution. No new states shall be formed within an existing one.
I love these attempts at splitting California, it’s been going on for over a hundred years. I wouldn’t mind if it happened.
The problem is that the concentration of population is in the LA area, and they control resources such as water, which is mostly in northern Cal. The SoCali’s like it just the way it is, and will not vote for a split.