I know, a lot of people including many in the once Golden State already think there are two Californias.
So, someone wants to do something about it.And that someone is Riverside county supervisor Jeff Stone.
Mr. Stone is proposing creating a new state of Southern California. It would not really be a true state of Southern California as it would conveniently exclude the largest, Los Angeles. The new state would take in the more conservative parts of So Cal.
If you look at the map on the link, it is more southeastern California rather than a true So Cal.
But the point that Mr. Stone is making that this area is, how shall I write it, screwed by the powers of Sacramento.
When the state doles out the meager revenues, these counties are often at the short end of the stick.
But more important is that the proposed state of Southern California would break the liberal Democrat stranglehold on state government.
Because in the past, the legislative lines were drawn to favor the most liberal areas of California and the rest was divided up. Must of this region is more Republican and conservative. As it is now, they have no voice in what is going on in Sacramento. Thus California is essentially a one-party state.
The Democrats control the state legislature, all the constitutional offices and the Board of Equalization.
Does anyone really think this is a way to run a state of almost 40,000,000 people?
This is nothing new. Every few years, there is some idea of separating the state. There is still a strong divide between No Cals and So Cals.
As Jack Pitney, a government professor at Claremont McKenna College, said recently this is a lot about how state money is divied up.
"Secession isn't really a serious and legitimate topic, but the distribution of tax revenue is," Mr. Pitney said in the linked article.
And that is what so much of this is about.
Will California be split apart? Probably not. But I am all for the conversation.
So, someone wants to do something about it.And that someone is Riverside county supervisor Jeff Stone.
Mr. Stone is proposing creating a new state of Southern California. It would not really be a true state of Southern California as it would conveniently exclude the largest, Los Angeles. The new state would take in the more conservative parts of So Cal.
If you look at the map on the link, it is more southeastern California rather than a true So Cal.
But the point that Mr. Stone is making that this area is, how shall I write it, screwed by the powers of Sacramento.
When the state doles out the meager revenues, these counties are often at the short end of the stick.
But more important is that the proposed state of Southern California would break the liberal Democrat stranglehold on state government.
Because in the past, the legislative lines were drawn to favor the most liberal areas of California and the rest was divided up. Must of this region is more Republican and conservative. As it is now, they have no voice in what is going on in Sacramento. Thus California is essentially a one-party state.
The Democrats control the state legislature, all the constitutional offices and the Board of Equalization.
Does anyone really think this is a way to run a state of almost 40,000,000 people?
This is nothing new. Every few years, there is some idea of separating the state. There is still a strong divide between No Cals and So Cals.
As Jack Pitney, a government professor at Claremont McKenna College, said recently this is a lot about how state money is divied up.
"Secession isn't really a serious and legitimate topic, but the distribution of tax revenue is," Mr. Pitney said in the linked article.
And that is what so much of this is about.
Will California be split apart? Probably not. But I am all for the conversation.
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