This page has been archived and commenting is disabled.
Meet America's 51st (Broke) State
It is only fitting that a few days after South Sudan became the newest independent country to join the roster of IMF and World Bank "modernization and industrialization" targets, another Southern version of something should break apart, although some may be surprised that this latest secession is not somewhere in the middle of Africa, but in America's own insolvent back yard. Meet Southern California. "Accusing Sacramento of pillaging local governments to feed its runaway spending and left-wing policies, a Riverside County politician is proposing a solution: He wants 13 mostly inland, conservative counties to break away to form a separate state of "South California.'' Supervisor Jeff Stone, a Republican pharmacist from Temecula, called California an "ungovernable'' financial catastrophe from which businesses are fleeing and where taxpayers are being crushed by the burden of caring for welfare recipients and illegal immigrants." Ah yes, the heart of prosperity that is the Inland Empire, known for such great achievements as Hell's Angels, the most ridiculous excesses of the housing bubble, Del Taco, and... that's pretty much it. This sounds like yet another Swiss Watch plan.
This is what the 51st state would look like:
From SF Gate:
CBS Los Angeles reports:
"Stone said in a statement late Thursday that Riverside, Imperial, San Diego, Orange, San Bernardino, Kings, Kern, Fresno, Tulare, Inyo, Madera, Mariposa and Mono counties should form the new state of South California."
The new state would therefore encompass almost half of California's landmass, leaving out the strip of Southern California counties along the coast including Los Angeles, Ventura and Santa Barbara counties.
This is not the first time California has dealt with plans for secession, but until now most of the proposals have come from the rural counties of northern California where counties have tended to get left behind with state funding.
In fact, in 1941, a campaign to create the new state of Jefferson from several counties in northern California and southern Oregon was on the brink of success. The counties, frustrated from their lack of adequate roads and funding put together the movement, and Jefferson looked to be on track to be the 49th state (Alaska and Hawaii weren't on board yet).
By December, a "Proclamation of Independence" had been circulated and the residents had even elected a governor. But, on the week the Jefferson statehood movement was to make its national debut, the attacks at Pearl Harbor quashed all plans as residents went to work for the war effort.
Since then, every few years these and other northern counties have mounted several more secession attempts, but none have come quite so close to success as the Jefferson movement.
LA Times adds:
A spokesman for Gov. Jerry Brown,
a Democrat, called Stone's proposal a laughable political stunt, saying
the Riverside County supervisors should be more concerned about closing
that county's expected $130-million revenue shortfall in the next
budget year and possible cutbacks to public safety."It's a supremely ridiculous waste of everybody's time," said spokesman
Gil Duran. "If you want to live in a Republican state with very
conservative right-wing laws, then there's a place called Arizona.''
Then again, all politicians do is focus on supremely ridiculous things that are wastes of everybody's time.
But, yes, this will make a great diversion for the country over the next week while the world burns. Unless, of course, Osama is killed for third or fourth time.
»
- 19361 reads
- Printer-friendly version
- Send to friend
- advertisements -
Actually, So Cal should just become it's own country. Why bother with a 51st state? Let's face it, the 50 states are broke and in debt up to there necks. So. Cal should just break away from the U.S. altogether. If it were to become a new state, it will still be obligated to fund the federal deficits and equally responsible for the U.S. debt..
Did Ron Burgandy come up with this idea?
ah capitalism, I hardly knew ya!
The problem in CA is that the 3 urban centers (Sacto, SF, and LA) have close to 90% of the voting population and these urbanites run the state as they see fit...and the results are painfully obvious. Most folks in the U.S, are clueless as to how important CA is as an ag producer...all those in Sacto, LA and SF certainly are ignorant of it. Having been involved in the ag biz in CA and having to deal with both Federal and state regulations leads to an understanding as to why the ag industry is fleeing CA for states such as Texas that treat producers well and encourage business instead of trying to shut it down.
The unlimited red tape and bureaucracy in Sacto has killed the business climate in this state. Not only does one have to deal with Fed regs, but then CA layers on their own.
No wonder the budget isn't balanced....the state regulators have done everything in their power to drive business out of state while at the same time building a bloated bureaucracy.
LOL....what a fucking maroon.
It would be very amusing to watch the economy of Riverside and Orange counties....when Nor Cal decides to start charging them real market rates for water.
Living down here, I could tell that that would start a literal water war.
You've got a bunch of outright lunatics down here who are only kept quiet because their needs are met.
If Cali goes to Mex-sick-o, there goes 50% of the produce for the other states.
Look, the melting-pot mixed salad bowl is doomed from the start. Some fruits/veggies rot much faster than other parts and soon the whole thing is nasty and fit for the compost pile.
The quote on the Statue of Liberty is a bit troubling...
New Colossus
Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she
With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"
We are getting the "wretched refuse, homeless and tempest-tossed" but I think Thomas Jefferson warned against this...
“The first consideration in immigration is the welfare of the receiving nation. In a new government based on principles unfamiliar to the rest of the world and resting on the sentiments of the people themselves, the influx of a large number of new immigrants unaccustomed to the government of a free society could be detrimental to that society. Immigration, therefore, must be approached carefully and cautiously.”We should not be the trash-dump of the world.
Why is this such a bad idea? Government in California is No Cal for the liberal cronies in the North and So Cal for the conservatives red necks in the South.
Nor Cal has no objections; good riddance to bad rubbish.
Liberal counties like Marin and SF have been carrying shitholes like Modoc and Tulare for decades (please, take Modoc too!).
Just to drive the point home, consumption in Marin: $606 per capita...contribution from Modoc: $768 per capita. We may balance that budget yet if we can get you freeloaders off our backs!
I kind of like the idea. It's either that, or be taken down by tin foil hatted, nutjob, distributive crazy farm;)
HAHAHAHAHAHA - Stone Stupid Jeff Stone is such a friggin' fool.
Either this dude has absolutely no clue of what's happening beyond his pharmacy pill playing activities or has a death wish. Here's why.
The map he draws will either draw derision or mark him for special treatment at the hands of California's most powerful. These include:
The Mexican Mafia [La EME]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexican_Mafia
One of their umbrella organizations, The Sureños
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sure%C3%B1os
And their biker arm The Mongols
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mongols_%28motorcycle_club%29
On the flip side of that coin are organizations that include and are long term enemies of the aforementioned southern Cal structure
Nuestra Fmailia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuestra_Familia
The Norteños
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norte%C3%B1os
And, of course, The Hells Angels who are subordinate to no one
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hells_Angels
Then there are the Bulldogs in the middle who have managed to piss everyone else off
http://www.gangsorus.com/bulldog_nation_prison_gang.htm
I have to note that this article was published in NorCal as a means of poking fun at the SoCal structure.....
Then there are other biggies that play into all of this, most notably Wall Street and PIMCO. Just imagine the implications of a total revamp of the California municipal bond market on the whole of the national system and what an unwinding of CALPERS would mean to market stability. Hence the reason the Treasurve, DOJ, SEC, CFTC and the whole weight of the federal would crush this fool if the folks listed previously didn't want to waste their time and resources on it.
Fact remains that California statewide politics by referendum and the finances derived from it are hopelessly impeding statewide officials from taking the action necessary to revamp the system of collections and transfers in place since prop 13 and the follow on referendums. In this local governments in California are suffering the same dynamics of taxation and disbursements as the state is with respect to the federal government. It has been noted, often by many interested parties throughout the California Republic that IF The Republic were to leave the union the shortfall that would be eliminated from the federal equation would more than make up for the shortfalls in statewide revenues sharing and would lead to a reduction in total taxation.
Folks forget that the dynamics of local government funding were epically changed with prop 13, a change no other state has yet had to deal with. What really happened was the unintended consequence of placing the state at this crossroads of public sector commerce since the primary funding source for local government had been dramatically altered leading to the horrendously sorry state of affairs for business and investment.
If Stone Stupid Stone were really serious about changing the dynamic of state / local government funding in California he would work to repeal prop 13 and put the power of local government funding back into local governments hands. I doubt anyone will let him, from the gangs of JPM, GS, MS, BAC, Nomura, THE IBL and most importantly WFC/Warren Buffet and the off South Main Street centers of influence.
Lastly there is the real power in California's, and indeed the whole of the west's economy, water. If Stone Stupid Stone got his wish then I'm sure NorCal would be much more successful at shutting off the flow from the Sacramento river delta to the south than southern Oregon was with preserving its water during the water wars of the closing days of Grey Davis's political career.
http://youtu.be/e9VwlENJQT8
Damn straight, Miles.
Anyone can look at the yields on muni bonds in those counties, compare them with Nor Cal, and see exactly how laughable this clown's proposal would be for his "confederacy" of dunces.
A muni situation that will only continue to deteriorate, especially in the "six counties" [Ventura, Los Angeles, Orange, San Diego, Imperial and San Burernadito] that Stone Stupid tries to break apart for some Hollywood, Malibu narrative as the employment and RRE situation in SoCal deteriorates further.
I bet this clown wants to run for congress. He'd fit right in with this shining example of fiscal, economic and financial knowledge
The Chinese will have no problem dealing with any of those groups in very short order.
LOOOOOOL
Who do you think actually controls Asian imports, the customs and commerce departments?
Look to Nomura and the International Brotherhood of Longshoremen for your answers there. Heck, the Chinese have enough trouble with their longshoremen and truckers at present. ;-) They and their nominees in Hong Kong and Singapore pay handsomely to keep the spigot open and any change to that status quo will only cost them much more. Which is why the system continues while Nomura and HSBC ring up the coins on this cash cow and Warren gets the transports in country.
Try again
@ miles: about 5 years ago, there was a local supervisor's election. one of the guys who threw his hat into the ring published the following info (from memory, maybe not perfectly correct): 4000 county employees. the top 1000 emplyees, according to pay, averaged abt $165,000/year. something like that. may not have included discounted retirement pkg and health benefits after retiring, either, just payroll stuff, for the year. do you guys know what the figures are for your counties?
there is a lotta bullshit flying abt repealing prop 13, too. passed over 30 years ago, not perfect, the jarvis-gann initiative limited local property taxation, protected the taxpayer from "tax creep" and forced local goobermints to search for other victims for their schemes. agencies and local tax authorities have been complaining about it, since day 1, too! now, there seems to be a tremendous amount of "understanding" among young people especially, that prop 13 is BAD and should be repealed, so our local fiscal problems will go away, or at least be highly ameliorated.
this is the same kinda "logic" that led californians to de-regulate electrical power in the grey davis era (those styooopid old regulatory laws are just in the way of more efficient power delivery and cheaper rates for everybody!) via the ballot box, which got us buying juice from enron & cost davis his job in a republican-led recall (by many of the same interests which de-regulated the kilowatts and sold overpriced power to cali, legally ripping people off for close to $10 bil which was prob an understatement, while touting supply and demand in free, er, hostage, markets).
roughly about the same time, the national goobermint repealed glass-steagall---for excellent "reasons" at the time since these pesky, old-fashioned rules from the 30's were now keeping american finance from reaching its true potential and also putting us at a competitive advantage, internationally, so...
...so, be careful with the "conventional wisdom" and please think things thru, even if "everyone knows" prop 13 shld be repealed.
do you guys really think the problem is that people need to be more taxed more heavily at the local level? why? so someone can get a higher salary and approach the $165,000 "top 25%" of county employees?
suppose "repeal prop 13" was just another scam to rip off the taxpayer some more. how do you think it would be packaged if it were a bad idea?
yep! exactly the same way!
I think local spending should be handled at the local level.
All politics is local, except in this insane era when macro centricism rules the roost
And yes, there are some mighty insane things happening at the local level with respect to accounting and transparency, especially with respect to pay/benefits and special purpose vehicles in the California local public sector economy that have been served up by state government as a means of placating local politicians who would rather hide in the dark. All the more reason to push all of this back to the local level and let local citizens, judges and the pols get down to it rather than simply subcontracting the blame and process to some other place up the food chain of never never land.
Great song by Mike Stinson covered by Dwight Yoakam in his 2003 release "Population Me":
Late Great Golden State (California)
In the late great golden state
It's getting hard to negotiate
When you're one slip
From a grim fate
In the late great golden state
In the late great golden state
I don't do much
But I'm always late
I ain't old, I'm just out of date
In the late great golden state
I caught one last glimpse
Of a palomino
When I drove out west
To see the purple sage
Then as canyons burned
And the mountains crumbled
The last cowboy band
Left the stage
I ain't old, I'm just out of date
In the late great golden state
I caught one last glimpse
Of a palomino
When I drove out west
To see the purple sage
Then as the canyons burned
And the mountains crumbled
The last cowboy band
Left the stage
Yeah, the late great golden state
Is a nice place for a clean slate
But leave your expectations
At the gate
Of the late great golden state
Cause they can pack you up
And send you home in a crate
Stamped the late great
Golden state.
The Internet sucks anymore or I'd be able to link to a video of Dwight.
a) What' with the attitude towards the Hell's Angels?
b) This is a great plan if they walk away from the debt/obligations of California.
Isn't that (default) what we think Greece should be doing now?
just lease that $hit to the Germans, it worked for AZ...