California

[Endovelico]

Is this serious?

Silicon Valley investor: Split California into 6 states
By Charles Riley

Is the most populous American state too big for its own good?

Tim Draper, a third-generation venture capitalist with a penchant for big ideas, is promoting a plan that would split California into six separate states.

The proposal calls for the creation of new states called Silicon Valley and West California that would be anchored by the cities of San Francisco and Los Angeles. Orange County and San Diego would be part of the new state of South California. To the north, remaining counties would be divided into regions called Central California, North California and Jefferson.

Why now? According to the proposed ballot initiative Draper filed earlier this month, the Golden State has been rendered "nearly ungovernable" by social and economic changes.

California has 58 counties, nearly 40 million people and an economy so large that it would rank among the top 10 countries in the world.

But given the state's diverse geography and industries, Draper's ballot initiative argues that the "citizens of the whole state would be better served by six smaller state governments."

"I am endorsing this initiative because it is a way to localize governance and bring more representation to the local level," Draper said in document distributed to reporters. "I am planning to work to get it on the ballot."

2013's worst in tech

The plan would also create a "marketplace" for governments, and voters in each county could pick and choose which state they wanted to be part of.

Draper will need to collect thousands of signatures for the measure to be brought before voters in November. With seemingly little current popular demand for partition, gathering enough support to make the ballot could prove difficult.

The initiative would raise some thorny issues, including the division of water rights -- a life and death economic matter in the deserts of Southern California. There would also be significant Constitutional questions to resolve.

The third-largest state in terms of area behind Alaska and Texas, California has long managed to resist division.

Like Draper, advocates for partition in counties near the Oregon border have in the past evoked the "Jefferson" name while pursuing statehood -- a reference to the president who dispatched Lewis & Clark to the Northwest.

Draper founded the Silicon Valley venture capital firm Draper Fisher Jurvetson in 1985, and is now running Draper University, an entrepreneurship program. The California native is well known in Silicon Valley for his investments and appearances on a Nickelodeon TV show called "The Naked Brothers Band."

http://money.cnn.com/2013/12/30/technol ... it-draper/

[Doc]

Is this serious?

Yes but the resulting states would be named Left California, Left of Left California, La La California, Life's a Beach California. Too Right for the rest California, and Purple Haze California

[monster_gardener]

Is this serious?

Yes but the resulting states would be named Left California, Left of Left California, La La California, Life's a Beach California. Too Right for the rest California, and Purple Haze California

Thank You VERY Much for your post, Doc.

FWIW I smell a scheme to give the DemocRats the Senate.....

If this is going to be done, a reliably Republican State or States need to be divided to give enough Senators to balance.....

Also need to go back to the original way the Constitution was with Senators elected by the State Legislatures to make sure the interests of each State is really represented........ Rather than having a Senate that is mostly an Arrogant House of Representatives on Steroids controlled by the National Political Parties....

I might go further and allow the State Legislatures to recall Senators at will to make sure they represent the State that elected them rather than kowtowing to the national political parties.....

[Miss_Faucie_Fishtits]

Because balkanisation is the way to go when a great region cannot adequately govern itself. Ask the Roman Empire how well that worked out.....'>............

[Heracleum Persicum]

.


Plan to divide California into 6 states gets closer to vote


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[Simple Minded]

excellent idea!

Growing up in NYS it was disheartening to repeatedly see all of NYS politically dominated by NYC and a couple counties near Albany.

I wish the good peoples of all six Californias success in this endeavor. Hopefully NY, VA, NC and several other states will follow their lead.

Celebrate Diversity!

[Heracleum Persicum]

.


Agricultural heartland won’t get any federal irrigation water this summer

.

In a move that will likely signal higher food prices nationally, a federal agency says California’s drought-stricken Central Valley — hundreds of thousands of acres of the most productive farmland in the U.S. — won’t get any irrigation water this summer.

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[Doc]

Well lets see California votes to split into six separate states. Which mean either one real state plus five territories that want to apply for state house to congress. Or six territories wanting to apply for statehood. In the mean time a governor for each territory would be appointed and unless by act of congress no elections would be held. No vote in presidential elections either.

MG: Yes you are probably right this may be a misguided attempt to take over the Senate by the Democrats. And yes Senators should be elected by the state Legislatures as representatives of their respective state governments as was envisioned by the founding fathers.

Miss F.

Balkanization is California.I remember when they had the rolling electricity blackouts there. There was a interview with a California home owner where the home owner said that he was going to turn on his Christmas lights. That he did not care there was an electricity shortage that would lead to rolling black outs if he and other Californians did not cooperate and lessen the load on the grid. Therefore I would surmise that in California each man is a fault unto himself.

Mr. S

Coming from the only state that seceded twice(Once form the Union and once from the Confederacy and VA) and traditionally has had its rights largely ignored(Though not while R. Bird was in the Senate) by the Federal government. And particularly by folks from NYC that at the turn of the last century. Who basically stole the mineral right en mass from the local owners by taking advantage of them They did not know what the geology reports said and thus convincing them to sell the mineral right for fractional pennies of fractional pennies on the dollar. Then basically to claiming defacto ownership of the land itself by using the ownership of the mineral rights as an excuse to do to the land anything they wanted. Including under mining homes which would then collapse. No a Better option would be to cut off all the bridges, tunnels, and ferries to NYC and call it a zoo.

[Apollonius]

Is this serious?

No. Not even slightly.


You seem to have a real thing about splitting countries up into the smallest possible configurations.

Do you really think you get better government from doing this? Or if devolution proceeds to its logical conclusion, will you just get thousands of tiny warring countries (tribes)?

[Typhoon]

Because balkanisation is the way to go when a great region cannot adequately govern itself. Ask the Roman Empire how well that worked out.....'>............

Well said.

[Endovelico]

Is this serious?

No. Not even slightly.


You seem to have a real thing about splitting countries up into the smallest possible configurations.

Do you really think you get better government from doing this? Or if devolution proceeds to its logical conclusion, will you just get thousands of tiny warring countries (tribes)?

You must be mistaken. I didn't suggest splitting California in six new states! Someone in your country did it. I just couldn't believe it was in earnest. And I didn't say I was in favour. In matter of fact, I couldn't care less. So why your post?...

[Doc]

Is this serious?

No. Not even slightly.


You seem to have a real thing about splitting countries up into the smallest possible configurations.

Do you really think you get better government from doing this?

Sometimes. Besides this isn't about splitting up countries it is about splitting up a state

Or if devolution proceeds to its logical conclusion, will you just get thousands of tiny warring countries (tribes)?

Which is not what is being talked about even if it isn't serious.

[Miss_Faucie_Fishtits]

The confusion over what is a 'state', what is a 'country' and what is a nation has lead Americans to not consider any of them seriously. Is this gonna end up well?...... the historical record isn't so optimistic....'>>...........

[Zack Morris]

If this happened, anyone want to bet on which of the new states would thrive, which would suffer, and what their respective political allegiances would be?

[monster_gardener]

If this happened, anyone want to bet on which of the new states would thrive, which would suffer, and what their respective political allegiances would be?

Thank You Very MUCH for your post, Zack Morris,

what their respective political allegiances would be?

Would not surprise me a bit if some of the new states tried to join Mexico as their political allegiance..

q67UULFJzn8

More.....

• On July 27, 1997, Mexican President, Ernesto Zedillo stated at a gathering of Mexicans in Chicago, “I have proudly affirmed that the Mexican nation extends beyond the territory enclosed by its borders and that Mexican migrants are an important, a very important part of it.”

• “Mexico is recovering territory yielded to the United States by means of migratory tactics”, said prize-winning Mexican author Elena Poniatowska. “The common people the poor, the dirty, the lice-ridden, the cockroaches are advancing on the United States, a country that needs to speak Spanish because it has 33.5 million Hispanics who are imposing their culture.”

• In February, 1998, the Mexican Consul General of Los Angeles, Jose Angel Pescador Osuna, said that reconquista is a reality. In a symposium tied to the 150th anniversary of the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, Pescador Osuna said, “Even though I am saying this part serious and part joking, I think we are practicing la Reconquista in California,”

......

• MECHA, which stands for Movemiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlan has in the preamble of it’s constitution : “Chicana/Chicano students of California must take upon themselves the responsibilities to promote Chicanismo within the community; as well as politicize our Raza (Race) and continue the struggle for self-determination of the Chicana/Chicano people and the liberation of Aztlan.” Additionally, Article II, Section 1 reads, “General membership shall consist of any student who accepts, believes and works for the goals and objectives of MEChA, including the liberation of AZTLAN, meaning self-determination of our people in this occupied state and the physical liberation of our land.” What land do you think they are referring to?

• On March 8, 2002, Ron Gochez, Mecha Chairman and Bill O’Reilly had the following exchange of words on The O’Reilly Factor:
Gochez: We are the nation of Aztlan.

O’Reilly: All right that’s good, you are the nation of Aztlan. That’s great. Do you want your own territory? Do you want them to give you some land?

Gochez: We understand that we are sitting on stolen land. This is indigenous land. This is native land, you know, Mexicano land.

O’Reilly: So if I gave you Arizona would you be happy with that?

Gochez: They took a lot more than Arizona.

O’Reilly: So you want more than that?

http://craigdeluz.com/?p=3348

Or become new sovereign states of their own.... Aztlan mentioned above.....

More...........

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voz_de_Aztlan


OTOH Independence might also be a way of getting out of the burden of public employee union contracts & pensions

Hundreds Of California Government Employees Are Paid Over $400,000 A Year

By MARK BUCHER

Imagine trying to run a business without knowing how much it cost you to provide health insurance or retirement benefits. Imagine if you didn’t even know how much each employee made.

Ask any businessman or woman, and they will tell you that this would be crazy. When your employees came to you asking for a raise, you’d have no idea whether they were over or underpaid, and no clue how your competitors were pricing similar work.

For decades, this is what it’s been like for California taxpayers trying to rein in government compensation. But instead of going out of business like a private company, California governments have just raised taxes higher and higher. California residents now suffer the highest individual income tax rate in the country, one of the highest rates of sales tax and corporate income tax rates, and the second highest tax on gasoline. Behind all the increases, there’s a big contributing factor in common: the insatiable salary demands of government employees.

Now, however, that can change — thanks to the California Public Policy Center’s just-released website, TransparentCalifornia.com. Transparent California is the largest database of California government employee compensation that is searchable by name and job title. It includes over 2 million salary records and over 1 million pension records.

Instead of relying on the assertions of union officials about how underpaid government employees might be, citizens can see what these employees are actually making. In thousands of cases, the information is shocking.

Consider Redwood City, where three fire captains and one firefighter made between $434,274 and $452,733 in total compensation in 2012. One police officer made $463,690 in total compensation. In all, nine employees made over $400,000 in total compensation with a total of 33, mostly police and fire department employees, making over $300,000 in total compensation in 2012.

Those are staggering sums anywhere, but in a city with a population of just 79,009, they’re a recipe for fiscal disaster.

Redwood City is hardly alone. The city manager in Temecula, population of 105,208, made over $497,000, while the advisor to the city manager made over $436,000, both in total compensation. The Fire Battalion chief in the city of Milpitas, population of 68,800, had a compensation package that topped $494,000 in 2012.

Then there’s the Orthopedic Surgeon in Kern County who took home over $1 million in pay and benefits in 2012.

While compensation for public employees keeps driving up taxes, it’s also pushing California tuition sky high. Two University of California Directors made over $900,000 each in 2012, excluding the cost of any benefits. Thousands of UC and California State University employees made over $200,000 in 2012, excluding benefits.

From the state’s top positions to those at the bottom, Transparent California makes it easy for citizens to find inflated salaries and benefits for many public employees. A Monterey County Secretary made over $146,000. An Alameda County sheriff took home over $541,000. The Parks and Recreation Directors in San Jose, Santa Rosa, Cupertino and San Mateo each made over $240,000.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/realspin/20 ... 00000year/

More.....

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-11-2 ... pacts.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/06/us/st ... .html?_r=0


While in Mexico it can be VERY DANGEROUS to be a public employee.......

Can be VERY DIFFICULT to find a man willing to be a Sheriff or Police Chief...

Female Police Chief Murdered in Mexico
Dec. 3, 2010

By OLIVIA KATRANDJIAN via World News
VIDEO: One woman took the dangerous job of town police chief when nobody else would.

The newly appointed female police chief of the northern Mexican town of Meoqui was shot and killed on her way to work by a convoy of gunmen who reportedly worked for drug traffickers, authorities said.
................
When men refused to take the police chief position in Meoqui, Garcia Quinones stepped forward.

http://abcnews.go.com/International/mex ... d=12294819

[Doc]

If this happened, anyone want to bet on which of the new states would thrive, which would suffer, and what their respective political allegiances would be?

The last part is an answer to the former. Their political allegiances would be determined by who builds the biggest money canal to them and from them.

[Zack Morris]

I don't even know what that's supposed to mean. I suspect you're contradicting yourself, as usual, by reflexively staking out the anti-Democrat position. Earlier you claimed that less urbanized, Republican areas are being funneled money by liberal control freaks as part of a sinister scheme to control them. Yet their political allegiance appears not to be to those who built a money canal to them.

We all know the answer to my question: San Francisco, LA, and San Diego would continue to be the powerhouses of the Californian economy and Eastern California would be a comparative backwater (as it is now).

[Simple Minded]

what about the water wars or food wars?

[Zack Morris]

what about the water wars or food wars?

What about them? What about the race wars? Or hyperinflation?

[Simple Minded]

what about the water wars or food wars?

What about them? What about the race wars? Or hyperinflation?

no doubt all caused by our Bilderberg-Reptilian masters..... probably to distract us from their true agenda!

what about man made global warming? what about the inequality of RAM? or the inequality of gun ownership?

After the CA split, the mountainous areas should build huge reservoirs to capture all the snow melt and make water a cash crop. Bay Area can build desalination plants. Standard of living goes up for all.

[Zack Morris]

The Sierra Nevadas are suffering from a record lack of snowfall this year. If it keeps up, the only cash crop Eastern California will be able to produce is marijuana -- which they already rely on to dull the pain of their boring, monotonous, conservative lives.

[Doc]

The Sierra Nevadas are suffering from a record lack of snowfall this year. If it keeps up, the only cash crop Eastern California will be able to produce is marijuana -- which they already rely on to dull the pain of their boring, monotonous, conservative lives.

A Pot plants needs, as I recall, 5 to 6 gallons of water per day. Sounds like a pot shortage coming up.

[Mr. Perfect]

Because balkanisation is the way to go when a great region cannot adequately govern itself. Ask the Roman Empire how well that worked out.....'>............

Well said.

When a great region can no longer govern itself whether it balkanizes or not is beside the point.

The next downturn bankrupts California. The illegals will go back to Mexico, it will be so bad.

[Zack Morris]

The next downturn bankrupts California. The illegals will go back to Mexico, it will be so bad.

I know you're a bit isolated up there in the woods but haven't you heard? Mexico has been doing pretty well on a relative basis and a lot of the illegals went back. Asians -- everyone's favorite "model minority" -- have been the leading source of immigrant inflow in the last few years. They happen to love California. I was in Lake Tahoe last December for the first time in years and was surprised to see Asians everywhere. It's a dramatic demographic shift from yesteryear.

The new Asian arrivals are overwhelmingly atheist or non-Christian and prefer cities.

[Endovelico]

The new Asian arrivals are overwhelmingly atheist or non-Christian...

That should contribute to make the US a better place, methinks...