Plan to split California into 6 states advances

an initiative to split California into 6 states has garnered more than 807,000 signatures, and is now going to be on the ballot for November 2016. I don't think it will pass (people generally don't like radical change), but if it does there may be six new states (Congress would probably have to approve that though).

According to Forbes Columnist Travis Brown " the initiative would achieve the triumvirate goal of proportionately distributing California’s debts based on population, ending all tax collections and spending by the existing State of California, and creating new, more representative governments with the ability to enact public policies that make the most sense for the new state." Brown says that the new states would be smaller "and thus more efficient and closer to their constituents". He also believes that California is a "failed state".

I guess if this did go through it could benefit other states, by taking all of the political power California has and breaking it up into six smaller states.

He also believes that California is a "failed state".

Can't disagree there. As 1 or 6 states, I wouldn't choose to live any of them.

Yeah I don't really see this passing

Another Republican gerrymandering scheme only now they want to re-draw state lines. Funny shit indeed.

lol also I like how TC cited an opinion article

Divide and distort at its best. I fail to see what this would accomplish.

Nope.

Cali's a hellhole

Texas will go blue before anything like this happens.

If this passes (which I'm not getting my hopes up), hopefully the new state lines place me in a conservative state. Again, I'm not getting my hopes up.

This would suck so much...

Doesn't matter what California votes for, this would never get through Congress. It seems like nothing ever does.

There's a slight chance it might if the republicans control both houses. We won't though. :(

Yea they'd do anything to make their way to the presidency again and regain relevancy. Pathetic bunch.

speak for yourself

I'm speaking for the country. A one-party, democrat nation (which is what we'd get if Texas goes blue) would be catastrophic.

@Aljosa23: California is another failed Democratic liberal state. The libs just don't get it. Their policies don't work.

I would support that kind of action in New York. Only we should just cut NYC off and let them fend for themselves. I'm tired of having to pay for a city I don't even live in.

If the lines more accurately represent each state, why not?

well, if it was to become one party it'd be so because the opposing party is fucking batshit crazy

maybe they should focus on some sensible policy other than just being the antithesis of their opposition

@airshocker: no just no

Why not? It more accurately represents what the population thinks. Upstate New York is vastly different in opinion than NYC, yet we get drowned out because there are 10 million people in NYC. Long Island feels the same way.

Republicans mad that a Democratic Governor and Legislature turned Cali's budget deficit into a surplus, and their economy is growing 30% faster than the rest of the nation

The way U.S. is, they'll probably use it to segregate the poorer areas from the ones booming with the new economy.

That would make sense. It's inclusion in New York state is pretty archaic. Just make it a federal district like DC.

I probably wouldn't support redrawing any state lines though until the electoral college is abolished.

Hahaha. Right. California has a population of 38 million. I'd expect it would take a few more than 800k people to make this happen. I doubt it would happen even if all of California wanted it to.

They only "fixed" the economy with a bandaid. Most of the businesses fled over it. In the short term it's great. In the long term it'll be a fucking nightmare.

Why not offer California as a gift to Mexico?

That's an interesting idea. Since a lot of the world's diplomacy occurs in NY, it would make perfect sense.

lol wtf? why would California do this?

Because some of their population feel(much like us NYers who don't live in NYC) aren't being represented fairly.

Hmmmmmmmmmmmm like the federal district thing

Pretty much this. Believe it or not, there are more Republicans in California than Democrats. The problem lies in the fact that the Democrats are too condensed in major areas while the Republicans are too spread out all over the state.

lol

Yet Obama won California by 60% and Romney only got 37% in the last election. You are delusional.

"If" they do then that's fine. No reason for me to think this is anything more than GOP vote cheating as of now though.

buy the by, apostle, do you still think Obama wasn't born on America?

Let's understand the situation.

The “Six Californias” Initiative, sponsored by Silicon Valley venture capitalist Tim Draper, seeks to create areas that are more governable, more productive, and more successful.

Draper, a registered independent who has built a career on smart risk-taking and startup investing, views California as a borderline “failed state” with “the worst-managed government in the country.”

I was merely stating facts (I've heard, not read). They could've switched party lines, though I heard reports that the Democrats had committed voter fraud in California. I can't source it since I'm not sure where those reports came from.

EDIT: It's also entirely possible that many republicans, believing Romney didn't stand a chance, decided not to vote at all.

You're accusing the wrong party.

Meh... That's the LA Times. That's like linking to NY Times or CNN. >_>

*sigh* Typical RW deflection. Anyway, the man pleaded guilty. That there's a link to Google, so take your pick of sources.

This has to be one of the stupidest plans ever.

Right, because the deficit, debt, and brink of Bankruptcy, that California was experiencing while under Republican control made it a paradise.

That's pretty much why Kansas is enjoying so much Economic prosperity right now............oh, wait

What are you talking about? Creating different states would bring two more senators a piece. Not to mention representatives for states specifically.

That's pretty damn good odds for either party to pick up more seats.

How much will it cost to overhaul the flag and phase it in

Like I said, it was a short term, temporary solution. The businesses left. Once California begins feeling the effects of that then things will be worse than ever.

I was talking more about the electoral college. The GOP knows they will never win California so the next best thing is to split the state up so they at least get something.

I'm not seeing the problem.

You don't see the problem in the fact that since its becoming so difficult for a party to win that instead of changing people's hearts and minds, its better to change the system so that it's more beneficial to them?

You would be gaming the election system rather than actually following any kind of democratic process. You don't see that as problematic?

Actually, I heard the guy who proposed it is an Independent.