Billionaire's breakup plan would chop California into six states

[PoliticAverse]

(Reuters) - A long-shot effort to break California into six separate states got a boost on Monday, when the billionaire venture capitalist behind the proposal said he had gathered enough signatures to place it on the ballot in two years.

Timothy Draper, a founder of a Silicon Valley-based venture capital firm that has invested in Twitter, Skype and Tesla, among other companies, has been agitating for months for a ballot initiative to chop the most populous U.S. state into smaller entities.

"It’s important because it will help us create a more responsive, more innovative and more local government, and that ultimately will end up being better for all of Californians," said Roger Salazar, a spokesman for the campaign. "The idea ... is to create six states with responsive local governments - states that are more representative and accountable to their constituents."

Salazar said Monday that the campaign had gathered more than the roughly 808,000 signatures needed to place the measure on the November, 2016 ballot. Draper and other supporters plan to file the signatures with California Secretary of State Debra Bowen on Tuesday.

Read the rest at: http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/07/15/us-usa-california-breakup-idUSKBN0FK03P20140715

[Mr.Bill]

1. How do idiots get so rich?

[CaliforniaPeggy]

2. It ain't happening! There's a long history of this sort of idiocy; it never happens. n/t

[TDale313]

7. Yep, this ^^^

This idea gets floated every so often. It rightly never gets any traction.

[PoliticAverse]

12. Indeed I'm not sure why he's spending so much effort on an idea that's DOA. n/t

[Auggie]

15. Plus it would need support of the Democratically controlled state legislature ...

would never pass. Just an idiotic waste of time and money.

http://www.sfgate.com/politics/article/Six-Californias-backers-say-it-s-heading-for-5621377.php

[KamaAina]

18. Um, it's a ballot initiative.

He's collecting signatures to get it on the ballot directly.

If you ask me, the practice of paid signature gathering should be banned. In effect, he's buying a place on the ballot.

[Auggie]

21. Even if voters approve it, the State Legislature and U.S. Congress would have to give approval

and that will never happen.

Totally agree -- ban paid signature gatherers.

[PoliticAverse]

29. The constitution requires "the Consent of the Legislatures of the States concerned",

not a ballot initiative.

[NYC_SKP]

3. I'm somewhat supportive of the idea.

This is a big ass state and the regional diversity in terms of resources and cultures is significant.

I'd personally love to be a member of whichever of these states includes central coast cities.

[Mr.Bill]

4. I think that diversity is what makes our state great. n/t

[AndyTiedye]

24. This is Designed to Create More Red States

This does not create six smaller, more homogenous, states, it is gerrymandered all over the place to help the GOP.
The Kochroaches will spend millions to try to push this through and we must defeat it.

[Sirveri]

25. The splits I saw looked fairly equal.

Silicon valley gets a huge economy and would be 2 blue, West California is in a similar position, North California and South California would likely be swing states, while Jefferson and Central California would be red states with horribly low per capita income causing them to be unable to economically support their current welfare burdens (which are about 50% of their per capita income, compared to Silicon valley which is 2.1k income to 0.1k welfare).

Source

[MADem]

5. Moron!

Who in their right mind thinks it is a good idea to chop up the eighth largest economy in the world into six unimportant economies? Does this idiot think he'd get any "net gain" in the Senate or House? Or at the Governor's Conference? And does he think that "clout" beats the economic clout of the state on the world stage?

This is the third time I've seen this dumb idea come around--I say three strikes and you're out! This dunce should be designated an Enemy of the State (of California)!!

...the plan has raised bipartisan hackles across the state, and opponents say it stands little chance of gaining voter approval. If it does win the support of voters, it must still be passed by Congress, which opponents say is also unlikely.

"This is a colossal and divisive waste of time, energy, and money that will hurt the California brand,” said Steven Maviglio, a Democratic political strategist who has formed the group OneCalifornia with GOP strategist Joe Rodota to fight Draper’s plan. "It has zero chance of passage. But what it does is scare investment away... at a time when the Governor is leading us to an economic comeback.”

[defacto7]

8. Only the mind of a conservative business man

would see this as reasonable.

[Half-Century Man]

6. Can we chop his weath into 6 pieces?

[defacto7]

9. Should we split other US states

that have areas with different ideologies or economies? The only thing this would do is consolidate wealth into those parts that can determine political outcome. It would create zones of high wealth and zones of poverty. As it is, each area even though split by political ideology support and balance the others. It's an absurd idea that's really only in the interests of corporate controls and smells of a much more dangerous version of gerrymandering. Maybe call it corpomandering.

[KamaAina]

17. Indeed.

The Legislative Analysis Office found that the state* of Silicon Valley would be the wealthiest in the country -- and Central California the poorest.

[antiquie]

10. I think New York should be six to eight different states.

That way PoliticAverse and NYC SKP could both be happy.

[PoliticAverse]

11. Every once in a while someone brings up the idea of breaking off NYC from the rest of the state

but then they are reminded of where New York City gets its water from.

[antiquie]

14. Southern California

gets water from Northern California snowpack.
I think six states would give the Repuglycans 4 and Dems 2, or maybe only 1...

[Sirveri]

26. No, Silicon valley would be 2 blue at all times.

West California would likely be 2 blue (Contains LA).
North California would split or be 2 blue (Contains Marin and Vallejo and Sac)
South California would split but leans slightly more red than blue (not sure what is wrong with San Diego)
Central California and Jefferson would both turn into versions of Mississippi or Alabama. Little economy, big meth problem with lots of poor white people being racist but on government assistance and trying to take that assistance away with right wing nutjob politicians repping them.

[antiquie]

28. I live in a different California.

[catnhatnh]

13. Republican plot...

By chopping up blue states which are traditionally the most populous states and contain large cities they hope to convert the area into 1-2 blue states and 4-5 red states as a means of grabbing a senate majority. Remember how effectively they gerrymandered congressional districts after the last census and be sure to keep them from gerrymandering states wholesale.

[JayhawkSD]

16. Breaking it into two states might have some merit.

Some. Not much. Very little, in fact, but it would at least approach sanity. But six?

[KamaAina]

19. A state* that extends from Marin through Sac up to Tahoe?!

[Cleita]

20. Many have advocated splitting up CA to increase the number of senators

in Congress thinking Democrats and other progressives would be elected. However, California is pretty red. Other than the large urban centers of San Fransisco and Los Angeles, which make the state seem blue, most of northern and inland areas which are not as populated and mostly rural or wilderness areas are as red as any state in middle America and would most likely vote for Republican representation. No doubt this guy knows that. My two cents of opinion.

[blkmusclmachine]

22. The Mother of ALL gerrymandering Schemes !!!

Crooks & Liars. Is that a Fox show?

[defacto7]

31. ^ this ^

n/t

[SunSeeker]

23. Fuck you, Draper.

This is just a scheme to deprive Dems proportional representation (and increase the already unfair over-representation of Republicans) in Congress. Shove it up your Republic of Jefferson.

[arcane1]

27. How on earth would this plan "solve the state’s water issues"

Seems like it would make things even less manageable.

[mackerel]

30. Why not just divide the state as North and South?

Cut it somewhere down by Fresno.

[bayareaboy]

32. The mobile home park where I live in Newcastle has a few ...

teabaggers, who seem to think that the next thing for California is the State of Jefferson. so we got banners up in their yards next to Ryan signs and Teabagger signs more silly signs that claim Jefferson needs a real home.

Like idiots they don't know a thing about history of one of the best boondoggles north of Mt Shasta. Herb Cain wrote about it, I think in 1939, and it hasn't changed much over the years, except there is a whole bunch of fools who think it's going to happen.

They don't even know that they will be poorer than Haiti and Yreka ain't a capital city in any form.

[antiquie]

33. Yreka's city site banner says it all.

http://ci.yreka.ca.us/

[mackerel]

34. Would Newcastle be part of Jefferson? I thought Newcastle was in Place County?

[bayareaboy]

35. Teabaggers seem to think so...

course they seem to think that, well I don't rightly know, what the hell they are thinking. My mind won't go there, too often.

Newcastle is in Placer County, and is RePUG tough. But most teabagers here really don't know where they are.

When I studied The Jefferson concept back in the 70s, Jefferson was from about Weed to Grants Pass to Klamath Falls with no coast, at all. So besides grazing lands and potato's and horseradish ranches.

[mackerel]

36. This is the first time since I've been a voter that someone actually was able to get this on

the ballot.