Posted by
Playful Walrus on Monday, September 28, 2009 1:53:08 PM
Not to be confused with Billy Mays, Bill Maze has a real idea about how to deal with California, the "ungovernable" state. Gregor Washinski has the story in the Orange County Register.
Maze leads the group Downsize California Now that is preparing a ballot initiative for a two-state solution. According to their plans, 13 counties on the coast, ranging from Los Angeles to Marin, just north of San Francisco, would be split off and be named Coastal California, West California or whatever they please. The remaining 45 counties, including Orange County, would become the "real" California.
This is exactly what I have been calling for on this very blog.
The movement was formed at the end of last year, when angry farmers in Central Valley rallied against Proposition 2, a ballot measure banning the tight confinement of farm animals. Originally called "Citizens for Saving California Farming Industries," the non-profit group has grown into a broader platform for those who cherish limited government. They hope to see the two-state initiative on the ballot by November 2010.
Marriage and "divorce" on the same ballot? Could be.
Convincing Californians to vote for the division of their state will be a difficult task, though. A poll by the Field Research Corporation earlier this year found that 82 percent of registered voters opposed the idea of splitting California into an eastern and western state. Also, such a plan would require approval by the U.S. Congress.
Yes, and you can be sure that the unions and other socialist groups from Los Angeles and San Francisco will be running ads in opposition, claiming that children will be starved to death and, even worse, prevented from going to school. These groups don’t want to lose the tax money.
Since California became a state in 1850, there have been about 220 documented attempts to divide it, says Kevin Starr, a professor at USC and author of a multi-volume series on the history of California. "And none of them have gotten anywhere."
Maybe, just maybe, things will be different.
Rob Pierson oversees the petition drive at the headquarters of Downsize California Now in Fresno. After a successful secession, he explains, both states would hold a constitutional convention. The ideal California would feature a single-house legislature that would be in session only three months a year. Income taxes would be abolished and a balanced and an on-time budget would become mandatory.
Again, this is exactly the kind of thing I have been advocating. I hope this gets somewhere. Let the Leftists have their overregulation, overtaxation (they won't have a Prop 13), overspending, their sanctuary cities for illegal aliens, and gender confusion. They can have "any" two, three, four or more people getting marriage licenses. They won't have to be offended by those of us who resist such "progress".
Downsize California's website: http://downsizeca.org/