(Image source: LA Times)
BY LEXA DECKERT
ANCHOR ANA COMPAIN-ROMERO
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Prepare to pledge your allegiance to the... 51 states of America? -- If a California politician has his way-- this will soon be a reality.
“Jeff Stone wants to split up the state of California by breaking away 13 mostly conservative counties to create a 51st state called the state of south California. A vote set for today on a motion that would bring together leaders from those counties to discuss the possibility of this idea.” (KNXV)
MSNBC details which counties Stone handpicked to include in #51 -- and LA-- is not one of them.
“The proposed South California would be made up of Fresno, Imperial, Inyo, Kern, Kings, Madera, Mariposa, Mono, Orange, San Bernardino, San Diego, Tulare and Riverside counties. That totals about 13 million people.”
Stone’s idea for the split is spurred by his conviction that North and South California are too different and as a whole California is too large to govern effectively. TIME notes...
“...Stone and his supporters are sending a disgruntled message to Sacramento, where they allege Democratic Governor Jerry Brown is engaged in policies that do not reflect the ideals of half his state.”
Stone believes splitting California is not a question of if, but when. Not everyone is convinced though -- CNN talked to one local resident about the issue.
“I think certainly the spending -- the government we have in Sacramento -- doesn’t really, properly represent the people in Southern California. Certainly their spending habits -- whether or not it’s actually going to happen? Probably not...”
So what are the chances of an odd-numbered Union? Berkley fellow Charles Johnson weighs in on The Wall Street Journal, saying the idea would need both state and federal approval.
Charles Johnson (Berkley fellow): “The state approval could be done with a ballot initiative or with Sacramento actually saying you guys can leave. And the federal would require an act of Congress which the president would have to sign off on. Given that the state would be largely Republican, it’s unlikely to happen anytime soon.”
The Wall Street Journal adds- since 1850, there have been two dozen attempts to split the Golden State.
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Transcript by Newsy.
