"Looking for a 51st state? Politician in Southern California wants to secede"
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/pol...n_in_southern_california_wants_to_secede.html
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/politics/la-me-south-california-20110711,0,2368614.story
A politician in southern California wants his community to break away from the nearly bankrupt Golden State and form the 51st state.Jeff Stone, a Republican who serves on the Riverside County Board of Supervisors, wants to host a summit for southern California's political leaders to decide how to secede.He wants a state that's focused on secure borders, balanced budgets, an improved school system and a flourishing economy.It was not immediately clear how seceding would help."California was once the world's fourth largest economy and now struggles to hold on to eighth place," he said in a statement. "Our taxes are too high, our schools don't educate our children well enough, unions and other special interests have more clout in the Legislature than the general public. It has to change."Stone's ideal version of southern California would include the mostly wealthy, overwhelmingly Republican counties of the state: Riverside, Fresno, Imperial, Inyo, Kern, Kings, Madera, Mariposa, Mono, Orange, San Bernardino, San Diego and Tulare.He told the Los Angeles Times he's purposefully not including Los Angeles County, because they "have the same liberal policies that Sacramento does.""The last thing I want to do is a create a state that's a carbon copy of what we have now."While the Riverside County Board is holding a vote on the proposal to hold the summit, most political leaders dismissed the proposal as absurd."It's a supremely ridiculous waste of everybody's time," said California Gov. Jerry Brown's spokesman Gil Duran. "If you want to live in a Republican state with very conservative right-wing laws, then there's a place called Arizona."
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http://www.nydailynews.com/news/pol...n_in_southern_california_wants_to_secede.html
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/politics/la-me-south-california-20110711,0,2368614.story
A politician in southern California wants his community to break away from the nearly bankrupt Golden State and form the 51st state.Jeff Stone, a Republican who serves on the Riverside County Board of Supervisors, wants to host a summit for southern California's political leaders to decide how to secede.He wants a state that's focused on secure borders, balanced budgets, an improved school system and a flourishing economy.It was not immediately clear how seceding would help."California was once the world's fourth largest economy and now struggles to hold on to eighth place," he said in a statement. "Our taxes are too high, our schools don't educate our children well enough, unions and other special interests have more clout in the Legislature than the general public. It has to change."Stone's ideal version of southern California would include the mostly wealthy, overwhelmingly Republican counties of the state: Riverside, Fresno, Imperial, Inyo, Kern, Kings, Madera, Mariposa, Mono, Orange, San Bernardino, San Diego and Tulare.He told the Los Angeles Times he's purposefully not including Los Angeles County, because they "have the same liberal policies that Sacramento does.""The last thing I want to do is a create a state that's a carbon copy of what we have now."While the Riverside County Board is holding a vote on the proposal to hold the summit, most political leaders dismissed the proposal as absurd."It's a supremely ridiculous waste of everybody's time," said California Gov. Jerry Brown's spokesman Gil Duran. "If you want to live in a Republican state with very conservative right-wing laws, then there's a place called Arizona."
nmandell@nydailynews.com <mailto:nmandell@nydailynews.com> All News