Monday, July 11, 2011

51st State Becomes South California


Jeff Stone, a Republican Chairman on the Riverside County Board of Supervisors says that South California should be named the 51st U.S. state.

Stone wants his community to break away from the nearly bankrupt Golden State and form the 51st state that would encompass the mostly wealthy, overwhelmingly Republican counties of the state: Fresno, Imperial, Inyo, Kern, Kings, Madera, Mariposa, Mono, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego and Tulare counties, totaling approximately 13 million people. He, however, said that it would not include Los Angeles County.

"Los Angeles is purposely excluded because they have the same liberal policies that Sacramento does. The last thing I want to do is create a state that's a carbon copy of what we have now,'' Stone said.

"Los Angeles just enacted a ban on plastic grocery bags. That put three or four manufacturers out of business,'' Stone, a pharmacist from Temecula, said.

He wants a state that's focused on secure borders, balanced budgets, an improved school system and a flourishing economy.

"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."

The proposed 51st state would be the fifth largest by population, more populous than Illinois, Ohio and Pennsylvania. South California would take nearly a third of the population away from California, making the Golden State the second-largest state after Texas.

Eleven of the 13 proposed counties in South California traditionally vote Republican, a fact noticed by California Gov. Jerry Brown's office.

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