Posted on 01/18/2005 4:04:36 AM PST by nickcarraway
Should New York City become the 51st state?
A bill that would create a commission to study whether the city should secede from New York state will get another hearing soon — after sitting in the City Council for nearly two years
The bill was introduced on Feb. 26, 2003. A hearing was held shortly after, but no action has been taken on the bill since then.
"I expected delays and opposition when we got to the state level, but I never thought it would be held up for two years trying to get out of a City Council committee," said Councilman Peter Vallone Jr. (D-Queens), who introduced the bill.
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
But could 51 stars be arranged in a suitable pattern for the flag?
If the left regained total power they would eliminate the House as soon as possible.
Too damned hard for them to control.
They'd be much happier with just the Imperial White House and the World's Greatest Deliberative Body. (of thieves and traitors)
Well, I can imagine how much they would charge visitors to use whatever facilities they do own!
Just make sure they take LI as well.
They'd also get 2 senators.
They might lose the two sens who represent NY now, though...
People and buisnesses from outside NYC invest in properties and buy apartments. You dont have to always physically 'export' a product to sell a product. The art of real estate development in NYC is the ultimate manufactured product.
However, this activity can easily be moved anywhere as for example offshore banks and the NASDQ.
But it really can't be and wont, for far too many reasons to list here.
The imaginary fence is a bogus concept, in that there is no city or region in the world that could survive with a fence around it. No place is truly self-sufficient anymore.
As for the concept of wealth creation, a city based around the banking industry creates enormous amounts of wealth. As a simple example, without the institutional knowledge of NY bankers and lawyers seasoned in the IPO field, companies would not be able to raise capital in as efficient a manner.
One of the best ways to create wealth is to use currently existing capital in a more efficient manner, which is what the banking industry does.
Voluntarily lowering their electoral vote influence? Gotta like that.
And the creation of VALUE is the fundamental nature of Real Estate. It's CREATED via development of property. You DO NOT HAVE TO EXPORT IT. It's a product that attracts buyers and creates wealth.
The problem would be the extra two Senators each of these city-states would elect...MUD
Usually about now, someone chimes in that we couldn't live without NYC because they have a band or something and some twinkie ballerinas.
Bingo!
How about selling it to the United Nations for $100 trillion dollars.
I disagree whole heartedly, read this, click on the link at the bottom and read the whole 12 page report.
I printed it up and the information in it is great!
NEW REPORT DOCUMENTS PROLONGED LAG IN UPSTATE NEW YORK ECONOMY;
SUGGESTS PART OF THE SOLUTION MAY BE TO 'LET UPSTATE BE UPSTATE'
ALBANY—Upstate New York State's economy has been lagging for years behind the nation's growth rate and behind such "Rust Belt" competitors as Michigan and Ohio, according to a new analysis by the Public Policy Institute, the research affiliate of The Business Council of New York State, Inc.
From 1990 through 2003, total job growth in Upstate's Big Six metropolitan areas was only 2.3 percent, the report said. The nation as a whole grew jobs eight times as fast during that period -- and even "Rust Belt" states like Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Wisconsin and Minnesota grew jobs four times as fast as Upstate, or more.
The 2000 Census showed that Upstate's population grew more slowly than all but two states -- North Dakota and West Virginia. Nearly 30 percent of Upstate's "new" population during the decade consisted of prisoners. And Upstate New York lost 370,000 in the count of its population aged 20 to 34.
Upstate suffers by comparison with its competitors because of high taxes and other costs, the report says -- and those costs, in turn, are often driven by decisions made in an Albany process that is largely dominated by what the report calls "the Downstate political culture."
Part of the solution, the report suggests, may be to "let Upstate be Upstate," giving its communities more flexibility to deal with state mandates on matters such as Medicaid, prevailing-wage rules, and other cost drivers.
"The last thing New York needs is some kind of destructive Upstate-Downstate showdown," the report says. "But given the prolonged lag in Upstate's economy, it is time to think seriously about whether there is a way of restructuring the relationship to give Upstate the opportunity -- indeed, the freedom -- to reduce some of the disadvantages that are smothering its economy."
The report, Could New York Let Upstate Be Upstate?, was researched and written by David Shaffer, the Institute's president. It analyzes demographic data from the 2000 Census, and recent jobs data from the six major Upstate metropolitan areas -- Albany-Schenectady Troy, Binghamton, Buffalo-Niagara, Syracuse, Rochester, and Utica-Rome.
Not only has job growth in the region been anemic, the report says, but every net new job created in the Upstate metros from 1990 through 2003 was funded by the taxpayers -- counting growth in government payrolls, plus growth in health care and social assistance jobs funded by Medicaid and other taxpayer-financed programs. A Public Policy Institute report that was released on April 28, New York State's economy in 2004: Which way out?, found a similar pattern in job growth statewide during that period -- something it warned is not sustainable over the long run.
Meanwhile the Upstate metros lost 31.8 percent, or nearly one-third, of their manufacturing jobs from 1990 to 2003 -- dropping from 18 percent of total jobs in the region, to 12 percent, in just 13 years. In the U.S. overall, manufacturing also lost ground -- but only 17.9 percent.
The new Upstate report praised the new efforts being made by state government to capitalize on the research and technology strengths of the higher education system in helping to grow the Upstate economy -- as well as the local economic development initiatives under way in Buffalo, Syracuse, Rochester, Albany and other locations.
But it argues that Upstate cannot be fully revived unless the state also addresses "the high cost of doing business." It adds that "in everything from taxes to energy costs, New York State is a high-cost location -- statewide. The single most important reason this is true is that the Downstate political culture is dominated by public-sector unions and other forces that want to keep it that way."
Those high costs, the report goes on, may be less important to Downstate, which has "a one-of-a-kind role in financial services, business services, corporate headquarters and other factors that go some way toward offsetting New York's cost disadvantages." But Upstate, the report said, "has to compete with regular places like Ohio, and Virginia.... That's the competitive game Upstate is in. If it isn't allowed to change, it can't compete, and it won't win."
"To compete and to succeed, Upstate needs to cut the cost of doing business in a host of ways -- from the size of government and Medicaid and property taxes, to the unlimited liability the trial lawayers' lobby imposes on construction work. But every attempt to do any of these is blocked in Albany."
The full text of the report is available (in Adobe Acrobat format) at: http://www.ppinys.org/reports/2004/letupstate.pdf.
The whole report is in my site
http://www.rusthompson.com/
Have you read about Thursday? I am the MC of Primary Challenge at the Holiday Inn @ the Airport. 10-12 am
a HORRIBLE idea...we'd get 2 more Democrat Senators for EVERY LARGE CITY in the USA.
The move could happen, but it certainly would not be easy. The economic disruption that would occur (around the world, not just in the US) if NY's financial industry was shut down or forced to move cannot be overestimated.
There's a very real reason why Al Qaeda counts the NYSE and the rest of NY's financial industry as a top target.
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