[Publius]

The Stranger is Seattle's Sandinista newspaper, serving a Hard Left clientele whose chief interests are homosexuality, bondage, sado-masochism and the Democratic Party. But once in a while, they have an article worth reading -- one that gives an insight into the Hard Left.

I'm also pleased to find a writer for one of these rags who can actually write a complete sentence and a cogent paragraph.

[Publius]

Ping. Please ping any chapter members you can think of.

[thoughtomator]

It's unconstitutional to create a new state from the territory of another state. Otherwise New York would long have split off from New York City.

[pabianice]

What a great idea! We can cut Boston off from Massachusetts so the Lunatic Leftists in Bean Town will no longer control the state congressional delegation! Make the cut at I-495! This will leave the state of Massachusetts to the west and the state of Marxachusetts to the east. I love it!

[andyk]

Where on Earth was this author when libs were talking about secession and moving to Canada right after the election?

[Blood of Tyrants]

Hey! That's MY idea! That's okat, though, it means two more conservative REPUBLICAN Senators in the Senate (new total 57-45). It will also mean that a new state could get rid of the burden of unreasonable taxes an create a more business friendly environment than they currently have.

[ken5050]

Ifd you followed this logic to its conclusion, which would include splitting California, and giving the DSofC two Senators, well, soon, the Senate would be larger than the House..

[sure_fine]

check out this sampling from Seattle

This is the current topic on John Carlson's radio show. This picture will be placed on a huge downtown billboard. Apparently the website indicated on the billboard is a homosexual 'dating' service.

the DJ ask for your opinion, I sent mine in bold red

[trubluolyguy]

I hope they do split the state, I'll be one of the first moving east.

[Malesherbes]

An interesting article. Another alternative would be for the eastern counties to join Idaho where the politics would be much more congenial. I believe some counties in Vermont, tired of the state's Deaniacs, are trying to join New Hampshire.

[Donald Rumsfeld Fan]

""Vance ignores the fact that while Republican elites may offer messages of cultural affinity with the rural poor, their actual policies strongly favor the rich."

And the question is......What is bullshit?

[jpl]

I think that if this goes through, then "the rubes" should stop feeding the Commies. The Commies will pretty quickly find out that those restaurants and supermarket store shelves don't automatically replenish themselves by magic.

[elbucko]

"We're subsidizing Eastern Washington," he says. "You know something? We don't mind. But what I do mind is that when we pay, and they benefit, they still complain. That's what bugs me. They're bitching about it."

I wonder if the author makes the connection between the complaints of the restricted, but supported (?) rural whites and the attitudes of the urban black on welfare. Dependence is a form of bondage, no matter how it is structured and no matter the color of the dependent.

Buck Knife Manufacturing would have been good for eastern WA, but the pinkies in Seattle ran them off to Idaho with unconsidered regulation.

Good article, "Pub", the same could be said for CA.

[hleewilder]

The way things are in our country, it might not be a bad idea to declare two new political divisions.

First, organize the various states into eight regional entities, North and South in each time zone and call them Provinces, without violating existing state lines.

Such Provinces would organize states that have a lot more in common in terms of demographics, natural resources, transportation costs and general political concerns, as long as there was real power given to them.

Each Province (Central North, for example, where I live in Missouri) could rotate the provincial capitol to the various individual states that make up the Province.

Secondly, take any major urban metro area that hits a federal population target (say two hundred fifty thousand) and declare it a Federal City State, whose laws and regulations are separate from the more rural State and Provincial laws.

Let's face it: Cities have never been this large in history, they use up more resources, and they're responsible for the imposition of various draconian laws that currently affect everyone in that particular State.

[wbill]

harsh fiscal calculus of trying to provide indispensable government services in a time of mounting budget shortfalls

There are a few services that are indispensable. But I'm sure that we all could find a few to dispose of.

Statement sure shows which way the writer leans.......

[cookcounty]

These "what we get back" numbers are always bogus. Would King County want to have a few reactors taken down and moved there? The reason more spending happens in rural counties is that that's where the NIMBY principle demands they go. Urban areas DO NOT want this "spending" in their areas.

[PeterFinn]

The author is a liberal schmuck.

"indispensable government services" to me do not include welfare programs, 'saving' fish, or stopping non-existent global warming.

Indispensable government services are the military, law enforcement, fire departments, and civil courts.

[x]

This is the sort of thing that sounds good at the time, but that people usually end up regretting. Cities that have cut themselves off from the surrounding counties at a time when rural areas looked like a drain on their budgets, found themselves disadvantaged when suburbs sprang up outside their borders and people moved there.

Splitting up states isn't quite the same thing, but there is a lot to be gained by having cities, farms, farms and forests together, and spreading the gains and burdens over a larger population. If the oceans are really going to rise, as so many liberals believe, why cut yourself off from the higher ground?

Separate out a high tax region from a low one and in time you'll find all the growth moving to the low tax area. The first corporation that moves its offices from Seattle to Spokane will be quite a blow. This is probably something Washingtonians are probably aware of, as businesses already cluster on the border of states with no sales tax. What happens when more and more people who work in Seattle are making hundred mile commutes from across the new border.

On the other hand, some important banks, utilities, and corporations are bound to keep their offices where they are. If you are in a rural part of the state, would you want a government that you didn't elect to have the lion's share of control over the companies that are most important to the local economy?

Probably libertarians wouldn't mind, but why would rural areas want to recreate the situation of having little or no say in corporate affairs. That sparked the populist movement -- farmers in the Dakotas and elsewhere thought that the Twin Cities, Chicago, and New York exercised more control over their product and its marketing than they had themselves.

[elbucko]

Vance ignores the fact that while Republican elites may offer messages of cultural affinity with the rural poor, their actual policies strongly favor the rich,...

However, it's the rich "Republicans" that bankroll the jobs. Democrat Bill Gates, in Blue Redmond, WA, hasn't opened an M'Soft campus in Spokane, WA, has he? No, I didn't think so.

[JewishRighter]

Speaking of two-state solutions, since this is a favorite lefty solution to the Palestinian problem, why note make the left half of the the two states a Palestinian state? The Left would surely love to give self-determination to the Palestinians and the Palestinians would give the Left just the kind of state they deserve.

[Libertina]

MY solution: put yellow crime scene tape around the entire Seattle metropolis, wait a year or two for them to implode, then remove tape and dispose of debris. Any person attempting to sneak around the tape must prove basic understanding of elementary economic principles and the WA ST constitution before being allowed out. ;)