If you would like more information about what’s happening in Oregon, please FReepmail me. Please send me your name by FReepmail if you want to be on this list.
Posted on 11/08/2022 9:26:06 PM PST by SeekAndFind
As Oregon residents take to the polls today, one thing many will be deciding is whether the state will enact Measure 114, an extensive and unconstitutional gun control law that would become the most extensive anti-gun law in the nation, if passed.
Now, as bad as Oregon is, this isn’t a done deal. In fact, polling suggests that voting on the measure is going to be tight.
But the fact that it’s even a possibility–plus the fact that the state has passed a lot of other questionable laws, both gun-control related and otherwise–is leading some to vote on a different measure.
This is about some counties leaving Oregon and joining Idaho.
Republican voters in Eastern and Central Oregon are so fed up with liberal lawmakers that they want to break rank — and state lines — and become part of Idaho.
On Tuesday, two Oregon counties, Morrow and Wheeler, are set to vote on a ballot measure about whether to explore leaving the state. Since 2020, nine counties in Eastern Oregon have already voted to join the Greater Idaho movement.
“People in Eastern Oregon are just different and have different views on crime, the Second Amendment, abortion, taxes and minimum wage [from the western portion of the state],” Matt McCaw, spokesman for Greater Idaho, told The Post. “The polarization with the western part of the state is real. When I meet with people and host meetings, there are a lot of complaints about the lack of representation. Eastern Oregon is just very conservative and has its own culture.”
…
It’s a radical proposition that would see nearly two-thirds of Oregon’s 63 million acres (98,000 square miles), but less than 10% of its population, blend into neighboring Idaho.
It would definitely shrink Oregon in size, but would have minimal impact on anything beyond that and how those particular counties vote.
Yet it’s a bold move.
One reason for it, though, is Oregon’s embrace of gun control. These voters really don’t have a say. Their voices get drowned out by cities like Portland and Eugene.
Those are the places that pushed a mandatory storage law last year, then enacted criminal justice reform efforts that ended cashless bail for many. That was after decriminalizing small amounts of all illicit drugs. That’s a recipe for disaster and they can see it.
So, they’re voting to leave their state and join another, one more in keeping with their politics and traditions.
However, as the piece notes, this isn’t something they get to decide for themselves. Both the states of Oregon and Idaho need to agree, and while the governor of Idaho said he welcomed the move in 2020, that’s not quite the same thing.
For Idaho, this is probably a no-brainer.
An increase in population means a greater tax base and a potential increase in representation in Congress with minimal downside.
The biggest hindrance is whether Oregon will go along with it.
On one hand, your typical progressive in Portland wants nothing to do with the more conservative eastern counties, and may well say “good riddance.” On the other, they may insist on keeping control over those counties.
Either way, the vote today will show a desire to leave or not, but it won’t facilitate it. Let’s hope for their sake it’s a first step in the path rather than an empty gesture.
Good for them.
If Portland objects, Eastern Oregon needs to do it anyway, and enjoy being Western Idaho.
If you would like more information about what’s happening in Oregon, please FReepmail me. Please send me your name by FReepmail if you want to be on this list.
I don't think that is entirely true. All of that eastern Oregon territory has a big share of Oregon tourism, especially hunting and fishing tourism, along with ranching, farming and mining.
I suspect that all amounts to a significant tax base which is probably the biggest reason the Oregon government would fight it.
I hope they do it.
Think about revenue from the lumber industry too. I’m in idaho my feelings are mixed. The Oregon folks made their bed etc. Yet they, the eastern folks got dragged along by the Portland turds. If they join this RED state. Then come and stay RED or go RED. If not suffer as you are. IMO
Most the eastern half of Oregon is “federal land”...remembering that Uranium One deal and the Malheur Refuge protest, so this could get very interesting.
Totally forgot the timber industry. That’s a big one.
I doubt if eastern Oregoners will slide into BLUE. It’s all rural country out there.
You live a lot closer though so I’ll defer to your opinion on it.
No deferring necessary. I like my neighbors here, we have similar interests and values. If the Oregon folks come with the same or nearly the same values, welcome aboard. We have beautiful country, they could add to it. If they make us redder makes me smile. They might as well bring their elk and deer, the more the merrier. Wolves they can leave behind but we shoot them without prejudice, so its a non-issue for this.
If they include Bend with east Oregon, Bend is overloaded to the max with rich liberal refugees who fled from Silicon Valley and Portland
Any county outside of the ones which contain Frisco, l.a., Oakland, San Jose, and San Diego should leave California. I would hope individual cities in the same county as l.a.,or Frisco, etc could leave those counties also.
No way the libs in Oregon let them go without receiving payment from Idaho.
New York City and Long Island should become northern New Jersey and free the rest of the state.
Long Island gave Lee Zeldin a huge vote and sent Republican Congressmen to Washington DC. Unfortunately, not enough to overcome the votes of the much larger population of New York City’s borroaghs.
So perhaps NYC and LI could become Eastern CT or Long Island become southern Rhode Island?
And how many stars in our flag will there be?
How many Senators? Congressmen?
Could this all revive the “State of Jefferson”???
Adding territory to a prexisting state would be easier than starting a new state.
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