Posted on 02/17/2023 6:30:52 PM PST by SeekAndFind
The Idaho House passed a resolution on Wednesday to begin talks with the Oregon Legislature about potentially expanding the Idaho border into eastern Oregon.
Such a resolution has its roots in the Greater Idaho movement, which seeks to absorb 11 Oregon counties, or 63 percent of the state’s landmass, into Idaho. The rationale for such a move is that the leftist residents of northwest Oregon — Portland, Salem, Eugene — control the politics of the state, and therefore rural, conservative residents in eastern and southern Oregon are effectively silenced on matters of state governance.
“The aspirations of Portland-area and northwestern Oregon voters force the state government toward a direction that happens to be incompatible with the values and livelihoods of my town and many in eastern and southern Oregon,” Mike McCarter, president of Citizens for Greater Idaho wrote in an op-ed for Oregon Live.
Rural, conservative Oregonians would feel well-represented in the Idaho legislature, which is overwhelmingly Republican. Idaho politics bleed red; the state has not backed a Democrat for President since Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964.
Idaho Rep. Judy Boyle supports the expansion because she wants to crack down on drugs pouring into her state. Boyle represents a border district, and because Oregon has moved to decriminalize most drugs, there’s been an influx of drugs into the region. She told the Idaho Press she voted to extend her state’s border to “get those drugs away from us.”
Rep. Barbara Ehardt believes Idaho has a lot to gain from absorbing eastern and southern Oregon’s natural resources and land mass. If the Oregon legislature is worried about losing so much state land, however, proponents argue that the majority of land in the expansion is federally or privately owned. The state government would not be losing much.
But not all Idaho lawmakers are in favor of the expansion.
“We should not be self-segregating by ideology like this,” House Minority Leader, Democratic Rep. Ilana Rubel told a local news channel. “I think we’re on a path to civil war if we keep going down this path. We have got to learn to get along better and work together better. The answer cannot be to carve up the country and redraw lines that have been in place for a century or more, just so we can only be surrounded by people that perfectly agree with us.”
The measure will now go to the Idaho Senate for approval, but it must also be approved by the Oregon legislature, as well as Congress. Already, 11 rural Oregon counties have already signed onto the petition for expansion. If enacted, Oregon would lose one congressional seat and one electoral vote due to the population shift.
Illinois should secede from Cook county....
Out-state Michigan from Detroit/Wayne County, Washtenaw [Ann Arbor] and Lansing.
Do you have the Oregon ping list?
Greater Missouri.
from the article: “We should not be self-segregating by ideology like this,” House Minority Leader, Democratic Rep. Ilana Rubel told a local news channel. “I think we’re on a path to civil war if we keep going down this path. We have got to learn to get along better and work together better. The answer cannot be to carve up the country and redraw lines that have been in place for a century or more, just so we can only be surrounded by people that perfectly agree with us.”
translation:
We want to tax you, but we don't want you to have representation.
The Democrats could be running Idaho is they could only get legislation passed that made the votes of conservatives and Republicans count as three-fifths of a full vote...
With the amount of liberals moving to Boise and the over development taking place around there, liberals probably stand a good chance of taking over Idaho, at least at the statewide offices.
New!
The Dems have owned Minnesota state offices for decades with a 55 mile by 70 mile rectangle.
Maybe they should add eastern Washington into the mix. I wonder how many electoral votes greater, greater Idaho would have. Currently Washington has 12, Oregon 8, and Idaho 4.
Praise God ❣
Alberta: “Lets make this really interesting...”.
Yes, I know its noncontiguous.
Looks like a good idea. What parts of California want to secede to a more conservative Calif2?
Thank a little-known 1964 Scotus ruling, Reynolds v. Sims
This is how things started in 1860.
I think every state should do this.
Only be four or five retard counties in each state.
Feds will never let it happen.
The only reason there is a West Virginia is suspension of constitutional law by Lincoln.
And Grand Rapids. GR’s demographic change has been staggering in the past decade.
Works for me.
“I think every state should do this.
Only be four or five retard counties in each state”
I agree.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.