Chicago: the 51st State?
An Illinois state representative wants Chicago and the rest of Illinois to break up into two separate states. Bill Mitchell (R—Redneck) has introduced a bill which, if passed, would put the issue before the state’s voters. If Illinois voters approve the measure, it will still have to be approved by Congress and the White House.
Proponents of the bill say Chicago and Cook County residents “hold different and firmly seated views on politics, society, and economics” from the rest of Illinois. Bill Mitchell said:
“These liberal policies are an insult to the traditional values of downstate families. When I talk to constituents, one of the biggest things I hear is 'Chicago should be its own state.’ Our voters' voices were drowned out by Chicago.”
If a new state was formed every time a few local yahoos talked about forming their own own state, America would have at least five hundred states instead of just fifty. There are several distinct regions of California that hate the rest of the state, and have probably been talking about forming their own state since the day California became a state.
There definitely is a culture clash between Chicago and rural Illinois. I went to a small college in western Illinois — near the Iowa border — a looong time ago. This was the late ‘60s, and it was still 1951 at this college. And the rest of the town was so much further backward, they made the college campus look like Berkeley.
But this is true for most states. Even in the Deep South, the largest cities are a lot more liberal and urbane than the small towns. All three of the Left Coast states have interior regions that might as well be backwoods Mississippi.
If Illinois voters succeed in giving Chicago the boot — or would it be the other way around? — this could start a trend. How many states do we want?
Labels: Bill Mitchell, Chicago 51st state, Chicago and Illinois separate states
posted by Tom Harper @ 12:38 PM
8 Comments:
You mention CA Tom, some republican here came up with a plan to chop us up into either two or three states but got flustered when asked north south...east west how would it be broken up. Never had an answer other than the liberal blabbity blah blah.
You're so right about fractionalizing. Here in Washington, you'd have a dynamic, thriving and prosperous Puget Sound state and a comparatively backward, stagnant and struggling Inland state. It doesn't take three guesses to tell which is heavily Republican.
Jess, I have a hunch Republicans would most like to claim everything but the San Francisco and East Bay area, and Los Angeles County. But they realize doing that would divorce them from a lot of money.
Jess,
The Initiative failed partially because the guy that wrote it and drew the map put San Francisco in Southern California.
Erik
I'm in favor of this as it will create jobs because someone is going to have to manufacture brand new flags with 76, 133, 247, 516 stars, thereby reducing unemployment from 9.6% to 9.5999%, why do you hate America?
Jess: I think there've been several attempts to break up California. I've heard everywhere from 2 or 3 to 5 or 6 or more distinct regions that all hate each other. They'll never follow through with it; they just want another excuse to rant about libruls.
SW: You're right about the Puget Sound and SF Bay areas. Conservatives hate them but they won't dare cut themselves off from those regions' innovation and prosperity.
Erik: LOL. People who've never been to California tend to think of it as just a big blur of Hollywood stars, swimming pools and snow-capped redwood mountains. But when a political activist makes that same mistake, that's too funny.
Randal: Works for me. Bring on that 9.5999% unemployment rate.
Why downstate hates Chicago is there in the [R-Redneck]comment where all hayseeds and local yocals. While Chicago is the home off things sophisticated. Like the last hold out of the one party state talk about the 1950's. The home of the most corrupt city in the country. The worst schools in the country. Yet we should just be happy to be a part of this great cesspool.
If all the big cities (led by liberals) are so wonderful, why are so many of them crime ridden, poverty ridden, and only places that people want to leave? Murders are so prevalent in Chitcago that anymore it is just ho-hum news.
Some of you have it backwards. It is not the rural ares of the state(s) that need the money of the big cities, it is the cesspools like Chitcago that need the money from the rest of the state to keep their garbage pile running.
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