An Intriguing Idea – Or Just Silly?
I dunno just how serious this notion is, but it sure struck my fancy.
Illinois Republican wants to make Chicago area the 51st state
A state Republican legislator has introduced a bill to the Illinois General Assembly to separate the Chicago’s county from the state–effectively making the midwestern city the 51st state in the union.
The bill, filed by State Rep. Bill Mitchell of Decatur Tuesday, would “enact legislation dividing Illinois and Cook County into separate states” because county residents “hold different and firmly seated views” on “politics, society, and economics” from people in the rest of the state. The bill’s supporters point to higher tax rates and strict gun laws in the Chicago area and contend that the northern county is out of step with its Illinois neighbors.
This actually makes some sense on its face, but I’d include EVERY major urban area in the process.
I also have no idea just how a referendum would work. For example; would a referendum in New York include NYC in the voting or could the non-NYC voters just sorta wave byebye?
Regardless of the details the idea is fun to think about.
Category: Geezer Alert!
Apparently that reporter needs to retake a social studies class, because separating Chicago from Illinois doesn’t automatically make it a state.
Won’t happen: Chicago needs the revenue it drains from the rest of Illinois. It’s rather like Quebec leaving Canada: cute question, but the Quebecois have expensive socialist tastes, so the rest of Canada has to pay for them.
one little problem. According to the Constitution of the United States, you can not take land form one state to form another.
(Which would mean that TECHNICALLY West Virginia shouldn’t exist, but since they secedded from a stat that wasn’t technically a part of the United States at the time. funny all those technicalities)
We run into this problem here in KC. South of the Missouri River sucks the life off of North of the river. 95% of the bad news that comes out of our city is related to something south of the river. Emmanuel Cleaver is from South of the Missouri River, but us living North of the River get labeled with his insanity…douchenugget. Unfortunately, there is too big of a voting bloc down there, much like Chicago to do much.
oh and actually Chicago SHOULD belong to Wisconsin, but since Wisconsin was only a territory at the time Illinois was being founded, and seeing as Illinois was going to be REALLY important because of canals and such. . . well Illinois got Chicago, which became the Rail and river transport hub of America, and also one of the most corrupt cities in America.
I think it is a silly idea with sound reasoning.
I grew up in a suburb outside Illinois, and it is amazing the difference between CHicago and the outlying area. I am reminded of this everytime I go up route 57 coming home from TN. The republican signs on all the farmland-gun rights, right to life etc. Then you have Chicago…but because of the population the people are at the mercy of Daly politics which embodies the Dem party in Illinois.
I am sure this is a similiar problem with places like Atlanta, Houston etc.
JPJ, same thing happens in Michigan, Detroit and Wayne County suck the life, and money, out of the other 82 counties in the state. But, Detroit does have a taxpayer supported symphony. Isn’t that special?
Some folks think California should be devided into two states…I think we should seperate from the rest of the country…then all of our federal taxes will stop going outside of CA.
Texas reserved the right to divide itself into, I believe 5 states, when it joined the union in 1845. It hasn’t yet, but…
#8 would that mean LA SF and Oakland are NOT a part of the state? That would be very good indeed. I lived in San Diego and I can’t tell you the number of time San Diego suffered because of those more populated (less) worthies.
#3, it says:
“…no new States shall be formed or erected within the Jurisdiction of any other State; nor any State be formed by the Junction of two or more States, or parts of States, without the Consent of the Legislatures of the States concerned as well as of the Congress.”
So depending on how you apply the last part, Congress could approve it. Check the origin of the state of Maine for an example.
That doesn’t quite solve the West Virginia issue. The way Congress got around that was to recognize the “Restored Government of Virginia” – formed by the counties that wanted to secede from the state – as the true government of Virginia.
The Supreme Court had already decided that the political branches (Congress and the President) had the power to choose between competing state governments (Luther v. Borden) – so the “other” Virginia government wouldn’t have had much recourse, even if it had elected to contest the issue in U.S. courts.
#11 I would throw out that Chicago would never go for it because they know for a fact that they could never survive without the tax money they get from the rest of the state. Seeing as they could out-vote the entirety of the state (as NYC can with NY which is a surprisingly red state)
Has anyone else noticed that the really big cities of America typically are Blue as blue can be, but everywhere else around them (including quite often the sub-urbs) are very red? I wonder if there’s a sociological reason for that.
@12. “Has anyone else noticed that the really big cities of America typically are Blue as blue can be, but everywhere else around them (including quite often the sub-urbs) are very red? I wonder if there’s a sociological reason for that.”
There is a financial reason for that. The cities contain the takers and the burbs contain the coerced givers.
>I grew up in a suburb outside Illinois
Just noticed this.. LOL– It should have read ” I grew up in a suburb outside of Chicago…
Zero says, “I dunno just how serious this notion is, but it sure struck my fancy.”
My fancy was struck once and it was touch and go for a while, but I’m happy to report that my fancy is as good as new today. Baddabing.
#12, I am no sociologist, but I think it has to do with a chain of events that were sped up in the mid-20th Century. Think about it, for the most part our major cities are now filled with two opposite groups–lower class minority families living in decayed neighborhoods and relatively well-to-do upper middle class families (usually business executives and government officials) that can afford a nice uptown condo. There is some middle ground for college students and lower middle class or working class people, but the majority of us prefer to commute from neighboring suburbs that have lower crime and a lower cost of living. The “takers” that #13 refers to are largely the city dwellers, but can include those from suburbs. I’ll try not to be blatantly offensive, but many of low income families and individuals fall into this category. Welfare, food stamps, HUD housing, etc are all examples of the taking that some of these people do. I can’t say I blame them; if it is offered and I want/need it, then why not take it? There are plenty of hard working people in lower income neighborhoods that we don’t see or think of, however. The “takers” also refer to many of those who are better off, such as a bureaucrat who puts job security over responsibility. The amount of power that the The “coerced givers” that #13 references often live outside of the city limits, and increasingly live outside of immediate suburbs, which are usually beginning to decay and attract crime and other problems from the city itself. These are the doers–city workers, mechanics, cops, etc–who hold the bulk of the jobs within the city and who ultimately support the “takers”. Naturally, those of us that earn our salaries and enjoy our rights as free citizens tend to lean towards the conservative side, while those who depend on politicians and lawmakers to redistribute our money will take a liberal political view. The politicians who depend on the votes of the lower class will cater to the “needs” of their constituency without heeding the cries of opposition… Read more »
Go ahead and make them a state. Then they each will have two senators and congressional representation. The money will be flowing to these new states… Tax money that is!
A working local newspaper would fix most of the problems, which generally grow out of the people’s failure to keep track of what their politicians are doing.
Actually, CA would need to be split into THREE states; LA, Gay Bay, and the rest of the state.
Speaking of things that are messed up. Kansas City has a city income tax. If you work or live in the city you have to pay the income tax. Which sounds fine, okay I get it I am not happy paying more tax by just living in the city, but I have a problem with charging someone to work in the city and not having a voice in the city. We have a large population of people who work in Kansas City and live in the surrounding suburbs that have no voice in the government of the city. Finally Missouri passed a law that forced Kansas City and St. Louis to vote on their income tax laws.
Of course when it comes up for a vote they scare all of the people that “depend on city services” that they will lose everything and that we will lose all of our police firefighters etc, and they say that all them greedy people from outside the city “just need to pay their fair share”. South of the river keeps trying to polish a turd, but they can’t have a decent school district or go a week without a major water main break.
Rabble Rabble Rabble…I think I am going to campaign to secede from south of the river.
@20. Hey Jason. I never gave any thought to your issue before you raised it because I have never been affected by an earnings tax, as it is called. The representation objection looks like a loser. Many 17-year-olds (and younger) earn taxable income but can’t vote at all. Same thing with foreigners here on a work visa. The real issue–and the one that prompted Proposition A–is that the city is fat and the politicians and bureaucrats do not want to trim that fat from government. So they give folks a doomsday scenario (no money for police or firefighters!)without even looking for meaningful cuts and being responsible and responsive leaders. By the way, I did read that the Chiefs and Royals players have to pay too–but only home games.
They even tax drilling guard and reserve members while on duty in KC. It wouldn’t piss me off but my freaking streets are never plowed in the winter. There are so many things that my city needs to prioritize but instead of basic things they seem to blow money trying to “revitalize” downtown… I guess I am just being a bit bitchy and crotchety right now.