The Field Poll reports that a vast majority of California residents say they don't want the Golden State split -- not on a north/south line or an east/west divide.
Here are the numbers: 82% of those polled oppose an east/west split, and 71% oppose a north/south split.
This issue is in the news again because our own Bill Maze -- the Visalia Republican -- has recently proposed spllitting 13 coastal counties from Los Angeles to Marin off from the remaining 45 inland counties. The Fresno Bee's editorial board opposed the plan of the former assemblyman in this editorial.
I have a 100% non-participation record for these so called polls.No one has called me or anyone I know.They are probably scamming us like the Democrats.Here a conspiracy,there a conspiracy...everywhere a conspiracy.
From the Field Poll's homepage..."an independent, non-partisan, media-sponsored public opinion news service". Its "independent" yet sponsored by the California media...sure...they're "non-partisan". Well, the "Bill" Poll posed survey and 100% of those asked responded that they thought the Field Poll was a CROCK!!
From your comments about this poll, I take it that you think the majority of Californians support splitting the state.
Jimbo...I just don't have the time to ask everyone...so I could not give you a conclusive answer and won't pretend(Field Poll) to do so.
Nice try, but as evidenced by a world wide financial crisis, what most people don't want doesn't mean it cannot happen.
It shouldn't be allowed to happen but sometimes you just cant stop idiots from doing stupid things. California is best left alone. We have so much to offer here.
You know if California had broken off and fallen into the ocean like they promised was going to happen when I was a kid, we wouldn't be having this problem. California would be a lot cleaner too! HA!
California won't split. That would require change. Our government is so burdened by outdated thinking they don't even understand the economic realities we are facing now. You can hardly expect them to even fathom splitting the state. Besides, people are so greedy, the state borders would be in litigation long after Armageddon!
There have been 27 previous recent attempts to split the state. The best was the State of Jefferson which lives on in the form of Jefferson Public radio in northern California and southern Oregon. Bill Maze has no understanding of people, politics, water or land. Maze's proposal completely ignores water, transportation or logic - it is merely a power play from those who live in isolation, claim to be conservative, but are actually poorly-grounded liberals with no regard for sustainable agriculture or living.
I don't pretend to know if splitting the state is a good idea. Either way, it won't happen. People have too much invested in the status quo. CA leads the nation in...population?
Yeah.
Population.
That's about it.
CA likes to believe it's a cutting edge. Having a large population gives us the illusion of being important. Splitting the state would destroy CA's last legitimate claim to being #1.
Richest? Not even close when calculated on a per-capita basis. It gets much worse when adjusted for purchasing power. Unemployment is a huge problem.
Civic participation? Abysmal. Would be curious to see how many Presidents CA produces on a per capita basis. Low voter turnout. Dangerous lack of confidence in most public institutions-see Rodney King riots. High violent crime rate.
Best schools? K-12 is awful. The University system is still strong. However CA is terribly average in percentage of people who hold college degrees. This is not a highly educated state.
Health? One of the worst infant mortality rates in the country! Average, unimpressive rate of insurance. Ditto obesity.
Personal freedom? Average incarceration rates, surprisingly high for victimless crimes like soft drug use. High tax rates.
But hey, CA has a lot of people. The sheer size of the numbers in CA look impressive. Makes it tough to objectively evaluate the statistics. We wouldn't to have to take a long, hard look in the mirror & evaluate what we've become. Would we?
Smoke and mirrors.
"Average incarceration rates, surprisingly high for victimless crimes like soft drug use."
The statement, a myth, disqualifies you to use facts. If everyone in California stood around looking in the mirror, the first day would end with nothing accomplished.
Of course people do not want to split the State. Why? Because the majority of the people do not worry about the loss of jobs in agriculture,logging,oil drilling and construction. People want to keep the status quo of gimme gimme, gimme from sacramento. It is time people get off of their butts in front of the liberal news and look around this area.
On the westside of this Valley we will be having 30 -35% (if not more) unemployment very soon. There will be over 200,000 acres fallow because the court and the governor have put a fish over man.
People are leaving this area to go to other States. Why? This State is being run by people who have no idea what it means to own a business; they have no idea what it is to work for a living.
Maybe the idea of "Splitting the State" will not work. But if this idea will get people too learn to think and fight for Our future in California, we have done Our job.
Downsizeca.org board member.
Bart, my post was made in reference to a survey published by The Mercatus Center at George Mason University:
http://www.statepolicyindex.com/?page_id=143
Check it out. It does back up my claim that CA has a high incarceration rate for certain crimes.
The survey was published by a group with a libertarian bias. Personally, I don't agree with that bias. But that's beside the point. Mercatus has a strong commitment to freedom. And their conclusion is that CA is weak on freedom.