[ 2011-07-12 ]

'South California' proposed as 51st state by Republican supervisor
The 51st state should be named South California,
says Jeff Stone, a Republican on the the Riverside
County Board of Supervisors. But the proposed 13
southern California counties that would split off
from the Golden State would not include Los
Angeles.

Stone told the Times' Phil Willon that the
ommission is intentional and is part of a plan
that would make for a new conservative Californian
state.

"Los Angeles is purposely excluded because they
have the same liberal policies that Sacramento
does. The last thing I want to do is create a
state that's a carbon copy of what we have now,''
Stone said.

"Los Angeles just enacted a ban on plastic grocery
bags. That put three or four manufacturers out of
business,'' Stone, a pharmacist from Temecula,
said.

Stone plans on formally proposing secession
Tuesday during a meeting of the Board of
Supervisors.

South California would encompass Fresno, Imperial,
Inyo, Kern, Kings, Madera, Mariposa, Mono, Orange,
Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego and Tulare
counties, totaling approximately 13 million
people.

The proposed 51st state would be the fifth largest
by population, more populous than Illinois, Ohio
and Pennsylvania. South California would take
nearly a third of the population away from
California, making the Golden State the
second-largest state after Texas.

Eleven of the 13 proposed counties in South
California traditionally vote Republican, a fact
noticed by California Gov. Jerry Brown's office.

"If you want to live in a Republican state with
very conservative right-wing laws, then there's a
place called Arizona," Brown spokesman Gil Duran
said.

Source - LA Times

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