Keep on trying to control the frame ("weird rich kids", "embarrassment", "hearts and minds"). We've reached peak centralization. The future is decentralization, subsidiary, and localized control.
And it's a weird way to fix the senate if you wanted it to be fixed. You should instead get the congress to move over to a parliamentary system where all percentages of votes are counted instead of a plurality takes all. You could ask for more senators. And then you will not be breaking up my home state with these outsider ideas. All of these solutions are about as likely to pass: nil chance. And I'll fight tooth and nail to keep help keep this state together.
It might be worth considering some kind of population density clause for when the number of constituents to representatives reaches a ridiculous value.
>You should instead get the congress to move over to a parliamentary system where all percentages of votes are counted instead of a plurality takes all.
This kind of a fix isn't pragmatic and will have a bigger disruption than breaking up one state. It's not like the geography is going to change because the lines are redrawn.
>And then you will not be breaking up my home state with these outsider ideas.
Have you considered whether other residents of the state share your view? Maybe the larger metropolitan areas are alright keeping around the sparser rural areas, but not the inverse?
I have a hunch that this is something that Koch allies and the RNC would love to see, as it would mean that a fairly-reliable blue state (with a lot of EVs) would become two smaller blue states and four red states.
This makes even less sense than Prop 13, and will have a substantially worse effect.
Doesn't the US system over-represent smaller states? Seems like Californians would have more representatives in DC with these changes.
On the second electoral-vote point, it sounds like the proposal would result in more proportional representation of Californians' political opinion which is surely a good thing.
The question might be "a good thing" for whom? American devotion to more proportional representation is and always has been somewhat qualified: the "gerry" in "gerrymander" remembers a signer of the Declaration of Independence...
Well, I didn't believe such a thing existed. :)
I've been places where township governments were basically just an extra layer underneath the county (providing little more than redundant obstruction). I can imagine voices in these townships reaching for similar arguments about how beautiful the township is and how change is bad.
Between Hollywood and Silicon Valley, California touches more minds and hearts than any other place in the world.
This state is amazing, so diverse and rich in culture. This six state initiative is such an embarrassment. People that advocate something like this are so out of touch with reality. The New York Times brought this up when they were referring to the weird rich kids that live in the bay area. I'd support California becoming it's own sovereign state before I'd support breaking it up.