Comments

1

Yes. Yes, please. Let's divide up. Can you imagine how much better off we'd be without all those hicks and bloodsuckers? Our schools could be fully funded! We could enact an income tax!
I'm in! ...or out... whatever.

2

And yet antivaxxers like this clown is the kind of person spreading the news that a 'caravan' of asylum seekers is unvaccinated disease vectors. Latin Americans are more vaccinated than US citizens due to lack of antivaxx propaganda/brainwashing.

3

I could see folding eastern WA and OR into southern Idaho, and tie that into statehood for DC and Puerto Rico.

4

@1:

Splitting the state would give the GOP a chance to have two more members of the Senate; not worth it.

5

Katie (and other Stranger writers who are constantly making the same mistake) - PLEASE in the future remember that Spokane is NOT Spokane Valley (which is where Matt Shea represents and is where the movements to split Washington pop up every couple of years). When you are talking about "Spokane voters" you should remember that they have very different politics from their wacky burb to the east.

6

No need to create another state; just re-split Washington and Oregon with a North/South border. Spokane and Bend can go get fucked.

7

This will sound nuts, yet we live in nuts-times, but there are a few examples of these conservative efforts to break up progressive leaning states, and they often end up having Russian funding. Yes i know that sounds bigtime tin-foil-hattish - but just look at this guy who's been promoting a California split up for sometime: https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/03/is-russia-behind-a-secession-effort-in-california/517890/ and even via the BBC: https://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-trending-41853131

8

@6:

That would still be giving up the possibility of two additional seats in the Senate going to the GOP, given that currently all four Senators from OR & WA are Democrats.

9

No way does Sheasville deserve two U.S. Senators.

I would, however, strongly support them breaking off of WA and joining Idaho. They deserve each other.

10

Wealthy people and their lapdogs will always try to divide us, it's just so profitable.

11

DC will NEVER be a state.
It's residents will be allowed to vote in Maryland.

12

Amakane.

13

State splits should absolutely be on the table as part of a fix for the Senate and electoral college.

14

In the short run, if the D's ever get the power to do it again, DC should become 20 states.

15

result: lots of people heading just over the mountains and commuting to seattle. its already happening.

16

@9 Hell, let's combine them with Wyoming and the Dakotas while we're at it. That would still give the hicks exponentially more representation in the Senate, per capita, than California has.

17

Spokane is blue, and becoming more so as time goes on. Even The valley isn't a solid red as it used to be, this idiot's time is limited. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/upshot/election-2016-voting-precinct-maps.html?mtrref=www.bing.com#10.42/47.673/-117.280

18

@15:

Naw, pretty much everyone who wants to live in E WA has already moved there, but you're fantasies continue to provide endless amusement, so keep up the good work, Ogie!

19

This type of proposal has been kicking around for a long time. It always ends with the same (quiet) understanding by Eastern Washington leaders of this simple reality: at least 60% of Washington state’s tax revenues come from King, Pierce, and Snohomish Counties. Each of the other 36 counties contribute an average of 1% apiece. Almost every county east of the Cascades receives more state government spending than it provides in taxes, and always has. They won’t vote to stop their flow of government goodies, no matter how many gay mayors Seattle elects.

Short version: Liberty would not be the 51st State. It would be a new Third-World country.

19

This was discussed in TheStranger.com somewhere back in the early Bush Jr years... creating a new state from eastern washington (and eastern oregon, I guess) wouldn't be creating a new state, it'd be creating a new third world country.

One thing that I think would do a lot to, you know, resolve the divide in a way that brings people together, is to be more explicit about how much taxes are being paid in and paid out. "Seattle remitted $18,000,000 to the hydro works agency" or whatever. As it is now, the contributions are made invisible and all that's left is the tax-taking.

20

@19 (both @19s) we're obviously recalling the same article.

21

Let's not forget that the bulk of our cheap electricity enjoyed on this side of the mountains is generated by hydroelectric dams located on the eastern side of the mountains.

22

@7 Yes, thinking that splitting up CA is a conservative plot is nuts. All three of the new Californias would still lean blue, they would gain an additional 4 electoral votes, and probably get 2-3 more Democrat Senators. How in any way would this benefit conservatives?

@19 That sounds like a dumb article. As far as I can tell Idaho is not a third world country.

23

@21 - and the construction of those dams on the eastern side of the mountains was funded by taxes paid by people on the western side of the mountains. And round and round it goes.

24

What about SW Washington?

25

wow, I finally agree with Matt Shea. Yes, we can be two separate states.

27

“As it is now, the contributions are made invisible and all that's left is the tax-taking.”

Feature, not bug. Politicians in faraway districts get elected to “bring home the bacon,” not to “explain how gay Seattle whale-huggers paid for your bacon.” In American politics, it is simply doubleplus unpossible for white people in non-urban areas to be welfare recipients.

28

@8,

Just disband the fucking senate already. It's an antiquated and unnecessary institution.

29

@28 If I recall, the Senate saved our ass from Bush II - due to the quirk of midterm elections, the bicameral system works as a power brake; the 6-year terms encourage multipartisanship, and so on. American with only congress would dissolve into a bloodbath. Look at the bills that get through the house compared to what the senate actually approves.

30

For anyone who cares, here's the 2005 Stranger article @Tensor and I both reference: https://www.thestranger.com/seattle/the-two-state-solution/Content?oid=20751

31

Split the state up via Bioregions. It's the only sensible thing to do.

The Bioregional Councils will be each bioregion's central deliberative body, and each Watershed within a bioregion will be the core political body with dominion over the water in their watershed. Watersheds will send representatives to the Bioregional Council to address common needs and issues. All levels will need to work on a consensus basis (because anything else ends up being coercion). Everyone will need to come together to solve issues that affect them all. And protecting water will be the focus of each Watershed's policies. No corporate money donations will be allowed. And aggressive corporations will lose their charter and be disbanded, or turned into non-profit cooperatives run by those who work there, and with a governing board from the watershed in which they operate.

All this artificial-line "state" crap has only created problems, obviously enough.

32

@30: I was also referring to this:
https://www.thestranger.com/seattle/welfare-state/Content?oid=6686284

33

Wingnuts don't get to create a new red state without adding at least one blue state. If they want to split off from Washington (and/or Oregon), they have to join Idaho, or else give us DC or Puerto Rico statehood, or let us split California into like five states. Or ten. At least.

If we're going to allow states like Wyoming with half a million people to continue to exist, then why not split California up in to 80 states of equal population? New York could be 40 states of 500,000 each. Puerto Rico alone is more than 6 Wyomings.

Maybe that's too many states. Could aim for 4 million people, making 10 Californias and 5 New Yorks, and one Puerto Rico, but you'd have to merge a lot of red states. If they won't do any that, then Washington does not split.

34

@29,

Fair enough. Though I still think we'd be better off adopting a bicameral system that didn't have one institution disproportionately representing it's constituents based on arbitrarily drawn state boundaries.

35

18

Oh really? Lol. Real estate info is not your friend.

36

23

Hahahahahahja, you really are an idiot if that’s what you believe. Most of those dams were federal jobs going back decades.

I can tell you all for a fact streams of people are moving to the east side and commuting. It’s an hour and a half from the Cle Elum area to seattle...it takes longer than that from puyallup or federal way! I own a vacation home in that area, and it’s an easy commute....

39

Cascadia Now. Have fun without the Puget Sound's tax dollars over there on the eastside! Maybe you can build some more prisons to make up for the loss.

40

I lived in Quincy and Ephrata in the 70s and 80s before the state went to hell. Now I live in Oregon where the states gone to hell. If the state wants to split so be it. Oregon to for that matter. If it takes force to hold it together whats the point?

42

The general media locally in Spokane, and many outside of Spokane did not show shea's criminal/police record when shea basically called the media a smear campaign. That is why shea wins.

Just like "death panel cathy" McMorris-Rodgers. If you don't mention that cathy voted 4 times against equal pay for women you can pretend it doesn't effect the elections.

43

@17 DJSauvage: If Spokanites are apt to vote blue, couldn't the city just build a wall and keep the nuts from Spokane Valley (i.e.: Matt Shea, Cathy McMorris-Rodgers, et al) out?
@18 COMTE; Don't you just love Ogie's latest avatar? In that red MAGA cap, he looks all dazed and confused, running scared.
@21 Lissa; Oh, yes--good old Bonneville and Grand Coulee Dams. Any chance of our opening the Snake River Dam so that more salmon will spawn into the Columbia River and from there, the Pacific Ocean to help our endangered Southern resident orcas in Puget Sound and the Salish Sea?
@38: You can always pack up and move to Eastern Washington. Don't let anybody here stop you.

44

Rolling Stone did a long piece on Shea and his crazy nazi followers. They have a real estate firm there marketing to like minded white folks with the goal of moving people to the area from other states. You can research your dream home by religious demographics and bunker-build-ability. White trash nazis homeschooling their kids in gun filled bunkers. A recipe for success.
/s

46

@43: Nope. I'm Northwest Washington born, bred, and staying, thank you very little. 'J'ai suis, j'ai reste'. In case you don't speak French, it translates to "Here I am, here I shall stay." You could indeed say the same and certainly stay here west of the Cascades, but it appears you'd be happier in Sheaville. Please take Doofus in Shoreline with you, and don't come back crying later because you can't get the services you're used to in Seattle and King County over in Trumpland.

47

@45: You could leave Washington State entirely, too, brahma boy. How's Wyoming, the Dakotas, or any Trump Towers ghetto sound? Good! See how THAT works?

48

Remember that today is like the pre-civil war where you had to keep the balance, one slave state had to be admitted to the union with one free state. We can't split a state without adding two to keep the balance. So the new state of Spokane could be added with the state of new Nazi Homeland to maintain the balance.

49

Lol @ the opinions of the permanent renter class. Clueless.

50

@36: “I can tell you all for a fact streams of people are moving to the east side and commuting.”

That would explain the 8th Congressional District voting not-Republican for the first time in its history, yes. (Or, what blip said.)

51

I'm as lefty as they come, been in Seattle for almost 20 years... and I love Eastern Washington and Eastern Oregon. We live in one of the most beautiful places in the country. I also love going into the small town bars and chatting up the locals. Yeah, I get looks (it's obvious where I've come from and what I'm likely to believe) and I'm damn sure I'd get more if I wasn't white, but person to person eastern Washington and Oregon are many times friendlier than the west side of the mountains. I really love this whole region. It's sad how many of you are filled with such animosity towards people you don't know.

52

49 Many of persons prefer to rent by choice. I owned a home for over 40 years. And I'm so glad that that pain-in- the-ass is long gone.

54

@51: I agree. I’ve had some great times in places like Bend and Soap Lake. Great people, great atmosphere, great bars and brewpubs.

I think the point here is the demagogue Matt Shea, who is shown here stirring up hatred against his fellow citizens for his own short-term political gain. He knows (or damned well should) where the state’s money comes from, yet he willingly feeds his constituents the fantasy they’d be better off without it.

55

Spokane used to be the Inland Empire many decades ago. We had a massive shipping industry fueled by timber, mining, and agriculture. We even had our own mineral exchange at one point. Unfortunately, as Seattle grew larger and more prosperous it gobbled up all the econimic development both by its sheer size and by ignoring the economic potential of Spokane. Now Spokane is a shadow of its former self. We need tax dollars for welfare that could have been spent on economic development because our mining and timber operations have become extinct through Seattle politics and disinterest. Sadly, we can't even afford to become a separate state because Seattle has driven us into a corner and turned our once great Inland Empire into a beggar economy. Spokanites are brothers and sisters to Seattlelites, and we deserve better treatment and respect from them. If you don't want us to complain, think about directing development funds and programs our way from time to time. We work for a living too ya know.

56

@53 herrbrahms; I feel that your commentary (@38) suggests that you agree politically with a much more conservative (red) base than a progressive (blue) one. Amirite?

57

@46 you're white. You're not northwest bred, you're white bread.

58

@55: If your economy is based upon resource-extraction and the resources have been exhausted, you'll have economic trouble. Seattle once had sawmills, and our current lack thereof does not have roots in some nefarious conspiracy headquartered in Spokane. (Bill Boeing's very first airplanes were built from trees cut in Seattle and the surrounding area. Not many of the materials found in modern Boeing products come from anywhere near here.)

The tax money flowing to Eastern Washington via Olympia from the three liberal, urban counties in central Puget Sound pays not just for welfare, but for roads and other economic development. If the Spokane area has economic trouble now, how would it look if the highway authority and WSU suddenly lost 60% of their state funds? That's a question Matt Shea simply won't answer, because he's a loud-mouthed demagogue who cares nothing for the economic well-being of his actual constituency.

59

50

Not related or relevant to the topic.

Good try tho.

60

51

Well said

61

54

Soap lake! Eeewwwww. You like hanging out with Russians eh? Jk.

Soap lake was a great place is the 60s and 70s...not so much now. There are far better places now like Banks Lake and lake Roosevelt to name two.

62

@59: "Not related or relevant to the topic."

Really? Please kindly recall more of what you wrote:

"I can tell you all for a fact streams of people are moving to the east side and commuting. It’s an hour and a half from the Cle Elum area to seattle..."

Care to look at a map of the 8th Congressional District?

It's right here:

https://results.vote.wa.gov/results/current/Federal-Representatives.html

Or here:

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/75/WA_CD_08-2013.pdf

Can you find Cle Elum on either map? (Hint: it's slightly easier with the latter...)

(Good try, tho'.)

@61: "Soap lake! Eeewwwww."

I wasn't a tourist. I was there on business.

63

62

My point being by everyone moving over there does for the same reason.

64

@57 ....said the irrelevant troll drowning in his own self-made cesspool. LOL My parents, siblings and I were all Seattle born and raised in the Puget Sound region. You can't get more Pacific Northwest bred than that, Sporty. Go have a beer with tensor, and stay off Wonder bread---those chemicals will kill you.

65

@64 ah, from the soil, born with a dreamcatcher over her head an family totem in her longhouse, you go native you! #LOYAL2THASOIL

66

@65: Worried about going flaccid, Sporty?


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