Ménage état!

Hey, remember Tim Draper? He's that venture capitalist from a few years ago who wanted to split California up into six new states. He spent like five million dollars, but ultimately came up short of the signatures needed to put it on the 2016 ballot and that's why I don't currently live in the great State of Silicon Valley.

Five million? How can a guy who makes his living by having so
much money that he can turn it into more money be so bad with money?

Ted Nugget's going to need
an entirely new wardrobe.

Anyway, now he's back and has a totally better idea: what if California was three new states? He's already got enough signatures to get it on this year's ballot and will be submitting it next week. So who knows? Actually, everyone knows and no, this shit will never fly. But why is he so keen on doing it in the first place? He's a venture capitalist, so a reasonable guess was that he's got stock in flag manufacturers and his plan would get him a piece of that sweet, sweet flag pie when we all have to upgrade to fifty-two stars.

Incidentally, 'To big to govern' would
make a kick-ass state motto...

But he's rich so another good bet is that he's bored. Last time he tried to redraw the state map with his Six Californias proposal, he said it was because California was too big to govern-which, I'm not sure what that even means-but that aside, he was never quite clear on why six small states would be easier to run than one big one. His plan did however carve out California's poorest region, make it a separate state and then said 'you guys are on your own.' This new proposal, preposterously called CAL-3, kind of does the same thing.

While CAL-3 seems a little less interested in creating a pre-revolution France level of wealth disparity between the new states, it still kind concentrates a lot of wealthy counties in two states and a lot of poorer ones in one state.

Again, do people like Draper really not see the problem with
shit like this until they're getting strapped into the head chopper?

"Yes, our tax dollars...which
we pay, in full...totally."

-Some rich guy

Under Draper's plan the Bay Area, would, along with the northern counties become North California, with the nation's second highest per capita income. L.A. and a chunk of the coast would become just California and have the nation's twelth highest while South California would be the largest of the three new states, but come in at number thirty on the per capita ranking. California as it is now has the ninth highest per capita income. So like before I'm not sure if this is so much about ease of governance as it is about making sure rich people's tax dollars don't go to help poorer people.

Of course first Draper has to get enough Californians to vote yes on it, which, he might. Ballot initiatives are, by and large a terrible idea whereby we ask a not necessarily informed public for a show of hands. But it would still have to get through Congress. And since three new, potentially blue states might be a hard sell, we're probably safe from Draper's map drawing for now. At least until he comes back with a new one.

"Ok, how about this, three states, a commonwealth, two special administrative
regions and a principality. I call it 3CALCoSARPrin, and basically all the rich people
will live in rigid airships floating majestically, and tax-free over Marin County."

-Tim Draper, in desperate need of a new hobby