Writing about Long Island's recent failed quest for statehood, the Wall Street Journal visits the idea of areas that want to break off from their parent states — generally due to grumbling over inequitable tax or other resource issues. In California, they remind us, one of many secession efforts involved "South California" wanting to break off, because at the time, San Francisco had over 50,000 residents, while L.A. and San Diego had a combined 5,000-ish, leading to worries that the more metropolitan city would dominate politics. Sadly, they don't mention the "State of Jefferson," which would have combined parts of Northern California and southern Oregon for a utopia of lumberjack libertarians. [WSJ]
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