Energy industry wants its own state

Oh, the stupid. It burns.

The oil and gas industries have begun a serious campaign to break off several sparsely populated counties in northeastern Colorado and form the 51st state. They plan to call it North Colorado.

This state would have far fewer people than any other, but county commissioners in corrupt Weld County support the proposal - as does the Tea Party as well as far-right congressman Cory Gardner. They complain that Republican areas like their own are underrepresented in state and federal legislative chambers.

Seriously, they said that. Even after gerrymandering netted the GOP another 2 years of controlling the House. Even after Gardner won his seat because the Republicans rigged the election.

Weld County commissioners even conducted a public meeting about North Colorado. They invited Tea Party followers to pack the room to voice their support for it - though many local farmers opposed the measure. The Tea Party is also pushing a plan that would remap the Colorado Senate so each county gets one and only one senator - which would be clearly unconstitutional thanks to the "one person, one vote" doctrine.

Of course, forming a new state from an existing state requires not only consent from Congress but also from the legislature of the state you're seceding from. Then again, the rest of Colorado might actually want North Colorado to split off, simply because Coloradoans are tired of their tax dollars going to the counties that would form North Colorado - which already receive much more tax money than they pay out.

In any event, North Colorado would be the first state founded by corporations.

Here's an idea: Just join Wyoming and shut the fuck up.

(Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/26/most-in-favor-of-51st-sta_n_3658977.html)