Am I the only one who really wants to see this happen, but not for political reasons? I don’t really care about the Democrat/Republican split; I just think border changes (especially more geographically representative ones) are cool.
I would love to see Oregon say "Sure, if you can get Idaho to take you, go for it." and see Idaho go "No, we don't want you."<p>Those counties likely take far more revenue than they produce. Maintaining the roads in those areas alone is likely quite expensive. I can't imagine that Oregon would be that upset about them leaving. And I can't imagine Idaho would really want to pick up that bill.<p>Be careful what you wish for. You might just get it.
The southern and eastern parts of Oregon wanting to break away from Portland is a very old story. Look into the "State of Jefferson." I suspect this will go nowhere, because if it were that easy, it would have happened a long time ago.
It seems ironic that the country that devised "no taxation without representation" requires approval from a state and federal authority for them to adequately receive culturally aligned representation that a majority of constituents desire.<p>Every day it astounds me that the US still exists as a governing entity. It doesn't feel like a nation capable of adapting to times like these and is getting a stronger fist by the week. Every day I compare china to the US and think the only difference is instead of the government wanting to imprison me, it's other people wanting to sue or libel me. My rights only exist "potentially" in court even if it's an amendment right. It feels like a gangrenous bandaid that desperately needs to be torn off, but nobody wants to do it because it'll hurt too much.
There's an awful lot of open country Idaho would gain both farm and grazing. And people would flock to those counties to get out of Oregon. I would.