STATES TO SWAP POPULATIONS?

STATES TO SWAP POPULATIONS? The state of Michigan had announced plans last month that some prisons would be closed in order to save $120 million. California faces lawsuits because of the poor state of its prison health system, which a panel of federal judges has concluded is largely the result of state prisons filled to twice their capacity. California does not have the $2 billion necessary to update its prisons. What to do? Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm has suggested to California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger that Michigan take some of California’s prisoners off his hands—at a price to be determined later. In a letter Monday to Schwarzenegger, Granholm formally offered to house California inmates, noting their "mutual interest in resolving budget and corrections problems, perhaps in one fell swoop."

California already has inmates housed in private correctional facilities in Arizona, Tennessee, Mississippi and Oklahoma, so the deal would be nothing new.

Brilliant idea! But why stop at just swapping prisoners for money?

I have often said that cigarette smokers should be given a few specific states to live in where we could puff away to our hearts content and not have to deal with draconian laws infringing on our right to participate in an otherwise legal activity. We could take the tobacco states of Virginia and the Carolinas.

All the fashion conscious people could live in New York. They could flaunt their beautiful clothes and compliment each other all the time.

We could turn a few states into bike riding only and let them be joined by the population of ecologically loving tree huggers. Maybe Vermont and Wyoming would be good for them There are already a lot of retired people living in Florida and Arizona, so let’s turn those states totally over to anyone who is more than 65 years old. Dinner would be served at 4:00 p.m. and everyone would be in bed by 9:00 p.m.

The Appalachian states could be inhabited by beer and dog loving truck drivers who never go to the dentist. (I am bad!)

The corrupt politicians could live in Illinois and Louisiana where they would not have to pretend that they are honest, because they all would be crooked.

My population segregation idea might seem ludicrous, but if birds of a feather want to flock together, at least they will know which state to land in.