If You Can't Beat 'Em, Invade 'Em

A post from the Vision 2020 message board:

Hello, Visionaires:

Please excuse what may seem extraordinary naïveté in asking this. Why could not the City of Moscow, in cooperation with State of Idaho, purchase the Hawkins site from the State of Washington, and therewith adjust the boundary line between the two states? Yes, the closing paperwork for such a transaction would be somewhat more extensive in that it would involve two states, and I presume federal, approval, but aside from the extra levels of paperwork, and the subconscious idea that "you just can't buy part of another state", I don't understand why, with effort and cooperation, this advanced real estate transaction could not be done to the benefit of all parties involved.

(As an aside, I understand that Latah County was created by an act of Congress, so there is some precedent for them revisiting the boundary.)

Didn't the idea of "we don't like what they are doing in that state so let's impose our will upon them" become passe' around 1861-1865? How would this be beneficial to Whitman County? Or the state of Washington for that matter? The state stands to collect approximately 3 times as much sales tax from the Hawkins development as the county, somewhere in the neighborhood of $6 million a year.

Remember, hemp is for wearing, not smoking.

My buddy Jeff Harkins, as always, has a great response:

Interesting idea, but the economics favor a purchase of Moscow by Washington. Maybe you could spearhead that project. Pullman has industry, a PAC10 University, an airport, a new four lane highway and a desire to expand their opportunities for prosperity.

Heh.