The idea of this country splitting may not be so far fetched, as it would seem. Igor Panarin, a well respected Russian academic and futurist has long predicted there is a 55/45% chance that the US will split apart in 2010 under demographic and economic pressures. See the WSJ article at:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123051100709638419.html

There are definitely conflicting demographic forces pulling the various parts of the US in different directions. The New England states are in irreversible population decline for the reason’s outlined in MMC24’s post. The southwest and southern CA are growing rapidly with the influx of illegal aliens. Our soaring national debt may come crashing down on us. What happens when the Chinese and OPEC demand to be paid in Euros rather than dollars? I suspect inflation similar to that experienced in Brazil in the 80’s when people would cash their paychecks and run out to buy something/anything knowing that the same amount of money would buy significantly less next week.