UPDATE: Governor Rick Perry stated this morning that he does not support the Texas secession movement, according to The Washington Post .
A previous version of this article declared that secession is “unconstitutional.” It has since been changed to read “secession is unprotected by the US Constitution,” which is more accurate .
The Texas petition to secede from the United States may grow to the point at which it requires an official response from the Obama Administration soon.
Since Election day, more than 19 states have officially started petitions seeking outright Civil War-era secession from the United States of America. Texas secession is a long-running joke you hear about as often as various threats to move to Canada when an election doesn’t go one’s way, but the Texas petition this time around is different, primarily because it has surpassed the required number of votes needed to elicit a response from the White House: In this case, President Obama’s White House.
Other states petitioning for secession: Arkansas, South Carolina, Georgia, Missouri, Tennessee, Michigan, Colorado, Oregon, New Jersey, North Dakota, Montana, Indiana, Mississippi, Kentucky, North Carolina, Alabama and New York. Since secession is unprotected by the US Constitution, these states likely aren’t going anywhere, but Texas is at least racking up the signatures needed to get an official response.
The White House’s self-imposed rule for an official response to a state petition is that it acquires over 25,000 signatures within 30 days. The Texas secession petition has gotten 25,318 in under a week.
Here’s part of the Texas secession petition :
“The U.S. continues to suffer economic difficulties stemming from the federal government’s neglect to reform domestic and foreign spending. The citizens of the U.S. suffer from blatant abuses of their rights such as the NDAA, the TSA, etc. Given that the state of Texas maintains a balanced budget and is the 15th largest economy in the world, it is practically feasible for Texas to withdraw from the union, and to do so would protect its citizens’ standard of living and re-secure their rights and liberties in accordance with the original ideas and beliefs of our founding fathers which are no longer being reflected by the federal government.”
The Obama Administration could dodge the official rules for a response, by the way:
“To avoid the appearance of improper influence, the White House may decline to address certain procurement, law enforcement, adjudicatory, or similar matters properly within the jurisdiction of federal departments or agencies, federal courts, or state and local government in its response to a petition.”
My guess? The Texas secession petition goes nowhere, no matter how many signatures it gets. But you never know what might catch the newly re-elected President Obama’s eye.
Do you think that Texas will be allowed to secede from the union?