petitions

Exactly. Besides the bigger point that this entire question is academic - Texas cannot simply decide or even vote to secede, see SCOTUS Texas v. White back in the 1800s - an independent Texas would be like any other foreign country to do business with. They would need their own currency policy, their own central bank, their own border guads, their own customs department, their own treaties with Mexico and the USA, and everything they make and export to the USA would need to be certified by the American importer to comply with US standards - a big hassle.

This just scrapes the surface. They would need their own army, navy, national guard. They would need to pay their portion of the national debt, at minimum. They would need their own version of the FAA, FCC, VA, NHTSA, coast guard, you name it.

None of this comes cheap. The investment in staff, real estate, infrastructure, etc would be enormous, and Texas doesn't have that kind of money nor would these same idiot secessionists want to spend it if it did.

TL;DR - Not gonna happen, ever.

Those other countries are, y'know, other countries. And mostly full of brown people. Ergo -clearly- it would work better with white Americans. But of course there are plenty of humanitarian reasons why that sort of experiment would be a terrible idea.

Well to answer your question on how much money they get from the Feds, according to the chart Coyotemike put up, its less than what they pay out to the Feds in taxes...



But your other points are valid. Texas will have to have a very VERY friendly business climate in order to keep those Fortune 500 companies in there.

As far as defense goes, the article point out...

Either way though, yes, it will be very difficult for them to start their own country, even with all the advantages it already has. But hey, if they can get a super majority of the population, at least, say.... 75%, to vote for secession, then I say let them go. As I said before, at least they'll take their electoral votes with them, & that can only be a good thing for Democratic presidential candidates.

Need I point out that Ft. Hood and Ft. Bliss (along with everything in them down to the buildings) are the property of the US Army, and thus the federal government, not the state?

Also, Texas has been a net debtor to the US for 4 or 5 of the last 7 years, taking more than they paid in taxes in 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009 and probably 2010. Before that, they were often but not always a donor state.

Lastly, considering the wingnut vote to secede is less than 1% (and that's being charitable), seeing 75% or even a simple majority is laughable - and it still doesn't matter, even if they hit 75% they simply aren't allowed to secede, as per Texas v. White.

Sorry, Florida beat you to it.

On a serious note, I see no reason to even entertain this idea. It will never happen. For any state.

since the legality of the issue has been brought up, when has the state or federal government cared about the legality of things? innocent Muslim Americans screened or detained at Guantanamo? internment camps for Japanese Americans in WW2? the targeting of Americans with socialist ideas or beliefs? the sterilization of the mentally and physically handicapped? the Tuskegee experiments? every treaty with the Native Americans?

What do you think is the process by which a state could secede despite the illegality? How could a state officially become a separate country, but illegally?

Good point!

Well I just figured that if if they were actually going to do it, an astronomically unlikely possibility that is, that they would just buy the two bases from the Feds.

But yeah, it's a dead horse either way, since I have a better chance of winning the Mega Millions and Power ball jackpots in the same week, than Texas has of actually breaking away.