Texas Secession? Perry, One Third of Texans Are Wrong: Texas Can't Secede

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The write of this column is ignorant. texas, or any state for that matter, can secede. The states are soverign "nation-states" who have power over the federal government. It doesn't matter what the federal government says.
If this writer wasn't so ignorant he would only have to read the words of someone who knew the COTUS better than most of us-Thomas Jefferson; Jefferson assumed that states would seceded at some point. It is the nature of a free person.
The United States is too big today to support a (r)epublican form of government. Madison warned about having more than 30,000 citizens per representative; today, we would need a congress of 10,500 members in order to give true representation to the people.
We need to divide into 8 or so regional confederacies but still maintain one nation. Each of those 8 regions would make all its own laws, while the federal government coined money and engaged in foreign policies; all else would fall on the regional governments.

shannon1776 of GA 5:36PM May 22, 2012

The constitution does not expressly address the topic of seccession. All states joined the union voluntarily. There is no provision in the constitution to prohibit, or make it illegal, for any state to leave the union. And the tenth amendment states that any powers not specifically granted to the federal government, or specifically denied the states, is reserved to the independent states. States legally do have the right to secede, for there is no legal precedent to prevent it. Although I may agree that it was good to preserve the union during the civil war, for we are a stronger nation as a whole, it was not a legal act by the federal government. Lincoln and the congress took on powers which they did not possess.

Davi of WI 11:01PM April 28, 2012

Whether or not you believe that Texas has the right to secede doesn't change the fact that many people are already lining up to leave the US. I'm from Texas and have both Texas pride and American pride. When asked where I'm from I answer Texas. When asked my race I say American. But even though I have all that pride, I found that I couldn't find a job in the US and felt that the best thing for me to do is leave the country all together, so now I live in Japan.
Many Indians are going back to India according to articles in the NYtimes.
Any state and any person can secede from the United States. Whether or not it's legal is of no concern. Many countries secede from their government or break off from their country. Some are seen as being just whereas others aren't. Doesn't change the fact that they did and are considered to be their independent country. Whether it's a good idea or not I don't know, but in today's age if Texas did decide to secede they'd have the full backing of almost every country in the United Nations.

Ken of TX 8:46PM April 19, 2012

What are you talking about??? Each state can leave the US. Amen to the Republic of Texas!!!

texas girl of TX 8:06PM April 12, 2012

The "civil" war did NOT lawfully determine if states could secede. That war, like many other wars, merely determined who could impose their own will upon others, until the next war. If the District of Columbia decides to wage war against those who desire freedom from National Socialist oppression, they will discover that any war that they initiate against us, will result in the destruction of D.C., and its accomplices.
However, If they accept a peace treaty & mutual cooperation pact from the reinstated Republic of Texas, they will continue to have Texas as one of their largest trading partners, and a very powerful ally, if the United States ever falls under attack. U.S. will not be obliged to patrol the Texas/Mexico border, nor will they be obliged to pay any federal benefits, except to those who had already paid into the system, and keep exclusive U.S. citizenship while residing in Texas as legal guest aliens. Of course, Texas will no longer send tax funds to the United States, and would use the collected taxes to maintain border patrol, military defense, maintenance, and social services.

Philip of TX 10:37PM April 09, 2012

"Second point: We fought a war over this. Lots of Americans died. The secessionists lost—including the ones in Texas. Secession is no more legal now than it was then."
Hitler beat Poland too, and Saddam Hussein beat Kuwait. That didn't make them rulers of those nations, it made them ruthless invaders who needed to be removed.
The United States is not a sovereign nation, and never was; every document says that this applies to the states

Chris Miller of OH 1:12AM February 20, 2012

"Second point: We fought a war over this. Lots of Americans died. The secessionists lost—including the ones in Texas. Secession is no more legal now than it was then."
Hitler beat Poland too, and Saddam Hussein beat Kuwait. That didn't make them rulers of those nations, it made them ruthless invaders who needed to be removed.
The United States is not a sovereign nation, and never was; every document says that this applies to the states

Brad Anderson of CA 1:10AM February 20, 2012

Umm, YES.
Texas doesn't need anything giving it the right to secede, since a sovereign nation already has it.They just need to refrain from expressly RELINQUISHING it.
It's the same with the other states in the union, i.e. this "union" was never national in the sense of a sovereign state among subordinate states; and no rational person could possibly construe any document to connote such.
Rather, most American have simply been indoctrinated and force-fed this claim, along with a self-righteous slant, to the point that they accept it like the 9/11 terrorists accepted Al-Queda's message.
It's absurd, after all, to claim that every sovereign nation needs to expressly retain its sovereignty, when joining an international organization.
The union of 1787 was an international experiment among nations, but it became a mafia protection-racket where you learn too late that you can't ever get out; and Lincoln was simply the Al Capone of dictators.

Chris Miller of OH 1:01AM February 20, 2012

Leave off the last sentence and there is some respect if not agreement with your article...with the last sentence...it takes MUCH away. In my 63 years I don't recall as much fundamental divisiveness...I can sadly see why many, especially in Texas, might want to break away from the growing Washington monster. I doubt that our founding fathers would really object if one of the states did NOT want to UNITE. Most states came into the USA because they saw it as a positive thing. The fact that a third (or more) of a state would consider it says a lot about our state of affairs.

D Zel of OR 11:20AM February 16, 2012