Are there any practical ramifications to the threat of Texas seceding?

[867-5309.]

Let's say the Texas legislature, governor, and a majority of voters all support such a thing. Would there be any actual movement toward doing it? Would they get anywhere?

Or is this just red meat for the base?

[TwilightZone]

1. They can't secede.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100216823351

[SoonerPride]

2. Not really.

Other than to let Texans puff out their chests and act like big bad guys standing up to the libs in DC.

Just theater for their base.

Yee haw!

[C_U_L8R]

3. The GOP in the remaining USA would never reach a majority again

Sounds like secession might not be a bad idea after all.

[kelly1mm]

14. Right. It is the opposite of the 'liberal dream' of California becoming its own country. The

remaining USA would be in GOP control for generations.

By the way, a more likely but analogous situation is Scotland leaving the UK. If that happens the UK will be dominated by the Conservative party.

[Zeitghost]

4. Same ramifications

As a Unicorn invasion from the north.

[leftyladyfrommo]

5. I heard from a good friend of a friend that those

Unicorns are taking over small towns everywhere. They hide out in the tunnels under Walmart stores

[underpants]

6. Are we talking with or without leprechauns here?

[Hugin]

10. Always with...

It's a package deal.

[leftyladyfrommo]

12. Some of those little people have nasty temperaments.

They are really sensitive to changes in the weather. When you are that short you have to stay on top of the weather.

[underpants]

13. Yeah

And don’t even think about getting near their pot.

[Buns_of_Fire]

7. ...

[Hugin]

8. Are you kidding?

When little is being done after the President of the United States openly advocated and endorsed the.murder of the Vice President of the United States.

I sincerely doubt much in the way of waves from anyone. TX can do and say whatever they want to with no consequences.

[Effete Snob]

9. Secession is not a "thing"

There are some outstandingly dumb people in Texas who were, wrongly, educated that Texas has a right to do so.

They are incorrect, and this issue was decided long ago in Texas v. White 74 U.S. (7 Wall.) 700 (1869)"

"When, therefore, Texas became one of the United States, she entered into an indissoluble relation. All the obligations of perpetual union, and all the guaranties of republican government in the Union, attached at once to the State. The act which consummated her admission into the Union was something more than a compact; it was the incorporation of a new member into the political body. And it was final. The union between Texas and the other States was as complete, as perpetual, and as indissoluble as the union between the original States. There was no place for reconsideration or revocation, except through revolution or through consent of the States."

The US Constitution is not a long read. it is organized into Four principal Articles, addressing:

I. Congress

II. The President

III. The Courts

IV. The States

The remaining three articles deal with amendment, ratification, and a few miscellaneous items.

Under Article IV:

"The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government, and shall protect each of them against Invasion"

For the US to guarantee every State a republican form of government, the US retains jurisdiction over each state, and hence they cannot secede without the consent of the rest of the country.

[underpants]

11. Forts Hood, Bliss, and Sam Houston

As I understand it, Sam Houston is a massive medical facility. Vital to the system in that area.

As Bill Maher once pointed out - the DOD is really just a jobs program. Killeen TX would be a gas station in the middle of nowhere without Hood.

[PortTack]

15. I think the tx legislature puts out all this stuff, secession, anti LBGQT, President Biden not

Winning not only as meat for their base but also in the hopes that all democrats, any LBGQt ppl, POC, move out leaving their state lily white and gqp.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

16. No, Texas can't legally secede from the U.S., despite popular myth

I have heard this myth over the years. It is not true

Link to tweet

https://www.texastribune.org/2021/01/29/texas-secession/

In June 2022, the Texas State Republican Convention adopted a resolution urging the Legislature to put a referendum before the people of Texas in November 2023 “to determine whether or not the State of Texas should reassert its status as an independent nation.”

Secession and independence have been perennial themes throughout the history of Texas, which broke away from Mexico in 1836 and was an independent republic before it was annexed by the United States in 1845. As the United States was torn apart by divisions over whether slavery could expand into the nation’s western territories, Texas in 1861 voted to secede from the Union. In the ensuing Civil War, up to 750,000 people — more than 2 percent of all Americans — died. Following the defeat of the Confederacy in 1865, Texas was formally readmitted to the Union in 1870, during the Reconstruction Era.

Despite perennial talk of another secession, the law is clear that Texas may not leave the union.

The idea is most often raised by conservatives in the state who are angry over some kind of policy coming from the federal government — and the calls seem to become more frequent when a Democrat is occupying the White House. State Rep. Kyle Biedermann, R-Fredericksburg, filed a bill in 2021 to create a referendum election on whether Texans should create a joint legislative committee “to develop a plan for achieving Texas independence.”

“It is now time that the People of Texas are allowed the right to decide their own future,” he said in a statement announcing the legislation.

Even if the Legislature were to act on the new Republican Party proposal to put an independence referendum on the general election, it would not be legally valid.

[Ocelot II]

24. Of course they can't legally do it, but they've been regularly ignoring the Constitution

in other ways, and as a practical matter, what's to stop them if they decide to do it anyhow, since an essential aspect of secession is that they are no longer bound by the Constitution and laws of the US? Obviously there's the possibility of a military response, Civil War II, but that would be awfully unpalatable on the US side. So what would really happen if Texas' state government announced they were no longer part of the US, issued TX passports to its citizens, put up checkpoints on main roads into the state, and did the other things typical of an independent sovereign country? How could the federal government stop them short of military intervention?

I don't think they'll really do it - they need that sweet federal money, much as they'll pretend they don't - but realistically, how could they be stopped? And would the rest of us want to?

[PortTack]

25. How would they be stopped? The courts

And don’t think even SCOTUS would let them do that

[Ocelot II]

28. But if they claim they've seceded, they'd claim the US courts

have no jurisdiction over them. That's the whole point - if they are no longer part of the US, or claim they aren't, how would any US court enforce a judgment against them? They'd just ignore it.

[PortTack]

38. They have no legal recourse to seced, therefore like it or not they are still part of the system

Including jurisdiction

[Bluethroughu]

17. I don't know, but I say good luck...

Mexico called and they'll take their land back. We'll see how independent they are, I suppose.

[DavidDvorkin]

18. They can't secede, but I wonder if many companies will now avoid Texas

Because of the increased and open radicalization of the party that rules the state. High tech companies, especially, might decide not to move to Texas, or to move out of it.

[jimfields33]

29. None. Businesses are moving there in droves

They ignore the noise nonsense.

[DavidDvorkin]

31. This could change that.

[Walleye]

19. Wouldn't it be nice though to get all of the Texans out of our United States government.

I’m sure we could function a lot better

[Bettie]

36. And representatives could be allocated to

more populous places, giving more representation to places with more people.

[Gore1FL]

20. We have enough military bases in TX to make any attempt short-lived.

They wouldn't have time to take Old Glory off the capitol flag pole.

[NNadir]

21. The last time they seceded 600,000 Americans were killed in a war.

[purr-rat beauty]

22. Like a 9 year old stomping their feet and threatening to run away

So typical of a "tough guy" type state

Wish we could let them and Pull all Federal/Military Assets out, sanction businesses headquartered there, Blue states can give incentives to businesses and new residents alike - save on taxpayer's disaster funds. Build a Wall and watch them deal with becoming part of Mexico.

[Bettie]

37. So, maybe the answer is to close every federal facility

including military bases, move those personnel to other locations.

Kind of the same thing as packing the bag for the kid and saying "Write if you get work".

[Fiendish Thingy]

23. This is just a gimmick to drive up GOP voter turnout in November

Nobody’s gonna do any seceding.

[Skittles]

43. yes

why does the GOP resort this this nonsense? BECAUSE IT WORKS. They are well-aware how easily they can manipulate their fucked-up base

[tinrobot]

26. If they actually did it? To start, Texans would suddenly become illegal aliens in the US.

That could be fun to watch.

[Thomas Hurt]

27. It is ideological wankery and fascist cheerleading.

If they did somehow manage to pull it off, the idiots would be screwing the GQP and the Texas economy would crash and burn.

[Girard442]

30. I suppose the TX Lege could pass a resolution:

We secede and there's nothing you can do about it. Neener, neener.

The stuff would really hit the fan at the point TX tried to do something real, like stopping the IRS from collecting taxes.

[onenote]

33. Just something to fire up the red meat conservatives and to get us talking about something

other than Trump's crimes.

It really doesn't deserve the amount of ink it is getting in the media, or here.

[haele]

34. Red meat for the base only.

When the Christo-Fascists get the initial secession estimate bill from the Federal Government in regards to all the federal facilities and services they will now have to pay for, renegotiate for, or lose, they'll back down pretty damn quick.
Especially all those US Military facilities that pump so much into the Texas economy.


Haele

[JustAnotherGen]

35. For them?

They have to understand we will shut down our military bases, remove all weapons, and have to go a mass transportation of American Soldiers and their families out of Texas at a pretty fast clip.

Dyess Air Force Base, Abilene
Ellington Field Joint Reserve Base, Houston
Goodfellow Air Force Base, San Angelo
Laughlin Air Force Base, Del Rio
Sheppard Air Force Base, Wichita Falls
Corpus Christi Army Depot, Corpus Christi
Fort Bliss, El Paso
Fort Hood, Killeen
Red River Army Depot, Texarkana
Naval Air Station Corpus Christi, Corpus Christi
Naval Air Station Fort Worth Joint Reserve Base, Fort Worth
Naval Air Station Kingsville, Kingville
Joint Base San Antonio
Fort Sam Houston
Lackland Air Force Base
Randolph Air Force Base

[Sogo]

47. I think we would just leave the bases there.

Aren't bases the property of the US government?

Texas couldn't touch them....

[nolabear]

39. If you count potential hurricanes, televangelists, and Tesla...

Yeah, it would be consequential. They’ll never do it.

[usajumpedtheshark]

40. I think they are a net taker of Federal funds

[Victor_c3]

45. They receive $1.20 in funding for every $1 they pay the federal government

So yes, they are a net taker.

https://www.moneygeek.com/living/states-most-reliant-federal-government/

As of 2022

[Scottie Mom]

41. Well, two less Repuke US Senators would be a nice result!

[48656c6c6f20]

42. Secede no, we should expel them from the union

Why do we need the hassle?

[DFW]

44. Probably equal to the ramifications of the threat of Russia invading France

"Ain't gonna happen" means the same thing in English, French and Russian.

[Sogo]

46. Seems like many here say they can't seceded legally.

Can we change that and just let 'em go???

Really, what's the downside??

[ArnoldLayne]

48. Aww what the hell let them go and take DeSantis

And Florida with them.

[Bucky]

49. The areas around Houston, DFW, Austin, El Paso, & San Antonio would apply to become States

I think we should be admitted separately though. GOP would lose two senators, and Democrats will pick up 10

[Initech]

50. No it's a completely knee jerk reaction.

Fox News has polarized the country so much that this seems to be their only solution. Or worse. They've done untold damage to this country that could take decades or centuries to repair, if ever. I wish we could just give Trump and Fox their own city state to ruin and leave the rest of us who live in sane America the right to live in a civilized society again.

If Texas were to succeed in seceding and continued on their current path with Murdoch pulling Abbott's strings, Texas would reach shithole nation status faster than you can say "yee haw".