White House Petition Gathers 80,000+ Signatures; Could Texas Successfully Secede?
By: Homa Bash
Updated: November 13, 2012
Welcome to the United State of...Texas?
"That seems pretty far-fetched," said Carol Dromgoole, co-owner of the Texas Star Trading Company in downtown Abilene.
"But Texans are a pretty independent lot, so I guess you never know what might happen...I doubt it though," she laughed.
An online petition started at Whitehouse.gov has gathered more than 75,000 signatures from people -- both from the Lone Star State and elsewhere -- to "peacefully withdraw from the United States of America and create its own new government."
As you might expect, the timing is a little suspect and predictable -- this petition began on November 9th, just days after President Barack Obama secured his spot back in the Oval Office.
"You always have people unhappy after an election, one side or the other," Dromgoole said.
The Lone Star State is not alone -- Nearly thirty states now have similar petitions on the site, but many, like Alaska and Utah, just have a few thousand signatures.
If you click on Texas though, there are rows and rows of people who are saying they want out of the union.
So is an independent Texas a possibility?
"It's like a kid who loses a football game and wants to take their ball and go home."
Political Science Professor at McMurry University, Dr. Paul Fabrizio gives an emphatic no, saying it's not as easy for the state to sustain itself without federal funds as some may like to believe.
"Texas would have to sit there and negotiate with all the surrounding states and Mexico, about trade, import, export, travel. It would be like starting from scratch," he explained.
And while the White House petition is grabbing headlines and attention -- according to Fabrizio, it actually has no real teeth.
"For it to become a reality would take the Texas State Legislature and the United States Congress to agree to it -- and that is not going to happen."
Meanwhile, it might seem the petition-signing is getting a little overzealous.
There is also one now that wants to "strip the citizenship from everyone who signed a petition to secede.. and exile them."
More than 2,500 people are backing that idea already.
"That seems pretty far-fetched," said Carol Dromgoole, co-owner of the Texas Star Trading Company in downtown Abilene.
"But Texans are a pretty independent lot, so I guess you never know what might happen...I doubt it though," she laughed.
An online petition started at Whitehouse.gov has gathered more than 75,000 signatures from people -- both from the Lone Star State and elsewhere -- to "peacefully withdraw from the United States of America and create its own new government."
As you might expect, the timing is a little suspect and predictable -- this petition began on November 9th, just days after President Barack Obama secured his spot back in the Oval Office.
"You always have people unhappy after an election, one side or the other," Dromgoole said.
The Lone Star State is not alone -- Nearly thirty states now have similar petitions on the site, but many, like Alaska and Utah, just have a few thousand signatures.
If you click on Texas though, there are rows and rows of people who are saying they want out of the union.
So is an independent Texas a possibility?
"It's like a kid who loses a football game and wants to take their ball and go home."
Political Science Professor at McMurry University, Dr. Paul Fabrizio gives an emphatic no, saying it's not as easy for the state to sustain itself without federal funds as some may like to believe.
"Texas would have to sit there and negotiate with all the surrounding states and Mexico, about trade, import, export, travel. It would be like starting from scratch," he explained.
And while the White House petition is grabbing headlines and attention -- according to Fabrizio, it actually has no real teeth.
"For it to become a reality would take the Texas State Legislature and the United States Congress to agree to it -- and that is not going to happen."
Meanwhile, it might seem the petition-signing is getting a little overzealous.
There is also one now that wants to "strip the citizenship from everyone who signed a petition to secede.. and exile them."
More than 2,500 people are backing that idea already.
