Growing up in Texas was a unique experience. I’m proud of my Texas roots and my home in the rolling hills of this grand state. Texans all know the state trivia, such as the armadillo being a Texas speed bump, the state flag can fly at the same height of the U. S. flag and the Grand Daddy of them all, Texas can secede. That trivia was always trivial, just another fun fact. But why did the Governor make that statement back some two years ago? Why have some picked up on that statement and ran with it? Why do I feel like I am now living in a foreign country?
Since the Governor Rick Perry made that statement in April of 2009, it has spawned a life of its own. I hear this kind talk at work, on the street, in stores and publications on a regular basis. Six organizations including the Texas Nationalist actively campaign for secession. I can understand the frustrations, because Texas leads the nation in hourly workers making the minimum wage, as reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Texas has the highest percentage of adults that have no healthcare. A Gallop poll indicates 26.8%, that’s one in four adults in Texas are without healthcare. The bottom line is, Texas is faced with real issues and secession will add to them, not eliminate them.
The federal government has many agencies, many of which are taken for granted. These agencies employ real Texans in real jobs, which also add to the Texas economy. Starting with the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force and Coast Guard, Texas has 23 major installations and 108,000 active duty personnel. The Department of Justice has outposts for the FBI, DEA and U. S. Customs and Border Protection, to name a few. The Veterans Affairs that take care of Texas veterans. These and many other agencies that employ many Texans will disappear. Whether they are IRS or TSA jobs, whether these jobs are in the Department of Agriculture or the Department of Transportation, one thing that you can be sure of is that there will be many Texans unemployed, including all those in related indirect jobs.
Of course all these jobs could be reinstated by the new republic but since Texas ran a $6.6 billion budget shortfall in 2010, how will we find the money to fill this void? CNN reported that the federal government helped out with $6.4 billion but I doubt they will be less willing to help in the future if Texas decided to pull up their stakes and move on. With the loss of federal funding in many areas, such as funding for the 3,300 miles of interstate highway within our borders, what will we do to raise revenue? Texans do not pay a state income tax but rather pay our bills with such things as property and sales taxes. The Texas government will have to make some changes. There are many tax issues that are favorable to business and it is these incentives that have attracted 64 fortune 500 companies to this state. Can Texas count on these entities to weather storm that will occur with the new changes?
It is time to fix the problems that are before us. It will take clear thinking, rational people, people that do not entertain the idea of secession but people with ideas, vision and pathways to getting things done. Let us knock off this idea of secession and focus on reality. We should no longer accept treasonous speech from our leadership in the statehouse. Let us return the notion of secession back to state trivia where it belongs, it makes us look crazy!