Give the people a voice, and some of them apparently will shout "secede."
The White House created the "We the People" website last year to encourage Americans to exercise their First Amendment right to petition the government for redress of grievances. The site includes a how-to video to get petitioners started. Petitions get put on the site for others to search when they get 150 signatures within 30 days. With 25,000 signatures, they get a White House response.Initially, the postings primarily were obscure or drew limited attention. (https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petitions)The first one in September 2011 states, "not veto Palestine's application to become a member of the United Nations." It had fewer than 9,000 signatures on Tuesday afternoon. But more than 40,000 people signed a petition started in April to "Support mandatory labeling of genetically engineered foods."On Nov. 7, Michael E. of Slidell posted a petition for Louisiana to peacefully leave the U.S. Suddenly, the election-result grousers had a new protest forum.Micah H. of Arlington filed a Texas secession petition Nov. 9, and by Tuesday afternoon it had more than 82,000 signatures. The site helpfully lists signers in order, oldest to newest, with first name/last-name, initial and city. Texas signers, though mostly in-staters, span the country, from Los Angeles to Hendersonville, N.C., to Sandwich, Ill.Secessionists from more than 30 other states followed. Most of the petitions have identical language, which suggests either a loosely coordinated effort or a lot of copycats.Texas Gov. Rick Perry on Tuesday was quoted saying he doesn't favor secession. For all his noisy head-butting with Washington, Perry surely knows this: Federal income sent to Texas for the budget year that ended in August totaled $32.9 billion -- or 34.8 percent of the state budget, according to the Texas comptroller's cash report for fiscal 2011-12. (bit.ly/ZDUGRH)Try balancing a budget without that. Who'd pay for highways, schools and health services such as Medicare and Medicaid?Seceding might shake the feds, but taxes wouldn't disappear. More bureaucracy in Austin, anyone?Have more to add? News tip? Tell us
