Texas Petitions for Secession Following Obama's Reelection

Posted by Allison Crawford - Wednesday, November 14th, 2012

It has now been one week since the reelection of President Obama, and Americans are reacting to the news in a variety of ways. Residents in 30 states have filed petitions for secession from the United States on whitehouse.gov. In order to receive an official response from The White House, a petition needs to acquire 25,000 signatures in 30 days. One such petition, from the state of Texas, has gained over 66,000 signatures since it's creation on November 9th, more than enough to earn an official review from The White House.

The petition, created by Micah H. of Arlington, Texas calls for the Obama Administration to “Peacefully grant the State of Texas to withdraw from the United States of America and create its own NEW government.” Its platform is described thusly:

“The US continues to suffer economic difficulties stemming from the federal government's neglect to reform domestic and foreign spending. The citizens of the US suffer from blatant abuses of their rights such as the NDAA, the TSA, etc. Given that the state of Texas maintains a balanced budget and is the 15th largest economy in the world, it is practically feasible for Texas to withdraw from the union, and to do so would protect it's citizens' standard of living and re-secure their rights and liberties in accordance with the original ideas and beliefs of our founding fathers which are no longer being reflected by the federal government.”

The petition reached the required 25,000 names in a mere matter of days and has already garnered a response from Texas Governor Rick Perry. The republican Governor's press secretary stated in an email that Perry “believes in the greatness of our Union and nothing should be done to change it... But he also shares the frustrations many Americans have with our federal government. Now more than ever our country needs strong leadership from states like Texas, that are making tough decisions to live within their means, keep taxes low and provide opportunities to job creators so their citizens can provide for their families and prosper.”

While no other state's petition to secede has reached the level of the Texas petition as of yet, there are several that are well on the way:

Georgia – 19,069 signatures
Tennessee – 18,437 signatures
Michigan – 12,581 signatures
Missouri – 11,873 signatures
Arizona – 11,131 signatures

Other states with similar petitions include Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, New Jersey, New York, Nevada, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah, West Virginia, and Wyoming with others still being created.

When asked if a response would be issued, a White House official told Dallas News this morning that “every petition that crosses the threshold receives a response.” Just when the response will come is not clear, “we get to all of them,” said the official, “but it depends on how many other petitions are out there.”