Put Perry in Federal Prison for Treason....he'll find out what true tea-bagging is in short order.

Shoot, man, I sent an email to my org's executive team asking them to reconsider doing business in Texas. It is just too unstable there.

We cannot have long-term ties with businesses based in a part of the country (or world for that matter) with such political instability.

What if one of my co-workers is trapped in Texas without proper TX ID papers or passport??? Will they let him out?? We are northern Yankees, after all here ...

Oh, come on now. Texans often use their 9 years as a Republic as a patriotic talking point. It's just rhetoric. Maybe Perry went a little far, being he's gov and not a state senator, but this isn't insanely abnormal in Texas.

Texas is a welfare recipient of the Federal Government. Additionally, the Feds are the primary employer when you consider the military bases, airports and the prison system.

Someone needs to ask Governor Perry how he is going to pay for his fantasy-land. Perhaps TPM can get him on the record on this one . . .

"But if Washington continues to thumb their nose at the American people, you know, who knows what might come out of that."

Gosh, Rick, I dunno, how about you guys try winning an election?

Spending is really not much different now than it was 5 years ago - the difference now is that there's a scary BLACK MAN in the White House! Jeez. Just 3 months in and these douchebags are already in apoplexy. They're the gift that just keeps on giving.

If good hair Perry wants a bad hair day, now might be a good time to relocate all federal military bases in Texas to neighboring states. That would help reduce the federal government's oppressive footprint in Texas. Maybe we could even subcontract Texas FEMA operations to Mexico.

What a scumbag

You damn San Francisco libuhruls think we're a funnin ya?

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y12/TexasFred/DontMessWithTexas2.jpg

Good luck in any future conflicts with Mexico guys. I guess the Alamo will in the future called "Museo de Santa Ana".

Not only that, we'll kick the Cowboys out of the NFL.

Perry is nuts and the politics in Texas is often backwards. However, reading these comments, I think a lot of people need to learn more about the state. Yes, like many states its size (CA included), it needs welfare but I wouldn't call it a welfare, fly over state. Houston has a strong economy (that is still growing), the state invests more than MA & CA combined in wind energy, Texas supports more Katrina victims than the federal govt. & LA, and lastly, did I mention the economy is still growing? And the DoD comment only applies to certain bases and THE U.S. Border.

Is there a law against the United States voting to kick a state out?

I'm all for a Constitutional Amendment that creates a mechanism that lets States leave the Union. First the State has an election to decide the question, leave or not. Secondly the rest of the States have an election on whether or not we should allow the State to leave.

You might want to have some restrictions on how States can leave. For example, you might want to define the legal and financial ramifications of leaving such as taking on a portion of the national debt, receiving an appropriate amount of cash from Social Security, etc.

Bottom line, there is no law written 100 years ago that can't be changed today. Scotland is receiving more and more sovereignty. Why not let a group of people, or a State, that want to govern themselves differently than another group of people do that?

For me, I'm sick of the idiots on the Right. They are standing in the way of things that I want to happen (universal health care, gay marriage, mass transit, fiscally prudent government). Let them go.

Where is the moderate/non-wing nut Republicans to comment on this? Where is Kay Bailey Hutchison? Isn't she running against Perry in 2010? Wouldn't it make sense for somebody to to question her opinion on the matter?

I'm certainly not going to smear all of Texas because of Perry's rantings. I mean he did get elected with only 40% of the vote. Obama received 45% of the vote in Texas this past November. I just wish the non-nutjob Republicans/Conservatives would comment on the matter.

Sen Hutchison is challenging Perry for Governor in 2010, and there is a certain ex-President who currently resides in a Dallas(?) suburb - why are they not being asked to comment on this?

Rick Perry being an idiot is news? Not here in TX.

Seriously, why did this story bump the one about the NSA wiretapping a Member of Congress for the big headline on the TPM front page? No mention at all of the latter story there at all anymore.

Why couldn't they have seceded before that fucking idiot so-called Texan George W. Bush created this situation that all these wingnuts are now complaining about?

Good riddance. Please take Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee and Louisiana with you.

I would so relish the opportunity to go to war to bring these assholes back into the Union. Not because I care about Texas or anything, but because I would love the opportunity to bust a Sherman's march through there. These assholes have never really surrendered after the Civil War, and they always talk shit like 'The South will rise again' or some shit like that. This time, we'll do the job right---and that means total war against these clowns.

Bring it on.

Please, dear God, let them go. Take the rest of the South as well

They've been nothing but trouble from Enron, to George Bush --go Texas go!

Ok, I'm only a middle school US History teacher (who is an avowed independent), not a constitutional law scholar, but here's the thing... As idiotic as Perry may sound, having read the resolution there is *some* sense to parts of it. The 10th Amendment is designed to give powers to the states and the people that are not specifically given to the Federal government.

One of the areas in question could be education. The power to create and maintain schools is reserved for the states. However, any federal law that would force states to take specific actions with regards to their schools should, by the 10th Amendment, be somewhat unconstitutional. That is a reasonable, logical conclusion, I think.

Now, the Elastic Clause does allow Congress to do things that are "necessary and proper" to carry out its enumerated duties. It would take a fairly loose reading of Article I to really squeeze education reform and control into the list of things that the federal government can do. I'm sure that there are numerous examples of arm-twisting and outright "bribe" situations where the federal government forces the states to do things that the federal government sholdn't be able to. It would make for, I think, a very interesting test case.

So even if the motivation is crystal clear partisan, don't dismiss the fact that some of the federal government's practices might be a little "expansive." The opponents of Bush certainly criticized him for it for 8 years, there is no reason why the opponents of the Democrats shouldn't do the same. However, throwing all your toys out of the playpen and quitting the game just because you lost an election is a bit much.

"But if Washington continues to thumb their nose at the American people"

perry's smoking crack. the bush administration (enabled breathlessly by the beltway media) thumbed its nose at roughly 60% of the american public for years, claiming that "polls don't matter" or some such nonsense. that 60% made itself heard on election day, and the only people thumbing their nose at the american people are the republicans, because they don't like the way the election turned out.

The best part of this is that the Bush Presidential Library wouldn't even be in the United States. How sweet is that.

Secede please!!!

As much as we would like it to happen, it won't. Once the good citizens of Texas realize that being independent would mean their football teams would not be eligible for the national championship of college football of the United States of America Perry would be toast.

Some of you are totally delusional. Texas has a highly diversified, trillion dollar economy and a highly skilled workforce. We have more Fortune 500 companies than any other state. We are the center of the oil industry and a major player in defense and aerospace. The only nuclear weapons plant in America is located in Texas.

There is no way that the U.S. would be able to bring Texas back into the Union by force. The resulting war would be devastating both militarily and economically. You would be looking at millions of casualties and a possible nuclear war. Invading Texas would be like invading France or England, except we're armed to the teeth.

You want to do a Sherman's march through Texas? Be my guest. It would turn into a death march real quick.

Don't let the door hit you on the way out, Perry.