Social Security

Rick Perry: Let States Secede From Social Security (VIDEO)

Evan McMorris-Santoro | November 5, 2010, 12:59PM

Freshly reelected Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) just isn't ready to give up on the secession talk that made him a topic of conversation last year. Taking a national victory lap after his election to an unprecedented third term this week, Perry is out talking up his new plan to break up the union, kind of: It's time, he says, to let states opt out of Social Security.

Last April, Perry told some Austin tea partiers that though "there's absolutely no reason to dissolve" the union the state of Texas has been a part of for about 160 years, "if Washington continues to thumb their nose at the American people, you know, who knows what might come out of that." Texas, he suggested, could lead the charge.

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TN-GOV

TN GOPer Wamp Backtracks: 'When I'm Governor, Of Course We Will Not Secede From The Union'

Eric Kleefeld | July 26, 2010, 11:42AM

Rep. Zach Wamp (R-TN)

Rep. Zach Wamp (R-TN), who is running in a three-way Republican primary for governor of Tennessee, is now clarifying some earlier remarks and insisting that he does not favor seceding from the Union -- though he does think that governors need to put up a strong front and assert their 10th Amendment rights against the federal government.

"When I'm governor of Tennessee, of course we will not secede from the union," said Wamp. "But we will also not have a governor who will cave in to Barack Obama."

"We're going to be a proud partner as a member of the United Sates of America," Wamp added. "But there needs to be a conflict between the states and the federal government."

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TN-GOV

GOP Rep. And TN-GOV Candidate Wamp: States Might Have To 'Consider Separation From This Government'

Eric Kleefeld | July 23, 2010, 2:08PM

Rep. Zach Wamp (R-TN)

Rep. Zach Wamp (R-TN), who is running in a heated three-way Republican primary for governor of Tennessee, has a dire warning about the new health care reform law: If a new Congress and president aren't elected in order to repeal the bill, states might just have to secede.

"I hope that the American people will go to the ballot box in 2010 and 2012 so that states are not forced to consider separation from this government," said Wamp, who has also promised to refuse to implement the law at the state level if he is elected, in an interview with the Hotline.

Wamp also praised Gov. Rick Perry (R-TX) -- who has also floated the idea of secession -- for leading the fight against the health care bill. "Patriots like Rick Perry have talked about these issues because the federal government is putting us in an untenable position at the state level," said Wamp.

The Hotline asked Wamp's GOP primary opponents whether they are opposed to secession. A spokesman for Knoxville Mayor Bill Haslam answered, "Yeah," while Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey blasted "Rep. Wamp's trademark over-the-top temperament and overheated, sometimes crazy rhetoric."