Texas secessionists feel more emboldened than ever
Lead image for this article
Kyle Biedermann, a former state representative and current Legislative Advisor for the Texas Nationalist Movement’s Advisory Board, speaks during the Saturday opening event at TEXIT in Waco, on Nov. 11, 2023. Credit:
Evan L’Roy for The Texas Tribune
No taxes or Faucis, no speed zones or toll roads. No liberals, no gun laws. No windmills, no poor people. A separate currency, stock market and gold depository. “Complete control of our own immigration policy.” World-class college football, a farewell to regulators. And unthinkable, unimaginable wealth.
“We are going to be so rich,” he chanted. “We’re gonna be rich. We are gonna be rich. We. Are. Going. To Be. Rich! … As soon as we declare independence, we’re going to be wealthy. I personally believe that our personal GDP will double in five to seven years.”
“The independence of Texas is good for humanity as a whole,” he added to cheers.
Kamau-Imani, a Houston-based preacher, was among 100 or so people who spent the weekend at the Waco Convention Center for the first conference of the Texas Nationalist Movement, which since 2005 has advocated for the Lone Star State to break away from the United States — a “TEXIT,” as they call it.
Supporters of the movement said they are more energized and optimistic than ever about the prospect of an independent Texas, and pointed to appearances or support from current and former lawmakers — including state Sen. Bob Hall, R-Edgewood, who spoke at the event — as evidence that their movement is far from fringe. The get-together also came as TEXIT supporters celebrated what they believe is crucial momentum: Days before the meeting, the Texas Nationalist Movement announced that it was more than halfway to the roughly 100,000 signatures needed to put a non-binding secession referendum on the Texas Republican primary ballot.
Experts say it’s a much easier sell in theory than in practice. Roughly one-third of Texas’ annual budget is supported by federal funds, according to the budget and policy nonprofit Every Texan. And, upon breaking from the United States, experts note that Texas would immediately have to supplement key programs like social security.
“To replace the government services we rely on, the nation of Texas would have to find a way to get an additional nine thousand dollars or so per person living here — possibly through income or sales taxes,” Eva DeLuna, a state budget analyst at Every Texan, told Texas Monthly last year. “For a two-person household, that’s eighteen thousand dollars coming out of your pocket.”
Steve’s note:Maybe WEXIT and TEXIT can join forces and become an oil producing conglomerate. Maybe they can RULE the world!! Maybe this is what happens when you sniff too much gas… |Read more https://www.texastribune.org/2023/11/15/texas-secession-texit/| texastribune.org/2023/11/15/te…
#abpoli #texas #WEXIT #TEXIT #secessionists #conglomerate #independent #oil #gas #fracking #republicans