Texas cuts taxes, spending: Now surplus and booming economy

[_bcspace]

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-01-07/texas-starts-budget-debate-flush-with-energy-boom-cash.html

[_ajax18]

I wish conservative America could have it's own country.

[_krose]

I wish conservative America could have it's [sic] own country.

So do I, dude. So do I.

It would be interesting to see what kind of government the people who hate government come up with.

Also, given the fact that most of those being supported by government programs are politically conservative, while those who are willing to pay for such programs are more liberal, our social safety net would be flush with cash. Social Security and our new universal health care system would be in great shape.

[_SteelHead]

Is the Texas economy booming due to tax cuts, or because of oil revenues? Correlation is not cause.

[_cinepro]

I wish conservative America could have it's own country.

Well, the Libertarians are trying...

http://freestateproject.org/

[_ajax18]

So do I, dude. So do I.

See, it's mutual. Everyone says seccession is lunacy but if both sides agree, what's wrong with it? Smaller and more local governments would free us to better fit the government to the people. You give up military power, but most of us don't want to be the world police on either side anymore anyway.

[_krose]

Everyone says seccession is lunacy but if both sides agree, what's wrong with it?

My gut reaction to the recent talk of secession by conservatives is to say "good riddance." But if you are actually taking the idea seriously, you should realize that the political minority is still a significant percentage of the population in the red states that are making all the noise about it.

Obama still got about 40% of the vote in most of the states he lost, including Texas, Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas and Nebraska. Even in Mitt-loving Utah, he got a fourth of the vote (around 230,000 people).

Maybe you think states should be allowed to secede with simple majority support. If your aim is to create a conservative utopia by seceding, what do you plan to do with all the liberals in those states, who dominate the larger cities? Kick them out?

[Guest]

At the risk of sounding like Charles Beard, our divinely inspired Founding Fathers, with Manifest Destiny shining in their eyes made sure that for economic reasons the power of the US central government extended over as much geography was militarily possible.

cf the Commerce Clause

I don't think Texas will be going anywhere anytime soon.

The last time someone tried, it got a little bloody. Call me cynical, but follow the (in that case, Northern) money.

[_Res Ipsa]

I don't see the problem. If there are enough secessionists, they can just pool their money and buy a country. I hear the Maldives are available cheap. And since global warming is a hoax, they don't have to worry about rising sea levels.

[_lulu]

Oh, and Texas's standard of living ranks down there with Mississippi's, so they could use a boom just to get somewhere close to normal.