A Daily Kos/Research 2000 Texas Poll finds that an equal number of Texas Republicans think that Texas would be better off as an independent country. In the poll 48 percent of Republicans chose independence while 48% would remain as part of the United States of America. As majorities of both Democrats and Independents prefer to remain as part of the United States the overall result was 35 percent for independence and 61 percent for remaining in the United States.
I am a Texan and I love America and what our forefathers meant for it to stand for. However, we now have a corrupt federal government and CEO’s which makes it a little difficult to love that about our wonderful country. Let’s get back to honesty and integrity in America and kick these losers out.
BAW: …we didn’t already have a corrupt government? When was it NOT corrupt?
The argument about how corrupt our federal government ‘was’ or ‘is’ happens to relevant, and different people will make different arguments. The most accurate one, in my opinion, is not that our government is corrupt but that there is corruption in our government. That may seem like a subtle distinction, but I think it is an important distinction. One can as easily say that the problem is not that our business community is corrupt, but that there is corruption in our business community. Someone more anti-capitalist than myself would say that business is inherently corrupt, but I do not believe that to be the case. Someone more anti-government than myself would say that government is inherently corrupt, but I do not believe that to be the case either. Someone more cynical than myself would say that people are inherently corrupt, therefore all human institutions are and will always be inherently corrupt. I would not go that far, but human fallibility and human cupidity will always be a factor in human interaction. Sometimes it will be a major factor.
It should be worth noting, for BAW and others, that the people talking about taking Texas out of the United States are the ones taking the largest amount of money FROM CEOs and representing their interests. Conservative Republicans are not exactly the friend of the little guy, and if one is angry about corporate influence and greedy CEOs, then the Republicans are not the solution.
BAW,
It makes little sense for Republicans to call for leaving the United States due to a corrupt federal government when the Republicans have controlled the federal government for so long.
Why should anyone believe a separate Texas government would be any less corrupt?
Of course in the case of Texas my main concern would not be corruption but preserving civil liberties and preventing theocracy.
“Wanting to secede” and “hating the larger society” are not identical concepts. I do not find that government gets better the farther it is removed from me.
Fritz,
The title was a play on the meme in many conservative blogs that liberals hate America. Obviously a decision such as secession might be made on grounds independent of whether one hates America, but there is a far stronger connection to hating America than many arguments made by the right (such as opposing the Iraq war means liberals hate America).
“It makes little sense for Republicans to call for leaving the United States due to a corrupt federal government when the Republicans have controlled the federal government for so long.”
Ha! This hits the nail on the head and goes to the core of the credibility problem the GOP has.
On the other hand, it’s just one symptom of how unhappy everyone is about the bailouts of Wall Street and Detroit and who ever else is waiting in the wings for their handout. The average guy and gal, whether they feel it was necessary or not, still, I’m sure, feels pretty damn disgusted.
Since the government has chosen to “save” the economy with massive intervention, it’s like Powell’s old Pottery Barn (sp?) analogy to Bush about Iraq — “if you break it, you’ve bought it.” If the economy gets worse — if even the perception isn’t that government intervention has made it worse — people are going to get more and more pissed off. This is probably the biggest blunder team Obama has made — they can’t save the economy (because it doesn’t need “saving” — it’s self-correcting, or it would be if this 8000 ton guerrilla called the government would stop trying to intervene in every economic crisis), then people are naturally going to hold team Obama even more responsible than what they normally would, no matter what team Obama did.
Yet, McCain probably won’t have been significantly different, in the end. He caved into Wall Street like everyone else. He probably would have caved into Detroit. Oh yeah, and simultaneously he probably be attacking Iran.
So, in the end, it probably doesn’t get much better than this. God help us . . .
P.S. China is already “seceding” from the U.S. dollar:
China has been secretly stocking up on gold
“China is really looking at a lot of other options to get away from the U.S. dollar. The latest report is that it has been building huge gold reserves. There is no doubt that China wants to get out and away from the U.S. dollar now. We have heard SDRs, copper and precious metals all mentioned as plays out of U.S. dollars. How this will play out on currency markets and in the U.S. government bond market is no at all clear.” (Submitted by Edward Harrison of the site Credit Writedowns).
The reason, of course, is the very real — almost inevitable — possibility of double digit inflation in the near future. This means prices will double in about 3 years (given historical U.S. double digit inflation) once inflation starts.
The Motey Fool is also seriously concerned about inflation, and they’ve started to advise their clients and readers about how best to position themselves:
Is U.S. Hyperinflation a Real Possibility?
The probable consequences of team Obama’s “cure” for the economy will extend beyond U.S. boarders — for the first time in history, the dollar will no longer be the world’s reserve currency:
“So, here we are, three weeks out from the G-20 and now we learn the Chinese have been buying gold. In my mind, there is no doubt that China is looking to topple he U.S. dollar as the world’s reserve currency. And this will happen over time. The Europeans want it – they are a rival in currency terms. The Asians want it – they want to stick it to an arrogant country which caused great hardship to Asia through the IMF in the Asian Crisis. And the oil exporters like Saudi Arabia, Iran and Venezuela all want it too. It will happen. The question is when and what will replace the dollar.” (Edward Harrison).
Now a larger question: Isn’t this de-stabilizing for a world in a global recession. The economists over at Vox have a few points to provide on that score using France and the United Kingdom as 1920s parallels for China and the United States. I have highlighted some important bits.
China’s “dollar trap” has many analysts worried about its future resolution. This column discusses a similar situation in the in the 1920s when France held more than half the world’s foreign reserves. France’s “sterling trap” ended disastrously. Sterling suffered a major currency crisis, French authorities lost a lot of money, and subsequent policy reactions deepened the Great Depression.
What are the lessons for today? China’s objective function today certainly differs from those of France in the interwar years. But French experiences in the early 1930s are a reminder that when there is growing risk on reserves currencies, foreign reserves can be both a source of instability for the international monetary system, and a burden for large holders.
If it all goes this way, and it’s how to see how it won’t, team Obama, right or wrong, will be seen as at least partially responsible, not only by Texas but by the world.