Ok…I know a lot of the recent entries here have been pretty dark, and, to be accurate,  they DID reflect my state of mind.   However,   Today,  I was presented with a news story that brought a ray of amusement to me.   Here it is:

     As the story points out this is not the FIRST time that Texans have brought up this damn-fool idea,  but, the fact that a large number of counties (10 by some counts,  20 by others)  and many, many online posters support this idea shows the lack of foresight that too many of the citizens of that state have.   Since I am Lutheran,  I do follow Martin Luther’s example of posting questions of importance to a public forum, in the hopes that it will generate some debate and deeper understanding of the issues.   So…Here Goes!

1. Do the citizens of Texas realize that it has been determined several times by the court system that, since the Civil War ended,   there HAS been no right of a state to secede from the Union?   Here is an interesting article on one of the Supreme Court rulings  Please note that the state that BROUGHT the case to court was, indeed, Texas! 
2. Let us assume for the next few questions, that Texas DOES vote to secede from the Union,  and, it is upheld by the Supreme Court.    THe first question that springs to my mind is this:   What  is the state going to do to generate the border guards and infrastructure?
3. What is Texas going to do about Customs Inspectors?
4. What is Texas going to do about a military of some sort to protect their borders?
5. Texas has many connections to the Infrastructure of the United States,  including power lines,  fuel lines, Oil lines,   Fiber optic trunks, etc.   The moment they change to a soverign country,   a WHOLE different set of rules and tariffs will apply to the Electrical power,  Fuel, and Data that cross their borders.   What will they do about that?
6. There is the question of trade.   Right now,  food and other consumer products can move in and out of Texas with no difficulties, or delays.   The only serious delay would be if the weigh stations find an overloaded truck, and it is required to park until it gets some of its cargo offloaded.  As touched on above, this will change radically when they become a separate nation.   What will Texas do about the increased delays of going through customs inspections (on BOTH sides of the border)?
7. Tourism.   Texas gets quite a bit of revenue from visitors, ranging from casual tourists enjoying the food, landscape and peoples of the area,  to large businessess holding conferences and such.   Do they think that, with the necessity of Passports, and Visas, they are going to see this level of tourism continue?  I suspect not, as the excess hassles and expense of traveling to a foreign country will dissuade many folks from visiting the area.
8. There is the question of Federal Funds going into the state.   The fact is that billions of Federal Dollars go into the state every year, to support the citizens, and the governmental programs that the state wants to progress.   That will disappear if they become a separate nation.   It is possible that they could receive foreign aid,  but, those numbers are typically MUCH smaller than they are getting now.
9. To maintain an area as a soverign nation requires a right fair amount of government…Will Texans accept and support the increase in the size of the government that this endeavor would take?
10. Finally,  do these citizens who are so eager to split off on their own realize that if their tiny nation is to survive,  they are going to either lose most or all of the benefits they derive from the government,  or they are going to have to accept large tax increases.   They will not have the ability to run up huge debts from deficit spending,  as the USA has done, as they will have nothing to back that debt.   ANYTHING that benefits the citizens and is done by the government costs money,  and that money has to come from somewhere.  What will you do, Texas?