Throughout the state of Texas since early March, citizens have been piling into meeting halls, cafes and other venues to standing-room only events to vent their frustration at the federal government for what appears to be an open, direct and hostile attack by the Biden administration, the Democrats and the leftists on the state and its residents.
These town hall-type events, typically hosted by establishment Republican groups, have morphed into displays of outward anger similar to what was witnessed in early Tea Party meetings fueled at the time by the opposition to Obamacare – except the level of frustration now seen in these current events clearly eclipse the early Tea Party days.
For many Texans, Washington, D.C. and the federal government are irrevocably and hopelessly broken.
And Texas politicians are beginning to take serious notice of the dramatic shift in the political winds. Texas Republican State Representative Kyle Biedermann filed H.B. 1359 to allow Texans to vote on taking the first step to Texas independence – now commonly referred to as TEXIT. TEXIT is popular among Texans and polling proves it. So far, the bill has picked up a legislative co-author and four co-sponsors, driven in large part by the leading Texas independence organization, the Texas Nationalist Movement (TNM) who boast over 400,000 supporters and have feverishly and methodically organized grassroots teams and coordinators by state senate districts. If the TNM were a political party, it would be the third largest in Texas.
Along with the crowds, the money is following, from small donations by individuals to those by business owners and wealthy political donors who are openly frustrated. Efforts to marginalize the TEXIT movement as a fringe element have failed. State Republican Party Chairman Allen West has publicly supported the citizens’ right to vote on the issue and even the Texas GOP platform calls for secession in the event the federal government abandons the foundations of a Constitutional Republic.
Texas independence, for many Texans, is considered a birthright and embedded in their DNA, forged by Texas’ unique history as a Republic. The grandiose dream of another Republic of Texas has suddenly become very real to many. To TEXIT supporters, the issue is not a legal question but simply a question of political will, pointing to the Brexit movement by Great Britain of a negotiated separation as the model.
TEXIT has gone mainstream. How did this happen?
Most don’t need to look any further than the about-face changes in immigration policies that have led to an unprecedented mass illegal migration invasion into Texas on the 1,254-mile Texas-Mexico border. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton reported Texas will spend over $850 million per year of Texas taxpayers’ money in unreimbursed costs to accommodate the federal open-border policies of the Biden administration for hospital districts, housing, Medicaid, family violence programs, children’s health and education for illegal immigrants. For years the Democrats have predicted Texas will turn blue and many pundits believe this is how they accomplish that goal. What better way to make that happen than to flood the state with potential future Democrat voters who were let into the country unencumbered by a Democrat president?
The Biden administration struck at the heart of Texas’ oil industry by shutting down the Keystone XL pipeline and the sacking of more than 40 outside experts the Trump administration appointed for science advisory services on fracking. The technology of fracking was one of the key components that led to the country’s energy independence under the Trump administration but is among the Biden administration’s targets.
At the height of the election integrity drama, the Supreme Court rejected the lawsuit filed by the Texas Attorney General which was joined by multiple other states that claimed federal and state election laws were violated in the November elections by Georgia, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan. The lawsuit was filed to protect Texas’s 38 electoral college votes from being cancelled out by the combined 62 electoral college votes of the four states in the claim who allegedly violated their own election laws. The fact that the Supreme Court refused to hear the case based on ‘standing’ shocked many Texans and some quickly formed the opinion that the perceived threat and potential intimidation by Congress to expand the Supreme Court had more to do with the Court not taking the case than the facts.
The tragic winter storm that impacted Texas only added fuel to the independence fire. Beginning in the Obama administration, the push by the feds to shutter coal-fired generation plants in favor of renewable energy sources proved to be unreliable in the historic winter event. The fact that Texas’s grid operator had to officially file a written request to exceed federal emissions standards to ramp remaining coal and natural gas plants to 100% power didn’t sit well with Texans. The latest cost estimate to Texas for the winter storm was over $200 billion – more than either mega hurricanes Ike or Harvey. At least 125 Texans lost their life directly related to the storm. Was the federal government entirely to blame? No – but their interference in grid operations and federal emission standards led to the “perfect” storm.
Added to the average Texan’s discontent is the Covid relief legislation approved by Congress that provided more Texas taxpayer funds to bail out the failed fiscal policies of Democratic-run cities and states. After all, Texans are already well aware they on the short end of the federal funds dispensary, receiving only $26.9 Billion in federal aid despite paying in $133.4 Billion in federal taxes.
With every move Congress and the Biden administration take, the chorus for TEXIT becomes louder, enough so that elected leaders in Texas are starting to realize that to be on the wrong side of a simple citizen referendum to explore the independence issue could haunt them in their next election.
Daniel Miller, the President of TNM always closes his TEXIT presentations with the simple question, “If Texas were an independent country today – would you vote to join the Union?” – to which the crowds emphatically shout, “No!”
David Thomas Roberts is the CEO of Teligistics, a telecom financial management firm and a serial entrepreneur, inventor, bestselling author, founder of Defiance Press & Publishing and a political columnist. Roberts’ latest book was co-written with Sheriff Joe Arpaio, titled “Sheriff Joe Arpaio: An American Legend”, with a foreword by Ted Nugent released in October 2020.