By Peter Burrows –2/8/21 - elburropete@gmail.com

Have you heard of "Texit?" It is shorthand for Texas + Exit and refers to the state of Texas seceding from the United States and becoming a separate nation, something that hasn't happened since the Civil War. Texans will vote in a referendum next November on whether to authorize the Texas legislature to determine the feasibility of such a move.

It's going to be interesting following the campaign leading up to the vote, as well as seeing how the vote breaks down between urban and rural areas. In my opinion, Texit is a reaction to an increasingly dysfunctional Federal Government, which, in turn, increasingly reflects the dysfunctional, and corrupt, governments of our major cities, all run by the Democrat Party.

The 2020 election was the eye-opener. Massive election fraud in a few of those major cities very probably swung the election to Biden, and for proof, look no further than to the Democrats themselves. Now that they control everything in Washington, D.C., they are proposing national election laws which will virtually legalize the voter fraud they used so successfully in 2020.

The Democrat controlled House of Representatives will be voting on something called the "For the People Act," which will ensure only Democrat "People" will henceforth have a majority in the House. This will complement their pending, permanent, control of the Senate following the addition of four new Democrat senators from the new states of Puerto Rico and Washington, D.C.

The demagoguery justifying the "People Act" is an example of "Big Lie" politics writ large. Here's what Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi said, without a shred of proof, in support of the bill:

"House Democrats are doubling down on our longstanding commitment to advance transformational anti-corruption and clean election reforms by again passing H.R. 1, the For the People Act. Our democracy is in a state of deep disrepair. During the 2020 election, Americans had to overcome rampant voter suppression, gerrymandering and a torrent of special interest dark money just to exercise their right to vote."

The bill would require allowing same-day voter registration, online registration, at least 15 days of early voting, no requirement for witness signatures or signature matching on mail-in ballots, allow felons to vote, forgive ineligible voters who are "mistakenly" registered, and essentially removes any requirement to prove citizenship. Gosh, what could go wrong? It would also mandate that 16-and 17-year-olds be registered. Pelosi has said we should allow 16-year-olds to vote, so I guess she is laying the groundwork for that.

I read that the bill (791 pages!) would violate the states' constitutional right to set election procedures, but I'm not so sure about that. Article 1, Section 4, says "The Times, Places and Manner of holding elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature thereof; but Congress may at any time by Law make or alter such Regulations ---."

The extent that Congress can "alter" is probably in the interpretation of "Manner of holding elections," although the states' determination of "Times" certainly would be usurped by a national 15-day early voting law. It will probably end up in the Supreme Court, and if found unconstitutional could very well trigger the court-packing implied by Biden's commission on Supreme Court reform.

Regardless, Democrats at the national level are well on their way to achieving one-party rule even without their proposed bill because they already are very good at stealing elections. The new bill only makes it easier to do so everywhere, not just in the big cities in swing states.

Not everybody thinks that's a good idea, hence, Texit. Texas, with its size, entrepreneurial tradition, long coastline and booming energy industry, would probably "thrive as an independent nation," as the referendum's sponsor claims. Also, people forget that Texas, unlike any other lower 48 state, had been an independent nation, The Republic of Texas, for nine years before it became a state in 1845. Other states don't have such a rich heritage or such bountiful natural assets.

Critics claim such a move would be unconstitutional, which is probably correct. Article IV, Section 3, says that "no new state shall be formed or erected within the Jurisdiction of any other State; nor any State be formed by the Junction of two or more states, or parts of states, without the Consent of the Legislatures of the States concerned AS WELL AS OF THE CONGRESS." (My emphasis.)

Some may say that "new state" could also mean "new nation," but I don't think that would get too far. In either case, it seems clear that the Constitution prohibits any part of the country from UNILATERALLY changing its political affiliation.

Still, if push comes to shove, will Congress declare war to prevent an independent Texas? What moral principle would justify such a war? It is quite possible the nation would prefer an independent Texas to a war-torn, forever alienated Texas.

Ironically, Texas could claim it is seceding to preserve the Constitution, at least in Texas, and they would have a point. The Constitution is rapidly becoming a dead letter as the Democrats want not just to usurp the states' Constitutionally delegated election mechanics, but also to vitiate the First Amendment with hate speech laws, chip away at the Second Amendment with national gun-registration, and the list goes on and on.

The final nail in the Constitution's coffin would come if an intimidated Supreme Court declares the National Popular Vote movement to be Constitutional. I hope that never happens, but we'll look at what effect the NPV could have on the secession movement in my next article.