12 | November | 2012 | Impressions

“My administration is committed to creating an unprecedented level of openness in government. We will work together to ensure the public trust and establish a system of transparency, public participation and collaboration. Openness will strengthen our democracy and promote efficiency and effectiveness in government.”— President Barack Obama

The petition submitted on Friday November 9, 2012 from the State of Texas requests the Obama administration to “Peacefully grant the State of Texas to withdraw from the United States of America and create its own NEW government.”

The petition appeared in the White House website “We the People” that invites users with a U.S. zip code to submit or sign petitions about policy changes they would like to see with the condition that such a petition must reach 25,000 signatures within 30 days, by December 9th, 2012, for the Obama administration to comment on it.

Surprisingly, today at 3:22 p.m., the number of signatures zoomed past the needed 25,000 mark.

When I last checked the page on the White House website “We the People” at 11:00 pm the total signatures on the petition was 50,885.

Here is the text of the petition as displayed in the White House website “We the People”:

WE PETITION THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION TO:
Peacefully grant the State of Texas to withdraw from the United States of America and create its own NEW government.

The US continues to suffer economic difficulties stemming from the federal government’s neglect to reform domestic and foreign spending. The citizens of the US suffer from blatant abuses of their rights such as the NDAA, the TSA, etc. Given that the state of Texas maintains a balanced budget and is the 15th largest economy in the world, it is practically feasible for Texas to withdraw from the union, and to do so would protect it’s citizens’ standard of living and re-secure their rights and liberties in accordance with the original ideas and beliefs of our founding fathers which are no longer being reflected by the federal government.

Created: Nov 09, 2012

So far, the president has not commented on the petition and there is no guarantee that he will. The terms of participation give the president some loopholes.

“To avoid the appearance of improper influence, the White House may decline to address certain procurement, law enforcement, adjudicatory, or similar matters properly within the jurisdiction of federal departments or agencies, federal courts, or state and local government in its response to a petition,” the site says.

At least, 19 other states have submitted similar petitions requesting secession on the “We the People” forum, including Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oregon, South Carolina, and Tennessee.

Click the name of the State to know the current number of signatories to their petition: