The petition to withdraw from the union of the United States by the state of Texas has reached 117,335 signatures according to the Examiner. Now the Obama administration has about two weeks to respond to it.
Officials have until a month after the petition was filed with the required number of signatures to respond, this would mean December 7 for the Texas petition. It remains unclear whether the Obama administration intends to address the issue.
The petition was signed a day after President Barrack Obama was re-elected on November 6.
There are 17 other states whose citizens are participating in the petition; these states include New York, Colorado, New Jersey, Montana, Georgia, Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Indiana, North Carolina, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, South Carolina, Oregon and Michigan.
The petition lists a number of policy changes it requires from the administration in order to dismiss the threat to secede. These policies include largely the Obama administration's tax policies, changes in the Affordable Health Care law.
The Texas petition reads as follows: "Peacefully grant the State of Texas to withdraw from the United States of America and create its own NEW government," it goes on to detail "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," according to the official petition that can be found on the White House Petition site here.
However, Texas cities El Paso and Austin have filed petitions of their own requesting to secede from the state of Texas, should Texas withdraw from the union.
The two petitions come as a direct result of the petition filed by Texas on the official White House website seeking to withdraw from the United States Union. The petition currently has over 100,000 surpassing the requirement needed for the administration to comment on it.
In light of the State of Texas' petition to withdraw from the union of the United States of America, On the official site of the White House, Austin petitions, ""Peacefully grant the city of Austin Texas to withdraw from the state of Texas & remain part of the United States."
The petition filed by Austin reads as follows: "Austin Texas continues to suffer difficulties stemming from the lack of civil, religious, and political freedoms imposed upon the city by less liberally minded Texans. It is entirely feasible for Austin to operate as its own state, within the United States, in the event that Texas is successful in the current bid to secede. It is important for Austin to remain in the union as 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. We would also like to annex Dublin Texas, Lockhart Texas, & Shiner Texas."
The state of Texas is not the only state involved in the petition, it has the most signatories.
According to ABC News, a petition of such nature must have at least 25,000 signatures within 30 days of submission in order for the administration to make a comment.
A statement released on the websites "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."
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