Texas!

So, I've moved to Texas. I love it here. People are nice, it's affordable, the government is sensible (mostly), the economy isn't in a shambles. Lots of good things. Of course, Texans have their quirks. One of my favorites is when a Texas tells me, "You know Texas is the only state with the right to secede?" with a smirk on his face that says, "don't you wish your state could secede?"

This morning I decided I'd take a break from studying and research this one. I was a little dissappointed to find this:

Myth/Legend #5: The Texas Constitution grants Texas the right to secede from the Union....

Another popular legal myth is that the Texas Constitution guarantee the State’s citizens the right to secede. It does not. The current Texas Constitution states, in Article I, Section 1, that “Texas is a free and independent State, subject only to the Constitution of the United States.” The U.S. Supreme Court rejected any idea that Texas (or any other state) had a right to secede in Texas v. White, when it ruled that, “[w]hen Texas became one of the United States, she entered into an indissoluble union. The union between Texas and the other States was as complete, as perpetual, and as indissoluble as the union between the original States.”

Dang, I never will live in a state that can secede.

The article does go on to say, though, that Texas could divide up into five states. Think of the implications - five Texas states means ten Texas senators. That would shift the balance of power in the Senate.