Deezius wrote:

On top of that soldiers swore an oath to "United States of America".

In truth Deezius we swore an oath "that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same". (link to oath). That is not the same a swearing an oath to the USA. I am ex-military and even now I still will hold to that oath.

If states did split then amerca would be weakened highly.

This would affect a lot. britains biggest ally would be gone. Israel wouldn't have it's top supporter. china would be able to do far more than It does in world politics. all that needs to happen is for Your parliament guys to fix some stuff but I don't get why people secede.

Roman East and Wrst split they both fell. Would just happen again imo

redviper911 wrote:

Anyone remember what happened when the Romans did something like this?

History repeats again :3

It's never going to happen; at least this point in time. I bet that this happens every 4 years. Butt-hurt citizens of states make their own petitions to secede from the US. There is no way that most of these are even official; you're never ever going to get the required amount of votes for the possibility of seceding, and even if you did, I highly doubt the federal government would be fine with it xD

It's interesting how the same few people fill up all political threads with replies. And they pretty much hold the same general creed

No these are not official. The point of the web site they are on is so the average citizen can place an issue and if enough others agree (I think I heard 8000) then the president said they will look into it and respond.

Jester_TCoD wrote:

The way I see this is mainly a way of telling the government that there are a lot of us in the USA that are not happy with the way the government is going. I heard the best thing when I told my wife about this, and I quote "I Bet there are a lot of politicians that are sh*ting themselves right now!" This is a perfectly legal way to show our discuss with this government. Now only if it might changes things.

This right here is what I mean.

I do not want to suceed because I don't like Obama (which is true, I hate him) Our government is corrupt and too big, and far more powerful than our founders intended it to be. We do not want to be a communist/totalitarian state but that is the direction we are going in and millions of Americans will not stand for it.

FARGO – A North Dakota family of four earning $84,896 could pay $4,825 more in taxes in 2013 than they did in 2011 if Congress and President Obama take the nation into a running leap off the so-called “fiscal cliff.”

That ranks North Dakota at No. 6 in the country for the impact of tax hikes if lawmakers fail to cobble together a tax plan and spending cuts, a Tax Foundation study said.

Meanwhile, a Minnesota family of four earning $87,319 could end up paying another $4,382 in income taxes, the study said. That ranks it at 24th in the nation.

Taxes will leap for every individual and many businesses, but particularly so for upper middle-class and wealthy taxpayers, if Bush-era and Obama tax cuts expire and the Alternative Minimum Tax isn’t readjusted, economists say.

If tax rates roll back to old levels, Americans will pay $514 billion more in taxes in 2013 compared to this year, the Tax Foundation reports.

That includes $36 billion in new taxes to pay for the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, nicknamed Obamacare.

Meanwhile, $109 million in automatic spending cuts to domestic and defense programs – made by a process called sequestration – could affect a wide range of programs, some as soon as Jan. 2.

It’s the economic equivalent of the perfect storm.

Significant cuts


Essentia Health, which has hospitals and clinics in North Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Idaho, including Fargo, could lose $40 million in payments, estimated Mike Mahoney, vice president of public policy.

Mahoney said the health group could lose out on

$29 million in physician fees, $5 million in reimbursements for mid-sized hospitals in areas such as Detroit Lakes and Brainerd, Minn., and $6 million as part of the 2 percent sequestration for Medicare reimbursement.

“It adds up very quickly, and it’s a real challenge for us,” he said. “We’re very hopeful that we have a productive lame duck session.”

The Fargo School District could lose $750,000 in funds in fiscal year 2013 if the budget impasse continues into October, Superintendent Jeff Schatz said.

Those funds go for federal programs for low-income students, to hire and train teachers and principals, and for career and technical education, he said.

Similarly, West Fargo School District was told by the state Department of Public Instruction it could lose $233,500 in various federal funds, Business Manager Mark Lemer said.

School nutrition program funds are exempt from automatic cuts, the Congressional Research Service reports.

School districts that could see aid cuts Jan. 2 get Impact Aid. Those districts have a lot of Native American students, students whose parents work on military bases, or federal land near their districts, Education Week blogger Alyson Klein reports.

A gap to be closed


Of the $3.63 trillion in federal spending planned for fiscal year 2012, about one-third of it is financed by borrowing, the Congressional Budget Office reports.

The sequestration cuts planned for fiscal year 2013 hit defense and domestic budgets equally, with about $55 billion taken from each.

E Most defense programs would see 9.4 percent cuts, except those that are specifically exempted. A handful of defense programs would see 10 percent cuts.

E Medicare would get a 2 percent cut in provider payments. Recipients won’t be affected.

E Domestic discretionary spending – such as scientific grants and Education Department programs – would be subject to 8.2 percent cuts.

E Most mandatory domestic programs – those that are funded based on eligibility – would be trimmed by 7.6 percent.

Also as part of the equation, Congress and Obama will have to agree on whether to raise the nation’s debt ceiling, and if so, how much.

As of Aug. 15, the federal debt was $15.9 trillion, with the debt limit set at $16.4 trillion, CBO said.

Social Security, Veteran’s Affairs programs, Pell Grants, military pay, children’s health insurance, crop insurance, and pay and benefits of Congress and the president are among 149 exempt programs, the Office of Management and Budget reports.

Unsure of local effects


County and city officials on both sides of the Red River are unsure of the local effects of sequestration.

Kent Costin and Wanda Wagner, the finance directors for Fargo and Moorhead, respectively, both expect the cuts would land in development and housing programs.

Community Development Block Grants would be cut $242 million nationwide; homeless assistance $156 million; and other housing programs more than $82 million.

Clay County Administrator Brian Berg said social services could be particularly hard hit.

If federal dollars are cut to services mandated by the state, he said the county might have to make up the difference.

“How we go about doing that certainly would be of concern,” Berg said.

Capt. Dan Murphy, a spokesman for the North Dakota National Guard, said “there’s just no answers there right now,” on the breakdown of what sort of cuts the Guard will see.

At North Dakota State University, Communications Coordinator Anne Robinson-Paul said most of the school’s federal money comes in financial aid, research grants and contracts.

“We’re just waiting to see,” she said.

For Minnesota State University Moorhead, the worry is what cuts would do to financial aid, and what tax hikes would do to the ability of students and parents to pay for school.

“That would impact enrollment. And for us, enrollment makes up about two-thirds of our budget,” said David Wahlberg, MSUM executive director of marketing and communications.

‘Cliff’ diving dangerous

Yup, can't understand why people want this Obama bullshit

All I know of states seceding is that there is an online petition that says Texas should secede and form it's own country.