Seriously, Can Texas Really Secede? What Would We Lose?

Texans love to brag about, among other things, Texas being the only state with the right to secede from the United States of America. What if we really did it?

It already happened once during the Civil War. During that time, Confederate forces briefly took control of Fort Bliss. In fact, the Civil War's last battle was fought in Texas.

Following that, laws were enacted forbidding any future secession so, no. Texas can't secede from the USA. These days though, some are strongly suggesting it.

So, despite knowing that we can't "quit" the country, the recent standoff between Governor Abbott and the White House has peeps, once again, calling for secession.  The act would not be without consequences ...

If Texas was to secede, which, again, we can't, the state would lose a lot. For example:

Education:

Texas gets a bunch of money for Primary and Secondary Education programs from Uncle Sam. They, along with federal grants and financial aid for college would dry up.

Healthcare:

See above.

Infrastructure:

The Fed's pay for a lot of our roadway maintenance. As bad as Texas highways are now, can you imagine losing the money that pays for it? Ditto for public transportation, water treatment, pollution control, conservation projects, etc, etc.

Not to mention social services, welfare programs, disaster aid ... can you imagine another Hurricane Harvey and we have to handle it with no FEMA support?? ... the list goes on and on.

Then, there's the military.

Texas is loaded with military installations including (part of) the 2nd biggest in the nation. Fort Bliss is not only huge, it's the biggest employer in El Paso and losing it would crush the 915's economy.

Can you imagine that happening all over Texas?

Then there's Mexico. If they decide to take Texas back, and we're on our own, the battle could go way different than it did in 1836.

Sure, there are things about the idea that I like and Governor Abbott's stance on border issues has some merit but outright secession?

There are some real good reasons not to ...