Texas Trust Declaration: Fill & Download for Free

I would say Texas.There are a number of reasons.1. We have a power grid that’s not dependent on the US Western or Eastern power grids. In theory, in the event of a federal government collapse, the governor could order the National Guard to keep utilities running until we figure out what to do next.2. A large part of the US Army is from Texas, and we have some of the nuclear weapons here. That would make other states and Mexico somewhat less likely to attack us.3. A former president, George W. Bush, was previously the governor of Texas and still lives here. He would likely be able to get on television and attempt to calm the public down, convincing everyone to trust our state officials until order can be restored. He might be able to convince US military personnel stationed here to obey an ad-hoc chain of command in the midst of the breakdown of the official one for whatever reason.4. Much of the state is rural, so most of the chaos would take place in urban centers like Houston and Dallas, and it probably wouldn’t take long for the Army/National Guard to march in and restore order. The police and state troopers here are also well-armed and probably shouldn’t be underestimated. Assuming they and the local mayors remained loyal to the governor backed by a former president (very likely), order would likely be maintained. At worst, I think martial law would be declared and curfews set, etc.5. We have access to the Atlantic Ocean via the Gulf of Mexico, and between Galveston, Houston, and Corpus Christi, we would be able to access the outside world.6. The Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas is one of the 12 regional reserve banks that make up the nation’s central bank. All of the external branches of that bank are located in Texas. Remember, the Fed is privately owned, so at least one branch of the Fed could in theory continue to operate without federal oversight. That basically means any dollar bill with a “K” printed on it would still be worth something in Texas, because it was issued by OUR regional reserve bank. If you ever wondered why the money has a letter printed on it, that’s why… in case any regional federal reserve bank fails, only that bank’s notes are worthless.7. Aside from that, trade in pesos is common among the Hispanic population. Chances are that between K-dollars and pesos, we’d be able to cobble together a functional economy temporarily, assuming the US Federal government was the only one that collapsed and Mexican pesos still held their value.8. Texas has a history of operating as a Republic and has historically had a strong independence movement, so there’s a strong enough sense of patriotism towards the state itself that people would likely come together and feel compelled to keep things going, even if we have to do so alone. We’re very aware of our own history and even have our own story of independence. We’ve survived a lot of regime change in the past.9. The Texas economy is about the size of Canada’s economy. It’s not as big as California’s economy, granted, but it’s also a lot less dependent on the federal government and other states for things like water and electricity, which would be important in this scenario.10. Texas is where most of the US oil fields are located, so we have most of the oil and natural gas here.11. Texas is responsible for much of the US agricultural production, and nearby states like Oklahoma and Missouri are responsible for much of the rest.Given all of this, I think we have the best chance of surviving a federal government collapse. It’s possible that if we managed to get things stabilized (which is quite likely), we could even become the center of a new union with several of our neighbors who would quite possibly find the prospect of joining up with Texas desirable to help maintain parts of the regional economies that made up the former United States.Don’t underestimate the power of state governors to meet up with each other and arrange deals for stability in a power vacuum. A lot of these guys have presidential ambitions to begin with, especially Texas governors.

SCOTUS avoided making America look like a banana republic by this man.But don’t think this crybaby is done because he has a whole cadre of spineless Republicans in Congress still catering to his whining and making a mockery of American democracy.We still have this man to worry about on December 23 when the electoral votes are presented to the Senate.Pence in his capacity as Senate president is to accept the electoral certificates and initiate the congressional counts so the new Congress can officially declare the winner of the 2020 election on Jan 6. Until then, we had the majority of Republican house members endorsing the Texas lawsuits, 106 of them joining in a friend-of-the-court brief. They can file objection to force a vote by Congress to overturn the electoral votes.This last desperate option has no chance of passing because it needs the majority vote in both chambers. It hasn’t stopped the Republicans from making a fool of themselves so far, I don’t see what’s preventing Pence and congressional members from prostrating themselves to trump as final gesture of worship to their almighty moron.Federal prosecutions should be initiated to stop such foolishness in the future. In particular, the Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 11. Known as Rule 11, it requires that those making cases in court must not be doing so “for any improper purpose, such as to harass, cause unnecessary delay, or needlessly increase the cost of litigation.” It also requires that “the claims, defenses, and other legal contentions are warranted by existing law or by a nonfrivolous argument.”If not on ALL the 17 Republican attorneys general, at least for Texas’ Ken Paxton. This Texas lawsuit was based on bogus claims and brought for partisan political purposes and to curry favor with trump - Paxton obviously needing a pardon to shield himself from pending federal charges against him.The integrity of American democracy is at stake. It’s now not enough anymore to trust our politicians to follow the unwritten traditions and protocols of our democracy. We need to legislate punishments to stipulate consequences for such actions.

Q: Which countries punish atheism?A: Here are some of them:EDIT: Since so many Americans say that there are no such laws in the US, here are the state constitutions that explicitly says that:Arkansas: Article 19, Section 1"No person who denies the being of a God shall hold any office in the civil departments of this State, nor be competent to testify as a witness in any Court."Maryland: Article 37"That no religious test ought ever to be required as a qualification for any office of profit or trust in this State, other than a declaration of belief in the existence of God; nor shall the Legislature prescribe any other oath of office than the oath prescribed by this Constitution."Mississippi: Article 14, Section 265"No person who denies the existence of a Supreme Being shall hold any office in this state."North Carolina: Article 6, Section 8"The following persons shall be disqualified for office: First, any person who shall deny the being of Almighty God."South Carolina: Article 17, Section 4"No person who denies the existence of a Supreme Being shall hold any office under this Constitution."Tennessee: Article 9, Section 2"No person who denies the being of God, or a future state of rewards and punishments, shall hold any office in the civil department of this state."Texas: Article 1, Section 4"No religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office, or public trust, in this State; nor shall any one be excluded from holding office on account of his religious sentiments, provided he acknowledge the existence of a Supreme Being."An eighth state constitution affords special protection to theists.Pennsylvania: Article 1, Section 4"No person who acknowledges the being of a God and a future state of rewards and punishments shall, on account of his religious sentiments, be disqualified to hold any office or place of trust or profit under this Commonwealth."…which would then be the exception that confirms the rule.The thing that stops them being enforced is the precedent set Torcaso v. Watkins – but with the current Republican majority in the Supreme Court, of which at least Kavanaugh and Thomas are clearly against that doctrine, and a Dominionist VP and a stranglehold on the GOP by Evangelicals, I would not be so sure that Torcaso v. Watkins is impossible to overturn or that the incorporation doctrine is set in stone.And that’s on top of the informal punishment of atheists – i.e. bullying.