I'm thrilled with the results!! I didn't want any man elected who thinks he gets to decide what I do with my body! Maybe now the republicans in Congress will stop voting party lines and holding up issues and we can get some things accomplished!!

you're*

Sounds like a plan. I live in Northern Va. and have no desire to secede. In fact, was there not a famous speech once about a "House Divided". States that secede are decreasing America's greatness. We stand better together than we do apart.

Sandra,

Great idea. I'd go one step further to remind those who want to seceed that this idea didn't work out very well the last time the people from the South wanted to leave the Union because they could not have things their own way.

Fred Wentzel
wentzelfred@aol.com

I think that if that happened we would be just fine remember you'll be losing all the tax dollars that go with everyone that leaves,but you want be losing any of the welfare for lifers that depend on the goverment to support them!!!!!!!GOOD LUCK WITH THAT!!!!!

Great lets do it ....but you don't get to keep any of the tax money we've been sending you all for YEARS. Northern Virginians get to keep less than 27 cents on their tax dollar due to the Commonwealth taxation laws. We have all the corporations and jobs here - and continually send you people tax money. All we asked of you is that we get more roads to drive to work on so we can spend more time with our families.

And then you all call us names for wanting to spend money on roads.....when we are the ones financing YOU! So go ahead succeed from us and see if you can live on your money alone.... I would love to get our .75 cents back so we can improve our roads!!!!!

It is not about race, it is about representation and our federally elected (they work for us not the other way round) not doing what we want. SO seceding is more about getting rid of our senators and congressmen than getting rid of POTUS.
interesting last name BTW given your potty mouth!

The driving factors are the policies this administration is enacting. The color of his skin has nothing to do with these real issues - it is, however, the thing that liberals always use to attempt to distract the clueless citizenry.

true ^ receding is a little bit of an over reaction don't you think ?

You forget that he is also half-white. Comments like these lack credibility and reflect a lack of humanity and logic. I think it is reasonable to say that most African Americans are registered democrats, so it is entirely reasonable to believe that they would vote for the democratic candidate regardless of his skin color. Would I be more likely to vote for a woman because I am a woman? Yes, but only if she was a Democrat who reflected my political philosophy. I would never vote for a pro-life Republican woman, for example, because that position does not reflect my political philosophy. To assume that African American voters did not make their decision about who to vote for based upon their individual beliefs and philosophies is insulting to those voters.

Are you serious, REALLY!!

Do some research

Not at all...Romney had no plan and not a clue on how to lead the country. Did you not see the debate????? Be for real. You hate having a black president so bad, that you would elect someone like that for president. People get real and stop the under cover racism!!!

Those 47% are not non existent in Mr. Romney's mind they are just totally dependent on the US Federal government for their monies. Soooooo, only a moron would vote against his paycheck and all Mr. Romney was saying is he can't change that (at least not as a candidate) so he can't offer those folks anything. someone who is not looking for opportunity to make money on their own and live free but does suck up our tax dollars is not at all going to be interested in much of what Romney has to offer. Course they would be totally interested in Mr. Obama who is promising them a raise. You really need to stop believing EVERYTHING you hear on TV. When I was in Iraq there where lots of things that I lived through that the media totally twisted to their own political ends. Most of what you hear on TV news (all of them not just "my favorite") is a lie. Very little in the way of "reporting" goes on any more and most of the interesting stories go untold.

You voted for Clinton because you're a party hack. You voted for Obama because you're a party hack.

So stopping the free-fall of the financial industry, saving the American Auto Industry, and 14-straight quarters of Job Growth isn't "doing anything"? I'm white, and I voted for Obama because he was the best candidate. People didn't try to secede when Bill Clinton was re-elected...it's the racist, ignorant bigots who want to 'take their ball and go home". Southern VA is welcome to go--we'll have more of our tax dollar stay here. The same for Texas and Louisiana. And you need to get your news from someplace other than Faux News.

I would not be paying federal taxes (or Social security) so yea I think we can manage it. I believe that at least 50% of my federal tax dollars is TOTALLY wasted. I'd be willing to give 50% of my formerly federal taxes to the commonwealth to pay for "stuff"
AND I could use that SS pay raise to fund my own lifestyle and retire early

Well said. All sides need to start listen to each other. Right now we are like the "7 Blind Men and the Elephant." We are convinced that what we sense is "THE TRUTH" but we fail to understand this it only part. We need to put the pieces of the puzzle together.

Which is what they see as redress. Listen to what they're saying. You don't have to agree, but listening is the start of civil discourse, and SOMEONE has to start it.

If we can't permit people to say what they want, no matter how illogical or unpopular, we are not a free civilization.

This is a PR stunt, pure and simple. Ignore the stunt and it will go away. The sentiment will not, and needs to be part of a dialogue.

T, re-read the preamble to the deceleration of independence. I believe the word "oppressive" is what we are concerned about and how to fix that.
When I look at all my tax dollars wasted on silly stuff, the example our leaders set with their actions and all the political graft that is going on I cannot help but feel like what I suspect our founding fathers felt like.

T, listening, like the communication process itself, is two-way. Some of us have spent the better part of the last four years - and certainly during this last campaign - TRYING to do just that. The tea party and others of that ilk have done an extremely poor job of that, and the election went the way it did. Now they're upset and want to use secession talk as a means to get people to listen to them? Yet, the former problem remains: THEY aren't listening.

Ailshire, but it is OUR PR stunt.
My platoon sergeant told me to always set my goals as high as I could think and not to worry about how you get there. "Set your goals high, young LT, you might even hit them.
I've since found that the way will present itself once you start, but you absolutly have to start and begin with the end in mind. if we can't get these Muldoons in congress and the white house to start doing their jobs (like give us a budget for goodness sake) and representing the folks that elected them then we cast them off and get someone who can.
The bottom line is I don't want my kids growing up in the Federated states of xxx (lots of possibilities there) under some draconian emperor.

William - "they aren't listening" means you are not communicating. As long as the process is us-versus-them, it's not communicating, but rather shouting at each other. Which is what is happening.

Ever hear of Stephen Covey? Seek first to understand, then to be understood? Not even seek first to understand, then undermine the opposition's position. Not seek first to understand then tell them how it *should* be.

Neither "side" is attempting to communicate, but neither does that justify secession, which is "taking my ball and going home."

Sorry, that last comment was to Don Carr.

To William - I hope you're not still on active duty. MY oath said " ... and those appointed over me..." which would preclude a secession position WHILE ON AD. I don't want my grandchildren growing up in the America I see coming, but secession is not the answer. Not only that, but these petitions demonstrate the signers don't know civics -- it is not up to the President or the administration to "permit" secession.

William, I don't doubt that there is waste in our federal budget, or state or local budgets or personal budgets, but I don't believe it is nearly as large as people want to make it out to be. Unfortunately for a Presidential campaign which claimed to be about the role of the government we really had no discussion of this. Have you ever used the tax calculator which gives you an estimate of where your tax dollars are going. Here is a link to the one on the White House website. http://www.whitehouse.gov/2011-taxreceipt
I agree with you that Congress is very derelict in its duty, which is why I am citizen leader with No Labels (Nolabels.org) which is a multipartisan group working to make our government actually do its job. We have bills in both the House and Senate: No Budget No Pay. I realize this has no chance of passing in this Congress and we will need to reintroduce the bills in January.

No that's not the sad part, the sad part is that so many people seem to be willing to let someone else do their thinking for them. I don't see how anyone can think that the Obama Administration has done nothing for this country. Obama's policies literally saved the US auto industry from disaster. Had he not acted, thousands of auto workers and workers in related industries would have been jobless and the impact on the US economy would have be devastating. He implemented the bank bailout, which could have been tougher on the banks, but that was the fault of the congress kowtowing to the banks, by watering down the law and removing the language that provided foreclosure victims with additional protections. The Obama administration has implemented programs and policies to help people facing foreclosure, signed the Lily Ledbetter Act so that women could sue employers for equal pay, got us out of Iraq, is trying to get us out of Afghanistan, ended Don't Ask, Don't Tell, supports Marriage Equality. He also implemented a health care law that aims to ensure insurance coverage for all Americans so that people don't have to die because they can't afford medical treatment or health insurance. People cite these things as job killers and talk about how they are robbing the country of billions of dollars - where do they get these ideas? Who are they listening to? Tell me why some of you think these things. Where are the examples of the ACA destroying jobs?

Isle, Last time I checked this was a capitalistic economy where we don't buy out certain inefficient manufacturers just because they are of US origin. devastating to GM and Ford sure but that is capitalism. I'd rather have cheaper, faster, cars that get better MPG. Same same for health care and bank bailouts...... almost everything he has put his hand to.
For the record Obama did not "get us out of Iraq" he just executed the plan that was already in place when he got into office.

Roosa, I guess then you would be the first one to yell off with his head if Obama let the auto manufacturers fail and we were suddenly faced with thousands of people out of work. Of course the ripple effect would be that they could lose their homes, not have food to eat, not have any medical insurance. A huge number of people would be applying for unemployment benefits, food stamps, medicare. So that is what you and Messrs. Romney and Ryan would prefer. Too bad you can't manage to figuratively stand in the shoes of some of those auto workers.

Belle, I recall the buggy whip, 8-track tape, CD, etc, etc, etc all made that same claim and we seem to have done OK without them. Fact is they got jobs in new technology sectors and those new technology sectors benefited by both the increase in the number of skilled workers they could call upon and the fact that they did not have to pay then at union rates. Don't construe that I have anything against unions but some of them certainly don't have labor staying employed as a goal as I see it
As for the "it is too huge to fail" we are only talking about 10,000 workers and their families. Obama put that many out of work last week!!!!
Gota get your facts straight then do just a little bit of a giggle test to see if what "they " are saying jives with what the number tell you.

Just like when Al Gore did it.How soon we forget!!!

Braxton, I'm sure the paperwork is very similar between a state seceding and a commonwealth becoming a full blown state and not joining up.

Sally, your post made me smile. Thanks. How fascinating that you have traced your family back that far. I've only been here about 13 years, but I kind of like it here and am not interested in seceding, so I think I will stay, if that's OK with you.