Would people move to Texas if it were an independent nation? (Houston: income, income tax)

[aceplace]

I'd like to pose a hypothetical here. Gov Perry tried to influence some national legislation in the Federal Congress by pointing out that Texas doesn't have to live with onerous Federal laws, it can always just leave. A cable news commentator claimed that if Texas became independent, people would flee to the United States, and no one would move here. He also claimed that the NFL would expel the Dallas Cowboys from the league. I don't know about the Cowboys, but I think that an independent Texas would attract people, not repel them.

Mostly, people would move to Texas to escape the current level of Federal income taxes, especially the top 1% of earners who supposedly contribute 45% of the taxes. Texas would probably not fund existing Federal programs with an income tax, but would probably set up a value-added tax as in Europe. Moreover, Texas would have far fewer costs to pay... it would not have to station troops around the world or fight a war in Afghanistan. It would not be subject to the cap-and-trade energy rationing, nor would it have to pay interest on the upcoming trillion dollar budget deficits.

The idea is that many people don't like the current set of Federal laws we now live under, but there is currently no alternative. There is only one America to live in and if you're an American, you want to live in an American society. If Texas became independent then there would be a credible alternative America, and millions of disgruntled people would move here. Businesses would migrate en masse to an independent Texas to escape onerous Washington business rules. Texas would benefit from an enormous influx of capital.

What do you think? Would anybody want to move to and live in an independent Texas? Would you stay or leave?

[aceplace]

I'd like to set some conditions for an independent Texas...

. Texas independence would come about through peaceful means, under UN supervised elections. Texas and the USA would negotiate a division of assets, such as warplanes, aircraft carriers, buildings, Social Security funds, etc., and also current liabilities, such as Texas share of the current national debt.

. Texas would maintain just a small army navy and air force, much smaller than its current share of the US military. It would not have any worldwide commitments, but only have to defend its airspace, its borders and patrol the Gulf of Mexico.

. Texas would join NATO, belong to NAFTA, and participate in other international commitments. It would have a seat in the United Nations. It would join the World Trade Organization, work with the World Bank, and be a member of the group of 20 industrialized countries.

. Texas may or may not be joined by other states, such as Oklahoma, Louisiana and Arkansas. In fact, they would be at a disadvantage not to join.

. Federal Texas would have some sort of taxation to replace existing US programs, such as Social Security, Medicare, etc, but the additional level of taxation to support them would be far lower than Texas' current share of the United States budget.

. As a nation, Texas would be more populous than Australia, but smaller than Canada. At least initially. An influx of refugees would swell Texas' population over time, perhaps to 50 or 60 millions. DFW and Houston would be the size of cities such as London or Paris, and have commensurate levels of urban glamour.

. Texas would continue to subscribe to the existing North American entertainment media, but may enact local content laws to build up its own domestic print and film and music industries.

. Texas would print its own money, and it would float relative to the US dollar.

. Houston would continue to dominate the North American energy supply and Dallas would retain ownership and control of its national industries. Military suppliers in DFW, such as Raytheon and General Dynamics, Bell, etc., would now be free to sell aircraft to third world countries.