No More Layers That Don’t Need to Exist: Passports, Tariffs, and Funding an Independent Texas

Daniel Miller opened the second-Wednesday edition of Late Night Coffee Talk with a reminder that the Texas Nationalist Movement does something most political operations avoid. It throws the doors open and takes the questions live. This session ran the gamut, from border crossings to the federal middleman skimming money out of Texans’ paychecks before handing a fraction of it back with strings attached.

The recurring theme was self-government. On passports and tariffs, Miller pointed to real-world travel and trade agreements, the visa-free arrangements in Europe and the border-transit card already moving more than a million legal crossings between the United States and Mexico, to show that an independent Texas sets its own terms rather than inheriting Washington’s. On infrastructure, he made the case that federal highway dollars are just Texas money taking a detour through D.C., and that removing the layer that does not need to exist is the entire point. Texans do not want an income tax and never will outside the Union, and the only reason they pay one now is the federal requirement.

Miller also turned the conversation toward the moment at hand. With nearly a dozen pledge-signing candidates heading into the next Texas legislature, he argued that pre-filing in November puts the Texas Independence Referendum Act on a near-certain path to being filed, and that the time to fund billboards, signs, and airtime is now, not after the election. He plugged the upcoming TEXIT Blueprint in Lufkin on September 28 and the newly launched TEXIT section of the TNM Academy on TNM Social, and closed on the doctrine that carries the whole effort. Relentless pressure until independence is won, then secured.

Questions answered in this episode

• Will Texans need to show a passport to enter and return to Texas after independence, and will Texas have to impose tariffs on commodities from states and countries not trading with it?
• Will Texans still have access to Social Security, Medicare, and similar programs once Texas leaves the Union?
• Did the TNM watch the presidential debate, and what did Miller make of it as a former competitive debater?
• The federal government helps fund highways, freeways, and bridges. How would an independent Texas pay for that infrastructure, and would it mean a new income tax or higher sales tax?
• Will Miller come do a TEXIT Blueprint in Abilene, and how does a community get one scheduled?
• Will there be another petition drive to put Texas independence on the ballot?
• How many votes does it take to win independence, and is there a supermajority requirement?
• Has the TNM thought about forming clubs in other states to support Texas independence?
• Is there any update on the Texas goldback and a sound-money effort in the legislature?