Indiana part of secession movement

WISH TV

Updated: Nov 13, 2012 6:20 PM

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — People around the country are signing online petitions to break up the Union. It's a reaction to the re-election of President Obama and it's a movement that includes a petition for Indiana to secede from the United States.

Here's the irony: the petitions are on the White House website. They likely won't accomplish anything, but the Obama administration will give a formal response to any petition that attracts more than 25,000 signatures in a month. The Texas petition has more than 66,000 signatures already, a fact that prompted Texas Governor Rick Perry to issue a statement saying he "believes in the greatness of the Union."

Derek Belcher filed the Alabama petition. He thinks the federal government is out of control. "They are taxing us to death," he said, "and they are taking our freedoms away at a break neck speed."

More than 14,000 people have signed an Indiana petition, but a close inspection shows that most of them don't live here. Regardless, GOP State Representative Tim Brown of Crawfordsville gave them encouragement. "Everybody has a right to sign a petition that they feel comfortable with," he said.

But that prompted House Speaker Brian Bosma to make an effort to put the Obama re-election in perspective. "We'll work through this," said Bosma. "The Republic will survive. That's what I've told people who asked me, wringing their hands about the future of the country, the Republic will survive."

Plus, there's now a competing petition on the White House website. It calls on the President to strip the citizenship of anyone who signs a secession petition and have them deported.

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