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In my first session as a state representative, I filed legislation to make gold and silver legal tender and functional money in the state of Texas—able to be transacted with the modern convenience of a debit card. While we weren’t able to get it across the finish line, we made great progress on this important issue.
In December of last year, the National Association of Christian Lawmakers voted unanimously to make our bill model legislation for all fifty states, and while that is absolutely wonderful, I want Texas to lead.
The technology already exists today. For example, I am the proud owner of a Glint card. When I load money onto my Glint card, I am actually buying gold that is held in Switzerland, and the value that I have on the card is equal to the gold that I purchased.
If the price of gold goes up, so too does the value I have on the card. When I spend with a merchant, they are paid in U.S. dollars, and Glint liquidates the same value in gold from my holdings. However, in the meantime, the value being tied to gold has given me a hedge against inflation.
Unfortunately, as wonderful as the service is, there are a couple major problems with it. First, I want my gold and silver held right here in the United States. Second, there are tax and privacy implications because my Glint gold is considered an investment by the IRS. Every expenditure has a tax consequence and because of that, there is no privacy.
My legislation solves these problems. We already have the existing Texas Bullion Depository that would allow us to store our gold in our state. Second, this legislation meets the constitutional requirements of Article 1, Section 10 of the United States Constitution regarding legal tender and the federal government’s definition of “functional money”.
All of this means that when the value of a citizen’s gold goes up, it should be exempted from taxation—considered functional money and not as an investment. While this may end up being decided in the courts, I feel strongly based on existing judicial precedent such as Briscoe v Bank of Kentucky that the legislation would hold up to such judicial scrutiny.
By creating functional money, this legislation should prevent the privacy, compliance costs, and tax implications associated with the current Glint card.
I also want to take a moment to look at this from a 20,000-foot view and talk about why it’s important we get legislation like this in place now to protect our citizens in the future. There are two developments, moving at a rapid pace right this moment, that aim to drastically change the global economy and commerce moving forward. The first is the BRICS nations working hard to move away from the US dollar and ultimately to topple it from its position as the global reserve currency. If that happens, it’s going to mean bad things for the dollar and higher inflation destroying the livelihood of our citizens.
The second is the coordinated efforts at the World Economic Forum and in many nations around the world—including the United States—to create central bank digital currencies and move to a cashless society. Let’s make no mistake, this is about control. Every transaction you make will be monitored. Every unit of currency is ultimately able to be controlled by computer code.
You could be frozen out of your entire life savings in an instant. Maybe you “earned” a bad social credit score, and of course, with a few keystrokes they can also inflate the heck out of the digital currency, too.
I’ve spent the last forty years building a construction company from the ground up. I wake up early, and a lot of days I get in the dirt with my guys. These are the hard-working men who build America and just want to provide for their families. I’m watching as the inflation caused by our federal government continues to destroy paychecks and saving power for them and everyone else. I’m also looking to the future and have significant concerns about whether the same American Dream will be available to future generations or whether they will be saddled with inflation, surveillance, and control.
That protection of our citizens rights and the American Dream is what my legislation is really about. It does that by making gold and silver functional money that can be transacted with the convenience of a debit card. A vote in favor of Proposition 7 is a vote in favor of a piece of legislation like mine being enacted into Texas law. It’s a vote in favor of sound money, privacy, and the American Dream.
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