by Jim Rickards, Daily Reckoning:
At a recent New Hampshire campaign rally, Donald Trump reiterated what he’s been saying for months: that central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) are dangerous and he would never allow one if elected:
Tonight, I am also making another promise to protect Americans from government tyranny. As your president, I will never allow the creation of a central bank digital currency…
Such a currency would give… our federal government, the absolute control over your money. They could take your money. You wouldn’t even know it was gone. This would be a dangerous threat to freedom.
Welcome aboard, Mr. President.
TRUTH LIVES on at https://sgtreport.tv/
If you’ve been following my writings, you know that I’ve been sounding the alarm about what I call Biden Bucks for nearly two years. I’ve warned about Joe Biden’s plan to control your money and take away your privacy rights completely.
I like to think that someone brought my warnings to Donald Trump’s attention since I’ve been one of very few people to outline the dangers that Biden Bucks pose to Americans’ freedom. I’d be very happy if I was at least partially responsible for stopping them.
Biden Bucks, Summarized
To catch you up, Joe Biden is planning to replace your physical cash with new electronic currencies.
These new electronic currencies are called CBDCs — or, again, “central bank digital currencies” (I like to call them “Biden Bucks” because I want Biden to take full credit for what I consider to be crimes against American citizens).
And these Biden Bucks would have the full backing of the U.S. Federal Reserve. They’d replace the cash (“fiat”) dollar we have now. And if Biden gets his way, they’d be the sole, mandatory currency of the United States.
What does this mean for you? It would make your money less truly your own. It would be subject to government control, as Donald Trump said in New Hampshire.
We’re already seeing how many retailers are no longer accepting cash across America. What happens when physical cash is eliminated altogether from any payment transactions?
You’ve Met Your Quota!
Imagine this. To further advance his Green New Scam, what if Joe Biden and his cronies decide that gasoline needs to be rationed?
Your Biden Bucks could be rendered useless at the gas pump once you’ve purchased a certain amount of gasoline in a week! You want gas, but all you get is a one-word message: Declined.
How’s that for control?
Biden Bucks would create new ways for the government to control how much you can buy of an item, or even restrict purchases. It would keep score of every financial decision you make.
In a world of Biden Bucks, the government will even know your physical whereabouts at the point of purchase.
It’s a short step from there to putting you under FBI investigation if you vote for the wrong candidate or give donations to the wrong political party. If any of this sounds extreme, fantastical or otherwise far-fetched, it’s not.
It’s Happening Right Now
Recently, the FBI and Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) sent letters to U.S. banks asking them to identify and provide a list to the government of customers using Zelle, Venmo and similar payment channels who mentioned “MAGA,” or “Trump” in their message traffic.
They also asked for details on bookstore purchases of “religious” articles including Bibles. Finally, they asked for details on those shopping at Cabela’s, Dick’s Sporting Goods or Bass Pro Shops, presumably on the view that those are places to buy guns and ammo.
This is a clear-cut violation of the First Amendment (free speech, freedom of religion), Second Amendment (right to bear arms) and Fourth Amendment (no unreasonable search and seizure).
It’s not a crime to write “MAGA,” etc. and therefore there’s no reasonable basis for suspecting a crime, and therefore no right to get the information without a warrant, which requires a judge. Any judge would likely reject the warrant request since there’s no probable cause.
This is an obvious case of profiling that may well involve AI. If you shoot someone and you’re wearing a MAGA hat, you get arrested for the shooting, not the hat. In this case, the hat is enough to put you under surveillance because you have been profiled as “an enemy of the people” by the government’s definition.
I predicted this kind of surveillance would arise with the use of Biden Bucks since the government would have your financial records and would not have to go to the banks or get a warrant. I’d like to say I was wrong, but unfortunately I was right.
The FBI Isn’t Waiting for Biden Bucks
It looks like the FBI is not waiting for CBDCs. They’re collecting the same information we said they would directly from the banks. I specifically warned that “books” would be one category the FBI would want to know about since it helps with the profiling.
This goes hand in hand with prior revelations that the FBI was targeting traditional Catholics (especially those who go to Latin Masses) for surveillance as possible terrorists.
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