Florida’s Republican Governor Ron DeSantis has unveiled his new plan that seeks to fight efforts by Democrat President Joe Biden to replace traditional cash with a central bank-controlled “digital dollar.”
DeSantis revealed a proposal on Monday in response to Biden’s recent moves to usher in “digital cash.”
As Slay News has reported, Biden recently ordered the Federal Reserve to prepare for the implementation of a central bank digital currency.
However, the government and Federal Reserve have been working on a “digital dollar” for some time.
A digital currency would allow the government to control your money, income, and personal behavior, as Slay News reported.
It would likely mean a further crackdown on conservatives, Trump supporters, Christians, and Pro-Life Americans.
A central bank digital currency would be managed by the Federal Reserve and tethered to the value of the dollar.
But experts warn that it would create opportunities for government surveillance and control of private citizens.
To combat the issue, DeSantis proposed legislation that would ban the recognition of central bank digital currencies as money under Florida’s Uniform Commercial Code.
The governor’s legislation ban centralized digital cash whether it’s from the federal government or an overseas central bank.
“The Biden administration’s efforts to inject a Centralized Bank Digital Currency is about surveillance and control,” DeSantis said in a press release.
“Today’s announcement will protect Florida consumers and businesses from the reckless adoption of a ‘centralized digital dollar’ which will stifle innovation and promote government-sanctioned surveillance.
“Florida will not side with economic central planners; we will not adopt policies that threaten personal economic freedom and security.”
According to a report from the Atlantic Council, nations such as China, Australia, Japan, India, Russia, and South Korea are presently exploring central bank digital currencies.
Meanwhile, digital cash has already been established in the Bahamas, Nigeria, and Jamaica.
Skeptics of central bank digital currencies have noted the many instances in which the financial system has been leveraged by public and private actors to oppose certain political perspectives, including those often held by conservatives.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau invoked emergency powers last year to freeze the personal and corporate bank accounts of people involved with demonstrations against his government’s vaccine mandates.
PayPal also announced that the firm would withdraw funds from accounts deemed to be promoting racism or so-called “misinformation,” a policy that the company later claimed was published by mistake.
Republican South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem recently vetoed legislation that would have classified a potential central bank digital currency as money in her state’s Uniform Commercial Code.
DeSantis is now calling on other states to adopt similar prohibitions on such digital assets.
“A Central Bank Digital Currency is the cornerstone of a federal government that could track each and every transaction that happens in the world,” Florida Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis said in the press release.
“There would be no privacy, and if there is no privacy, there are no rights.
“In the same way Florida is fighting back against the IRS, we need to fight back against this program.
“It’s how we protect freedom, liberty, and prosperity.”
One paper from the Federal Reserve argues that a central bank digital currency would preserve the international role of the dollar.
It also claims that “digital cash” would promote “inclusion” in the financial system while mitigating pitfalls from decentralized cryptocurrencies such as liquidity risk and credit risk.
Biden has issued a “whole-of-government approach to addressing the risks and harnessing the potential benefits of digital assets and their underlying technology,” while reports generated by the administration “encourage the Federal Reserve” to continue research into the technology and call upon the Treasury Department to establish an interagency working group to support the initiative.
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell has said that his “mind is open” to a central bank digital currency.
The Fed chairman also added that he was “legitimately undecided” on whether the “benefits outweigh the costs.”
Monetary policymakers recently conducted a simulation with Citi, Mastercard, BNY Mellon, and other companies to determine the “feasibility of payments between financial institutions” using the technology.
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