When people in power want to distract us, they tell us every election is about left versus right. They want us arguing with our neighbors while they continue doing business behind closed doors. But if you look around Texas, and if you look around the world, something else is happening. In France, in Spain, in Portugal, in Italy, people are filling the streets because they cannot afford housing. They cannot keep up with costs. They feel institutions no longer listen to ordinary people. The details are different in every country, but the question is the same: Who is government for? Is it for the people struggling to pay rent? Is it for the teacher buying classroom supplies out of her own paycheck? Is it for the family choosing between groceries and healthcare? Or is it for the people who already have the money, the connections, and the lobbyists? 

That is the real divide of our time. Not Democrat versus Republican. Not liberal versus conservative. It is whether government serves ordinary people or whether it serves those powerful enough to buy access. And nowhere is that question clearer than in this race. For years, Texans have watched scandal after scandal surround Ken Paxton. Texans have watched investigations, accusations of corruption, ethical controversies, and political drama consume the office that is supposed to represent the rule of law (democracy). And while all of that was happening, what were ordinary Texans worried about? Not political games. They were worried about paying the mortgage. They were worried about childcare. They were worried about prescription drug costs. They were worried about whether their children could afford a home in the state where they grew up.

The tragedy is not just corruption. The tragedy is what corruption steals from us. Every minute spent protecting the powerful is a minute not spent serving the people. Every favor for an insider is a broken promise to a worker. Every backroom deal is another reason a citizen loses faith that democracy works.

The Talarico campaign was not about replacing one politician with another. It was about restoring the idea that public office is a public trust. A teacher’s voice should matter as much as a billionaire’s voice. A nurse’s concerns should matter as much as a donor’s concerns. A young family’s future should matter more than any special interest’s profit. Because government belongs to the people. Not the wealthy. Not the connected. Not the politically protected. The people.

Some tried to turn this election into a culture war. Some tried to divide us by party, by race, by religion, by ZIP code. Talarico refused, Because a struggling Republican family and a struggling Democratic family often want the same things: A good school. A safe community. Affordable housing. Honest government. A fair chance.

That’s not a left-wing dream. That’s not a right-wing dream. That’s the Texas dream. And if we want that dream back, we have to demand something simple from those who seek power: Serve the people. Tell the truth. Follow the law. And remember who put you there. Because this election is not about left versus right. It’s about whether Texas continues to work for the few, or finally starts working for the many. And together, we’re going to choose the many.

Congress Should Mint the Digital Dollar Before Private Money Replaces It

For centuries, sovereign governments reserved one power above all others: the creation of money. Yet in the United States, we are quietly surrendering that power. Today, an increasing share of digital transactions rely on privately issued stablecoins, payment tokens, and electronic currencies controlled not by Congress, not by the Federal Reserve, and not by the American people, but by corporations and private financial interests. The result is a gradual privatization of America’s monetary infrastructure.

Congress should reverse course by establishing a government-minted, government-monitored digital dollar. Not because technology demands it. Because economic sovereignty demands it.

The Monetary Question Behind “Top vs. Bottom”

The rise of Texas Senator-elect James Talarico‘s “top versus bottom” instead of “left verses right” political message reflects a broader public frustration. Many Americans increasingly believe that economic power has become concentrated in institutions that are too large, too distant, and too influential. Traditionally this debate has focused on:

• Wall Street versus Main Street.
• Corporations versus workers.
• Billionaires versus ordinary citizens.
  

But there is another concentration of power that receives far less attention:

Who controls money itself?

Americans may disagree about taxes, regulation, or spending, but few would argue that the nation’s monetary system should ultimately be governed by unaccountable private actors. Yet that is precisely where a purely private stablecoin future leads. A stablecoin may be pegged to the dollar, but it is not the dollar. The issuer decides:

• Access.
• Technical standards.
• Platform rules.
• Transaction architecture.

In time, privately issued digital money creates private monetary ecosystems. That is not innovation. That is fragmentation and dilution of the dollar’s value.

America Should Not Outsource Its Currency

China understands this. Europe increasingly understands this. Both are developing state-backed digital currency systems because they recognize that payment infrastructure is becoming an instrument of national power.

The United States possesses the world’s reserve currency, yet it risks becoming the only major power whose digital money architecture is controlled by private entities. Imagine if the interstate highway system had been left entirely to competing private toll operators. Imagine if air-traffic control were determined by whichever corporation happened to grow fastest. No serious nation would permit such fragmentation in critical infrastructure. Money should be treated similarly. The dollar is not merely a payment mechanism. It is a national institution.

An E-Dollar Strengthens Liberty

Critics immediately raise concerns about surveillance. Those concerns are legitimate. But they are arguments for proper design, not for inaction. Congress should mandate that an American e-dollar incorporate:

• Strong privacy protections.
• Due-process safeguards.
• Constitutional protections against warrantless surveillance.
• Full transparency regarding government access.

Indeed, a democratically governed public e-dollar may ultimately prove safer than relying on private firms that already possess enormous quantities of consumer financial data. The choice is not between surveillance and freedom. The choice is between public accountability and private accountability. In a constitutional republic, public accountability is preferable.

How a Digital Dollar Answers the Populist Moment

The genius of the “top versus bottom” framework is that it speaks to concerns shared by people across the political spectrum. A digital dollar could become one of the rare reforms capable of attracting support from both the left and the right. Progressives may support:

• Universal access.
• Reduced financial exclusion.
• Lower transaction costs.

Conservatives may support:

• National sovereignty.
• Competition with China.
• Preservation of dollar dominance.

Economic nationalists may support:

• Strengthening America’s position in global finance.

Small businesses may support:

• Reduced payment fees.
• Faster settlement.

Consumers may support:

• Simpler digital transactions.
  

Such a coalition would represent something rare in modern Washington: a genuinely bipartisan economic reform.

Reclaiming Monetary Sovereignty

The deeper issue is not technology. The deeper issue is whether the American people remain the ultimate owners of the monetary system. For decades, Americans have watched concentration increase across media, finance, technology, and politics.  The answer to that concentration is not to create another private monopoly around digital money. The answer is to build a public alternative that belongs to everyone.

If Congress truly wishes to respond to growing concerns about the divide between “top” and “bottom,” it should start with the institution that underlies every transaction in the country. The dollar. America created the world’s most trusted currency. Congress should ensure that the digital version remains just as public, just as sovereign, and just as American. The future of money should be minted by the Republic, not rented from private empires.