Uploaded August 2026 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
Briefing for State Leaders: Scenario Planning: Programmable Money and the Automated Third Lock with Dennis Kucinich
Solari’s monthly online briefings are designed to support state legislators, other elected officials, and engaged citizens who are working to preserve American freedoms.
The July briefing, “Scenario Planning: Programmable Money and the Automated Third Lock,” took place on Thursday, July 9 from 2:00-4:00 PM Eastern. Former Congressman and presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich joined the discussion.
The briefing:
- Began with a brief overview of programmable money and the concept of the “third lock,” including the difference between manual and automated transaction controls
- Reviewed a scenario planning framework designed to identify and communicate the potential risks and opportunities associated with programmable money
- Discussed the advisability of putting up legislative guardrails on programmable money, irrespective of scenario
- Reviewed legislative proposals, including cash acceptance legislation, protections against programmable money, and the emerging concept of a Right to a Non-Digital Life
- Invited briefing attendees to participate in an interactive working session to help evaluate the four scenarios and identify additional legislative ideas for consideration
A central question is whether legislative guardrails should depend on assumptions about intent. Even if programmable money is developed with beneficial goals, should reasonable safeguards be established before it becomes part of our financial infrastructure? What protections would be prudent regardless of whether the ultimate outcome is positive or negative?
Full Report: solari.com/briefing-for-state-leaders-scenario-planning-programmable-money-and-the-automated-third-lock-with-dennis-kucinich
Subscribe to shop.solari.com
Briefing for State Leaders: Scenario Planning: Programmable Money and the Automated Third Lock with Dennis Kucinich
Solari’s monthly online briefings are designed to support state legislators, other elected officials, and engaged citizens who are working to preserve American freedoms.
The July briefing, “Scenario Planning: Programmable Money and the Automated Third Lock,” took place on Thursday, July 9 from 2:00-4:00 PM Eastern. Former Congressman and presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich joined the discussion.
The briefing:
- Began with a brief overview of programmable money and the concept of the “third lock,” including the difference between manual and automated transaction controls
- Reviewed a scenario planning framework designed to identify and communicate the potential risks and opportunities associated with programmable money
- Discussed the advisability of putting up legislative guardrails on programmable money, irrespective of scenario
- Reviewed legislative proposals, including cash acceptance legislation, protections against programmable money, and the emerging concept of a Right to a Non-Digital Life
- Invited briefing attendees to participate in an interactive working session to help evaluate the four scenarios and identify additional legislative ideas for consideration
A central question is whether legislative guardrails should depend on assumptions about intent. Even if programmable money is developed with beneficial goals, should reasonable safeguards be established before it becomes part of our financial infrastructure? What protections would be prudent regardless of whether the ultimate outcome is positive or negative?
Full Report: solari.com/briefing-for-state-leaders-scenario-planning-programmable-money-and-the-automated-third-lock-with-dennis-kucinich
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Local Pushback against Privatization of Public Infrastructure: One Person Can Make a Difference with Terri Hall
By Elze van Hamelen
The story of Terri Hall is a remarkable tale illustrating how—with perseverance, faith, and a refusal to give up—one person can have a major impact. In this interview, Hall describes how a call to action on local radio and a small meeting in a school library turned into successful, statewide grassroots pushback.
In 2005, the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) had plans to convert an existing, taxpayer-financed freeway into a toll road and to transfer ownership to two foreign corporations in a 50-year deal. The contracts would have allowed no competing projects in the nearby area, hindering any future public development. The plans also called for expansion onto private land to be seized through eminent domain and transferred to the foreign companies—a clear infringement of property rights and an abuse of eminent domain (which is only supposed to be applied for urgent public purposes). For the private companies, there would be no limits to the toll fees that they could collect, and if the project failed to become profitable, citizens would be taxed to cover the investment gap.
Toll road projects of this type hit low- and middle-income citizens the hardest, forcing them to pay exorbitant toll fees just to get to work. Recognizing the “kitchen-table issues” in play, homeschooling mom Terri Hall was, therefore, shocked when she heard about the TxDOT’s plans. In response, she organized a highly successful grassroots initiative that led, in 2007, to a moratorium on privatized toll roads, and, in 2012, to the removal of a full chapter from the state’s transportation code. She explains,
“[As] anyone [knows] who has ever done legislative work, it’s hard to get a single line out of code. Sometimes it can take you years just to get a single initiative out of code. We managed to get an entire chapter of the transportation code completely erased.”
The toll road was intended to be part of a national NAFTA superhighway, with Texas selected as the starting point due to its gateway relationship to Mexico. Halting the “Trans Texas Project” stopped the superhighway network from spreading across the U.S.
Through her two non-profits, Texans Uniting for Reform & Freedom (TURF – “Defending Freedom to Travel & Property Rights”) and Texans for Toll-free Highways, Hall continues to push back against privatized toll roads and other threats on the horizon. Describing the ongoing efforts to privatize public infrastructure, attack property rights, and restrict citizens’ freedom of movement—for example, through the federally mandated kill switch in all new cars, driverless cars, surveillance, and non-competitive contracting—Hall observes, “The other side will never stop because they’re working 24/7, sometimes with our money, lobbying against us. So we have to be just as vigilant as they are.”
Hall also describes the importance of “training up younger blood” and growing the ranks of citizens lobbying for freedom. The practical information she shares is sure to inspire some to join the pushback.
Full Report: https://solari.com/local-pushback-against-privatization-of-public-infrastructure-one-person-can-make-a-difference-with-terri-hall/
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