A Currency of Our Own: The Gold Bill, the Abbott-Patrick War, and What Independence Has to Protect

Daniel Miller opens this week with a win he calls explosive. Governor Abbott signed House Bill 1056, the transactional gold bill, into law. Miller argues most people miss why this matters because they fixate on the political side of independence and overlook the economic side. The bill operationalizes the Texas Bullion Depository so that ordinary Texans can eventually spend gold and silver in everyday transactions, which he frames as Texas quietly standing up a non-federal-reserve currency. When the day comes and someone asks what Texas would do for money, he says, the answer will be been there, done that. He adds that the TNM’s role in getting both this bill and the original depository across the line will likely never be written about, and he is fine with that.

The second thread is the public feud between Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick and Governor Abbott over SB3, Patrick’s THC ban. Abbott vetoed it, Patrick went on a social media tear, and Abbott fired back that Patrick should have sent him a good bill. Miller is candid that he does not have a clean read on it, but he treats the spat as a symptom of deeper maneuvering heading into a chaotic 2026 cycle. He walks through the shakeups: a crowded attorney general field, Kelly Hancock moving toward comptroller with Nate Schatzline jumping in, retirements across the Texas House, and capitol whispers that Patrick may not run again and instead anoint a successor Abbott might not want.

Underneath it all is Miller’s argument about the federal relationship. Pressed on Muslim enclaves and Sharia courts, he insists the TNM’s mission is not only independence but protecting a constitutional republic and the inherent rights of Texans, including religious freedom. His harder claim is that the tie to Washington is the cancer that keeps Texas from solving its own problems, because outside money and federal leverage make state officials weak. Cut that connection, he says, and Texas can finally deal with its issues directly.

Questions answered in this episode

• If an independent Texas could still be overrun by hostile enclaves operating under Sharia law, what is the point of independence, and how would the TNM actually deal with self-declared no-go zones?
• Now that HB 1056 is law, what is the next step for ordinary Texans? Should people open Texas Bullion Depository accounts and start storing gold and silver?
• How can Texas secede through a political process, and what is the short answer to the claim that Texas v. White settled that states have no right to withdraw?
• If the referendum passes, what guarantee is there that the TNM stays in the driver’s seat, and what would stop a hostile party from seizing control right after the vote?
• Does the TNM already have people in mind for posts like ambassadorships to the UK, Israel, or the Vatican, and will it accept resumes for those roles?
• Do you think the Alamo is haunted, and do you have any personal ghost story to share?