Obama is open to ditching the penny
“I don’t know,” Obama said when asked about it today.
“It’s one of those things where I think people get attached emotionally to the way things have been,” he said on a Google+ hangout. “We remember our piggy banks and counting out all the pennies and then taking them in and getting a dollar bill or a couple of dollars from it and maybe that’s the reason people haven’t gotten around to it.” …
“This is not going to be a huge savings for government. But anytime we’re spending more money on something that people don’t actually use, that’s an example of something we should probably change,” he said. “One of the things that you see chronically in government is it’s very hard to get rid of things that don’t work so that we can then invest in the things that do.”
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So that’s a no to The Penny Plan I guess. Too Bad.
Bmore on February 15, 2013 at 9:43 AM
???
You know I don’t really get the dilemma. Why is it “get rid of the penny” or “keep losing money because it costs more to make a penny”
Doesn’t make sense to me. Can’t we just change to something cheaper to make like steel pennies? That’s what we did during WWII.
Sackett on February 15, 2013 at 9:44 AM
All taxes and costs will then be rounded up. Local governments will love the idea. More money for them to waste.
darwin on February 15, 2013 at 9:44 AM
Like President Obama, for example.
Washington Nearsider on February 15, 2013 at 9:46 AM
No kidding. Like the entire liberal agenda.
Doughboy on February 15, 2013 at 9:52 AM
Quick, get some focus groups together! We need to test the comprehensive balanced approach to the penny cliff.
forest on February 15, 2013 at 9:52 AM
Obama’s war on Abe Lincoln.
Bitter Clinger on February 15, 2013 at 9:53 AM
Better idea:
Keep the penny, ditch Obama.
The penny is actually worth something.
turfmann on February 15, 2013 at 9:56 AM
Fixed for accuracy
HumpBot Salvation on February 15, 2013 at 9:58 AM
Thread winner.
DRayRaven on February 15, 2013 at 9:58 AM
Penny: Not me! Him!!
HotAirian on February 15, 2013 at 9:59 AM
The problem is, you lose tenths of a dollar as a unit of measurement. A 6 cent tax becomes a ten cent tax, not a five cent tax when you buy a cookie. I doubt it will look like the funny percentage measures of money on gas pumps.
$1.99 becomes $2.
The rounding error will be upward.
You can choose not to handle those terrible pennies now, just use your debit card.
Fleuries on February 15, 2013 at 10:00 AM
When I saw this article I wondered if Obama was saying yes to the Penny Mack plan.
I really like the Penny Mack plan, it is too simple for the goof offs in Washington, they need something more complex, and obfuscating right?
Fleuries on February 15, 2013 at 10:01 AM
We spend money on the INS too but don’t seem to use it much.
NeoKong on February 15, 2013 at 10:02 AM
YAY! I almost never get to win!
Do I get a ticket guaranteeing admission to Bishop’s bunker?
Washington Nearsider on February 15, 2013 at 10:03 AM
If you have your own booze, sure.
DRayRaven on February 15, 2013 at 10:09 AM
Booze I have. Booze and ammo. Booze and ammo and weapons. Which I will probably lose in a boating accident in the not too distant future.
Washington Nearsider on February 15, 2013 at 10:14 AM
Great. Now the post office can increase stamp prices by 5 cent increments every 3 weeks.
NJ Red on February 15, 2013 at 10:15 AM
Haha
BallisticBob on February 15, 2013 at 10:24 AM
I was under the impression that Obama was attempting to get the world to ditch the dollar.
tom daschle concerned on February 15, 2013 at 10:52 AM
We REALLY, REALLY need to get rid of the penny. It is one of the stupidest wastes of taxpayer’s money that exists in Washington.
The US almost minted 5 billion pennies last year, at the rate of $0.02 in costs for every $0.01 penny minted, which is then either literally either throw in the trash by people who don’t like change, or used with glue to cover your home’s hipster bar countertop.
We US taxpayer aren’t paying the government taxes so you can use the f*king worthless money to cover your floor and counter tops with pennies.
ZachV on February 15, 2013 at 10:54 AM
I think we should just drop it. Yeah, it’s costing us some money, but mostly they’re just annoying. They are literally not worth the materials they’re made from and are only ever used for exact or at least more favorable change in cash transactions.
Law 1: the US Mint is to stop minting pennies as of the end of 2013. Pennies will no longer be considered legal tender as of January 1, 2015.
Law 2: As of January 1, 2015, all prices have to end in either a 5 or a 0.
Done.
LukeinNE on February 15, 2013 at 10:57 AM
No, they won’t. Do you pay your property taxes in cash? … “Your total is $550.48 … ooh, I mean, $550.50!” Holy crap! A $0.03 tax raise! The world is ending. Guess you’re going to have to pay your locality a nickel more, and forgo that new $20,000 car.
ZachV on February 15, 2013 at 11:02 AM
Actually, the US Mint commissioned a study back in 2010 about this issue. The study’s final conclusion was that more time was needed, but initial experiments did not look promising. Even for things like steel it apparently won’t bring down costs enough.
This was why they killed the Canadian penny last year. Costs could not be lowered any further.
If you think that’s bad, look at the cost for the nickel: http://news.coinupdate.com/cost-to-make-penny-and-nickel-declines-but-still-double-face-value-1751/
Doomberg on February 15, 2013 at 11:26 AM
New bill. ‘Currency Modernization Act.’
Eliminate the penny, rework the metal composition of the nickel, phase out paper dollar bill in favor of dollar coins, and implement polymer bills like Canada’s or Australia’s.
Back of the envelope.
First year savings to the taxpayer would be $1 billion in regards to the nickel rework (cut cost from $0.10 to $0.05) and penny (eliminate). Over 20 years, the dollar coin would save $4.4 billion (2.5x mint cost, lasts 20x longer) and the polymer bills probably about $5.6 billion (x2 print cost, but lasts 3x longer).
$1 x 20 + $4.4 + $5 = $30 billion saved over 20 years, without a single increase in tax or cut in spending. Just better management practices … Of course we’d also have to implement a restraint to prevent the Democrats from spending the money.
ZachV on February 15, 2013 at 11:36 AM
Tax increases will have to be in increments of five cents instead of a penny. A sales tax increase can no longer be 1 cent on the dollar, it has to be at least 5 cents. That’s quite a increase, especially for large ticket items.
darwin on February 15, 2013 at 11:37 AM
Those copper pennies will probably be worth more than your paper dollars in the not-too-distant future.
SailorMark on February 15, 2013 at 11:38 AM
+1 Indeed
Schadenfreude on February 15, 2013 at 11:50 AM
The $0.01 increment would still exist; your credit card or check would still pay to the $0.01 and your bank account would show that. That’s not changing.
The only effect this would have is if you were to show up at the store, pay in physical cash, and either have a total that ending in $0.03, $0.04, $0.08 and $0.09 – which would then be rounded up – or a total that end in $0.01, $0.02, $0.06 and $0.07 – which would be rounded down.
It has no effect whatsoever on the amount you pay, and leads to no increase in any cost anywhere. We know this because US military bases have banned pennies, and round up or down. Canada, Japan, Australia, Europe, South Africa and a smattering of other countries have do this as well. There is no effect.
ZachV on February 15, 2013 at 11:50 AM
Keep the penny as legal currency, just stop making them. Every year for over a hundred years, the U.S. Mint has made hundreds of millions of pennies. Some years’ mintages are in the billions. Almost all of those coins are still in circulation.
Captain Kirock on February 15, 2013 at 11:51 AM
How about make the dollar worth something, again. Stop printing money.
SC.Charlie on February 15, 2013 at 12:17 PM
How did you come to that conclusion? It’s only the final amount that is rounded and only if you pay in cash – which presumably you won’t for big ticket items anyway. So even if the retailer chooses to always round up, you’re still only out $0.04 max.
CityFish on February 15, 2013 at 12:23 PM
You get a sack of pennies.
Rather small sack, actually. And it’s mostly rocks.
TexasDan on February 15, 2013 at 12:50 PM
“Hey, let’s do away with small denominations of money.”
Is there a clearer sign that our currency is losing value?
Chubbs65 on February 15, 2013 at 12:59 PM
Exactly. I was looking at some early Peanuts comics, and sighed when I saw kids getting a penny’s worth of this or that at the candy store. There is no such thing now; a quarter’s worth of candy is the least you can buy from a machine.
25x inflation, kids hit the hardest, and there goes a little piece of Americana flying off with the angels.
MelonCollie on February 15, 2013 at 7:12 PM