Time to Eliminate the Penny

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Paka, just so you know, that was copied basically word for word from Wikipedia....

I do agree with the fact that the penny should be eliminated though.

Heidi of OR 1:35PM May 22, 2012

I started a petition to abolish the penny and I need support. I am trying to get ten million people to sign. Will you sign and spread the word? :) Thank you for your time!

http://www.change.org/petitions/stop-the-production-of-costly-pennies?share_id=MHBACjptbh&pe=nsfd

Nadine Clement of NH 7:30PM June 23, 2011

Eurasia Babcock, you are so dumb, you are really dumb. Fo real.

You are so dumb of MO 2:43PM November 17, 2010

Ladies and gentlemen of the congress I stand here today to speak on resolution H. Should we eliminate the penny? My answer, and the correct answer is yes!

With that being said I’d like to move on and say why we should let this bill pass. Pennies cost 1.7 cents. This is almost the value of two pennies! The penny is beginning to cost to much and we simply cannot afford it.

According to the Washington Time “The cost of minting a penny is now more expensive than the coin is worth, once again raising the possibility that it is headed toward extinction.’ Also, now that the price of the raw materials exceeds the face value, there is a risk that coins will be illegally melted down for raw materials.

Not only does the penny just flat out cost to much but it wastes our money in other ways. With the average wage in the U.S. being about 17$ per hour it takes about two seconds to earn one cent. Thus, it is not worthwhile for most people to deal with a penny. If it takes only two seconds extra for the simple transaction that uses a penny, the cost of time wasted in the U.S. is about 3.65$ annually, about 1billion for all America.

Pennies are not accepted by all vending macchines or toll machines and pennies are generally not accepted in bulk. In addition, people often do not use cents to pay at all; they may simply use larger denominations and get cents in return. Pennies end up sitting in jars and are not in circulation. Economist Greg Mankiw says that "The purpose of the monetary system is to facilitate exchange, but... the penny no longer serves that purpose." Research by Robert Whaples, an economics professor at Wake Forest University, using data on nearly 200,000 transactions from a multi-state convenience store chain shows that rounding would have virtually no impact. Consumers would gain a tiny amount – about 1/40th of a cent per transaction. This also helps businessesThere has never been a coin in circulation in the U.S. worth as little as the penny is worth today. Due to inflation, as of 2007[update], a nickel is worth approximately what a cent was worth in 1972.[10] When the United States discontinued the half-cent coin in 1857, it had a 2008-equivalent buying power of 11¢.[11] After 1857, the new smallest coin was the cent, which had a 2008-equivalent buying power of 26¢. The nickel fell below that value in 1974; the dime fell below that value in 1980;[10] the quarter fell below that value in 2007..

For these many reasons the penny needs to be undoubtedly eliminated. Let us pass this bill. - parker hinton, and thats my say on this matter

paka of CO 8:57PM January 11, 2010

Don't get rid of pennies, but for cryin' out loud, stop producing them every year!!

Here is my answer to the "penny problem".

A bounty.

EVERYBODY has piles of pennies. People don't carry them around. They put them in jars next to their desk/bed/sofa...wherever.

My "bounty" solution is this : Take 100 pennies to your bank, get a dollar coin and a nickle. Done. Bank has 100 pennies and it cost the government a nickle to get them there. Enough pennies have been minted over the years to supply the need. They just needs to be a reason to get them out of the jar.

Dave Rintoul of IL 9:31AM March 18, 2009

Hi I am a 5 th grader who disagrees with you deleting pennies! I strongly suggest that we keep pennies because the reason that we don't see pennies is the homless people are picking them that's why we don see them on the ground.And the penny collectors have you ever thought about them they enjoy collecting pennies and without pennies ou entire economy will go down. President Abe Lincoln would not except this if he were here today. He walked miles to return one single penny and he was then called Honest Abe so think about the people and kids you are hurting.We enjoy pennies so what if it raises prices keep the pennies we need them.One more thing if delete the penny delete the taxes to because the pennies are the only keeping our economy ALIVE!

fROM Eurasia Babcock 11 years old 5th grade

Eurasia Babcock of FL 3:19PM February 20, 2009

i think we should!!!! read and write your thoughts.

katinka of HI 9:55AM February 20, 2009

About half the businesses in West Concord MA have signed on for a penny protest starting on Lincoln's 200th Birthday. The key insight -- what overcomes the powerful Zinc lobby -- is that the proposed Executive Order (no legislation needed!) is an OPTION. "Businesses which agree to round down to the nearest nickel may refuse pennies." Since pennies also cost more than a penny for a retailer to handle, it's win-win for everyone. Within 2 years businesses taking pennies will be as rare as those not taking credit cards. Two years later they will be gone.

It's the lead story in the Concord Journal, the second revolution to start here. Here is the Emersonian quattrain:

To the Rude Lobbyists who corrupted our Good

Congressmen to support their zinc

Here the embattled merchants stood

and said, "We think your pennies stink"

We are doing Civil Disobedience that day and refusing pennies. iam going to drop some on the street and get ticketed for littering, thus proving that the government requires litter to be accepted as legal tender

WE NEED ALL THE SUPPORT WE CAN GET. Go to www.concordjournal.com and read it and VOTE in their poll. Go to www.thinkoob.com to get more background.

We are ONE SIGNATURE AWAY on an EXECUTIVE ORDER. Please help! Spread the word and get us some PR

Al Lewis of MA 11:29AM January 29, 2009

It is too big and too expensive to make. The smallest coin should be the dime. We need a coin between the dime and the dollar. I would suggest 50 cents, but a new coin of about 4 grams (the dime is 2 grams, the dollar is 8). Since tha is only fthree coins and most coin drawers have at least four slots, we could add a larger 5 dollar coin and get rid of paper bills smaller than $20.

Fat Man of OH 11:10PM January 26, 2009

I live on a military base in Japan, and the vast majority of stores and shops on base don't accept pennies. They do penny rounding. If it's 3 cents or more, it gets rounded up, if it's 2 cents or less, it gets rounded down.

Why? Because they have to ship the pennies over here. It's costs more to ship them over here than they are worth.

The only exceptions on base are the Post Office (and they have a penny dish) and the banks. And I'm sure they'd be more than happy to ditch the pennies.

Japan has coins going up to a 500 Yen coin (roughly about $5). And yes it's a little bit weird to pull a coin out of your pockets that's worth $5.

Flint 8:55PM January 26, 2009

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Michael Barone

Michael Barone

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Michael Barone is a senior writer for U.S.News & World Report and principal coauthor of The Almanac of American Politics. He has written for many publications—including the Economist and the New York Times.

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