Well that could be done but I don't see what difference that would make as to whether or not the penny was minted. It's simply easier for a business to go by what number the cash register actually says than to have to round it off, and people out of habit would likely continue to do that regardless of them not legally having to do so. In other words, the law would have next to zero effect in altering the current status quo. The only way I can possibly imagine actually getting rid of the penny is if enough people in Congress were willing to risk the political consequences of just voting to get rid of the penny despite their constituents' objections. A nearly unanimous vote would probably not be that objected to... it would counteract the concentrated interest against it since you can't hardly complain about an indivdual congressman when everyone (or almost everyone) voted the same way. Good luck trying to get two opposing political parties fighting for power to actually agree with each other lol... but it has been known to happen on rare ocassions (federalizing airport security, for example). Both major parties have been known to complain about government waste. If you could convince them to frame the removal of the penny in terms of making goverment more efficient, you could probably get a decent coalition together. Congressmen love doing things that will make them look good come re-election time. I think that would be your best bet if you have significant interest in getting rid of the penny. Waiting around for them to do it themselves won't work, because then the people against getting rid of the penny make the most noise and thus will be who they listen to.
Outdated info. Haven't you heard the Postage rates are to be increased to .42 or .43 in a Month or so.
I've tried to edit my last post but it won't let me. So I just wanted to say this. Regardless of what the government states it costs to produce a cent, nickel, dime or dollar bill, it is still your tax money that pays for it. It's not the governments money so they don't care what it costs to do anything, they just raise your taxes to pay for it so if it costs hundreds of dollars to produce a cent, so what. It is not thier money.
The difference could be that, with a legal framework which leaves it up to the businesses whether they want to round or not, it would not be the government that "demands" the rounding. So if it's the fear of making a decision that keeps politicians from doing away with low denomination coins, such a framework would very likely lead to less pieces being used, simply because many stores will apply the rounding. Again, I wrote "could" - this does work fine in the Netherlands. Don't know whether it would work in the US; the situation there could be different in other regards. But the cash registers that I know (from stores that do this rounding) will round the totals "automatically" once the customer chooses cash as the payment method. Should not be difficult for the cashier to read what the display says. Christian
It gets much much worse.. at the end of the Government's fiscal year, there is a rush by the program/financial personnel to spend every bit of money that hasn't yet been wasted. Money they don't obligate goes back to the Treasury, and this money is considered "lost." Even "worse," if they can't spend all of this year's expiring appropriations, they might get less to spend next year because someone will figure they're overfunded. Can't let that happen! Not when dollars obligated is THE resume builder (vs $ saved, or value acquired), and more obligations = bigger programs = more personnel needed = higher pay grades for their managers.. Some people in the Gov care about the money, but many others are highly incentivized to squander it ruthlessly. This is why I say when there's a chance to stop some bleeding, take it. Kill the money-losing denominations. Every bit helps.
Carl, Scroll up. I stated the USPS is asking to increase the price of a 1st class stamp to $0.42. My example used current rates.
Not hardly! Can you imagine the government issuing billions of kid-swallowable lead slugs while ordering businesses to recall Chinese toys with lead paint?
What about the billions of zinc cents the Mint issues every year? They certainly pose a health risk if swallowed as evidenced in the article below: Chem Lab: Doctors Cut Open a Human Piggy Bank
I say Carl, you are always direct and to the point. I watched the story and noticed they didn't say how the mint is one of the few government agencies actually turning a profit... aren't they? Anyway, I heard that somewhere. jeankay
It is true. Or so they claim. HOWEVER, if you owned a buisness making coins you would have to pay the employees, thier medical, thier life insurance, maintenance on the building, electric, gas, water and phone bills. You would have to pay for paper, paper clips, pens, pencils, erasers, computers, printers and on and on and on. Our US Mint states they make a profit since they compare the material of the coin against what the coin is worth. They also make money selling such coins to the public and there again that is their profit. All the other things that YOU would have to pay for is not included since YOU already pay for that with something called TAXES. I'm sure all of us would like to have a buisness where most of the expendatures are paid for by OTHERS.
