President Obama seems to like the idea of getting rid of America’s most economically inefficient form of currency:
President Obama on Thursday said he supports eliminating pennies, but that it’s unlikely to happen because it’s so low on the list of congressional priorities.
In a Google Plus “Hangout,” Obama was asked why the U.S. Treasury continues to mint pennies even though the cost to mint them is more than they’re worth.
“I got to tell you, I don’t know,” Obama said. “It’s one of those things where people get attached emotionally to the way things have been.”
The president said the penny was a good metaphor for other inefficiencies in Washington that become institutionalized.
“Any time we’re spending money on something people aren’t going to use, that’s something that should change,” Obama added.
Or, in this case, when it cost the government more to make a penny than a penny is actually worse, and people tend to just put the thing in spare change jars rather than actually using it, it’s something that should change. Of course, it’s been attempted before and, between the mining interests out west and the “Land of Lincoln” people in Illinois, it’s never gotten anywhere. I doubt Obama’s going to waste much political capital on it.
