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    Obama suggests he’s open to getting rid of the penny

    By | The Ticket – Thu, Feb 14, 2013

    Obama participates in a Google chat (Screenshot via YouTube)President Barack Obama says it may be time to get rid of the penny.

    The copper 1-cent coin has long been criticized for being costlier to mint than it is worth. And with Americans using pennies less and less, some have questioned why the government hasn’t stopped producing them.

    Asked whether the penny should be nixed during an online chat sponsored by Google, Obama bluntly admitted, “I don’t know.”

    “It’s one of those things where I think people get attached emotionally to the way things have been,” the president said. “We remember our piggy banks and counting out all the pennies and then taking them and getting a dollar bill or a couple of dollars.”

    Obama added that the penny is a “good metaphor” for the larger problems facing the federal government.

    “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,” Obama 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.”

    But, he acknowledged, getting rid of the penny is not one of his administration’s highest priorities.

    8,347 comments

    • Habitual_Line_Stepper
      Habitual_Line_Stepper  •  1 day 20 hrs ago
      They might get rid of the penny, but it does not stop them from nickel and diming us.
      • PappyStu
        PappyStu 1 day 6 hrs ago
        From one bad penny to another... *chuckle*
    • Ron
      Ron  •  2 days 4 hrs ago
      Waht would happen to sales taxes? My guess is they will round up.
    • rick
      rick  •  2 days 3 hrs ago
      How will I put my two cents in?
    • Dmnted
      Dmnted  •  2 days 4 hrs ago
      "The copper 1-cent coin has long been criticized for being costlier to mint than it is worth"
      Our government is costlier then they are worth, let's get rid of them.
    • Mike Somebody
      Mike Somebody  •  2 days 3 hrs ago
      If we keep running $1.2 trillion annual deficits we might as well get rid of the dollar.
    • Dave
      Dave  •  1 day 12 hrs ago
      A nickel for your thoughts??
    • Geno
      Geno  •  2 days 3 hrs ago
      They need to stamp a 9/10 th cent coin so when we purchase that one gallon of gas for our cars we can pay exact change!
    • Centerx
      Centerx  •  2 days 3 hrs ago
      The penny has been about 4% copper since 1982. So saying it's a copper penny is false.
    • Penny
      Penny  •  2 days 3 hrs ago
      damn---i post negative remarks about him on the internet, and next thing i know he's making statements about getting rid of me :-)
    • Ron
      Ron  •  2 days 4 hrs ago
      So if it now costs $1.96, it will cost $2.00 in the future?
     Post a comment

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