Multiple Democrat Senators have openly supported President Trump’s proposal to stop producing new pennies.
Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.) came out in support of Trump’s latest proposal on Tuesday, calling it a “common sense move.”
Over the weekend, Trump announced that he “instructed my Secretary of the US Treasury to stop producing new pennies.”
“For far too long, the United States has minted pennies which literally cost us more than 2 cents,” the president wrote on Truth Social.
“Let’s rip the waste out of our great nation’s budget, even if it’s a penny at a time.”
Rosen took to X on Tuesday, writing, “I’m not afraid to embrace a good idea when it comes from the other side of the aisle, and I agree with President Trump on this.”
“Eliminating the penny is a common sense move that’ll save taxpayer dollars,” she said.
She isn’t the only Democrat who has come out in support of Trump’s idea.
“As well as saving taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars, there are major environmental benefits to eliminating the penny. This is a great move,” Gov. Jared Polis (D-Colo.) said of the president’s plan.
This is coming from people who never use coinage at this point. 99 cents or one dollar means nothing to them. But if 99 cents goes up to a dollar for every item, this actually amounts to a lot of extra money spent over a year. Those of us who count our pennies will get ripped off by this. When we start ’rounding out’ things, the savings quickly disappear. The penny is the basic unit of counting money here. It’s like eliminating the “inch” and rounding off to the nearest foot. Accuracy goes down the tubes. Monetary values start with the penny and work their way up. With the penny in existence, I saved several dollars on this week’s purchases that I would not have otherwise saved. If I save a penny, I gladly pocket it. In an administration where freedom of speech and choice is important, I want the choice as to whether or not I use a penny.
The be accurate, President Trump did not propose getting rid of the penny. He ordered the Treasury to cease minting new pennies. It the existing pennies survive another 50 years, nothing in his order will prevent the from continuing to be used.
Honestly, there are a lot of things that cost more than they should be worth. A dog, or similar pet, for instance. Add up the cost for having a pet around the house. The returns surely are not economical but are felt in a lot of other ways. I’ll put up with what it costs to make a penny. This seems to be a hit with liberal democrats. I don’t see conservatives lining up for it. Maybe we appreciate the value of money more.
Also stop printing one dollar bills and reissue the one dollar coins, Sacajawea and Susan B. Anthony.
The last I heard, the prospective average life of a dollar bill was about 14 weeks while a metal coin should last 50 years. There was resistance to the coins but stopping printing paper bills would take care of that in a very short time. Merchants complained about space in the cash drawer for the coins but no pennies frees up that space. No paper dollars leaves space for 100 dollar bills instead of tucking them under the cash drawer as most stores do now. All it takes is politicians with the guts to follow through. Bill changers for vending machines gave out 4 quarters and 4 Susy Bs in the cafeteria where I used to work. We all liked it just fine.