Bye bye, penny.
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President Obama was asked by a random participant in an online “Fireside Chat” why the United States is still producing the unreliable, economically inefficient penny. The moderator of the event pointed out that the participant’s question was the number one question on the YouTube economy section.
Although the penny serves use at toll booths and some coin-operated machines, each zinc and copper coin costs 2.41 cents to produce and distribute.
President Obama responded, “I gotta tell you… I don’t know. It’s one of those things where I think people get attached emotionally to the way things have been. We remember our piggy banks and counting up all our pennies and then taking them in and getting a dollar bill or a couple of dollars from them, and maybe that’s the reason why people haven’t gotten around to it.”
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The question created an opportunity for President Obama to address his viewpoints on the current issues at hand, stating the penny is a “good metaphor for some of the larger problems that we’ve got” and that governmental spending on the useless coin shows the government has an issue getting “rid of things that don’t work so that we can then invest in the things that do.”
President Obama is possibly referring to the 16 different federal agencies that deal with business, which creates a hardship for small business owners because it does not make it clear where or who small business owners are to report to in their time of need.
President Obama continues, “The penny is an example of something that I need legislation for. Frankly, given all the big issues that we have to deal with day in and day out, a lot of times, it just doesn’t, we’re not able to get it.”
We feel you Mr. President, but in this economy, we’re going to need all the change we can get!
SOURCE: HUFFINGTONPOST
