Althouse: "Die, Penny, Die!"

December 6, 2011

"Die, Penny, Die!"

(Via Instapundit.)

36 comments:

traditionalguy said...: Kill Lincoln again? It's a good thing that they are not made out of copper any more or they would all be gone by now anyway.; 12/6/11, 10:27 AM
Geoff Matthews said...: In my basement, I have about $10 worth of Canadian pennies.
I'm a bit OCD about picking them up on the street, so I'd be happy to see the mint end their production, and banks getting rid of them.
Either that, or therapy.; 12/6/11, 10:28 AM
Sorun said...: Yes, die.

At my last job, the immigrant cleaning lady would come by and take the pennies out my waste basket that I'd thrown in there. I stopped doing it because I felt bad someone was compelled to dig through my trash. I threw them away at home instead.; 12/6/11, 10:28 AM
ndspinelli said...: Penny Marshall? She'll probably die soon, she's as big as 2 houses now. I see her @ Dodger games and she takes up 2 seats. Of course, there are a lot of empty seats in Dodger Stadium.; 12/6/11, 10:29 AM
ndspinelli said...: Geoff, I have back/neck issues. I only pick up bills, not coins.

Here's a tip though Geoff. Walk around in crowded bars late @ night and keep your eyes on the floor. You'll find foldn' $ everytime. When I was in college that's how I got drinking cash. I can't stay up late anymore. Although I was doing a late night surveillance a few years back and followed a woman to a bar. Sure enough, I found a $10 bill and a couple singles.; 12/6/11, 10:34 AM
MadisonMan said...: The Credit Union I use has a coin machine, so I periodically take the pennies in. I don't use them for anything.; 12/6/11, 10:38 AM
edutcher said...: The Blonde paid off the mortgage by scrimping pennies, so this sounds like another of those Libertarian whines.

Frankly, rounding makes somebody money and costs somebody else.

The real answer is a government whose ambition is not to surpass the Weimar Republic so that the money, all of it, is actually worth something.; 12/6/11, 10:41 AM
traditionalguy said...: A penny for you thoughts is outdated. We get some people's real time thoughts tweeted to us all day long at no charge.; 12/6/11, 10:43 AM
edutcher said...: Perhaps because those thoughts are worthless.; 12/6/11, 10:48 AM
Anonymous said...: That was more entertaining than I expected--I actually watched all 4+ minutes. And it's rare for me to watch any online video more than 90 seconds.; 12/6/11, 10:50 AM
ndspinelli said...: timmaguire, You must be a southpaw w/ ADD.; 12/6/11, 10:53 AM
ndspinelli said...: The only Major League southpaws who play the infield[including catcher] are first basemen. However, this is geometry, not prejudice.; 12/6/11, 10:55 AM
ndspinelli said...: Good job..no clutter or boring comments. You all get gold stars.; 12/6/11, 10:56 AM
FWBuff said...: Pennies have become the focus of attacks on wasteful coinage, but the government spends more annually minting and promoting dollar coins, which no one (outside of the post office vending machines) uses. The government also mints half-dollar coins yearly, but when was the last time you used one or received one in change?; 12/6/11, 11:06 AM
Anonymous said...: Pennies will not die anytime soon because State governments will not allow it. It is much easier to raise sales tax by one penny.

People complain when sales tax go from $.05 to $.06 but imagine the outcry if sales tax went from $.05 to $.10.; 12/6/11, 11:28 AM
Kirk Parker said...: Lamar63,

Nobody's talking about abolishing the concept of cents; tax rates would stay the same* and some customer-friendly locales might even allow you to pay the exact calculated amount by check or bankcard.; 12/6/11, 11:58 AM
Sofa King said...: Frankly, rounding makes somebody money and costs somebody else.

???

Statistically, it's a wash.

They round already anyways, you know - a sales tax rate of x.xx% multiplied by a sales total of $y.yy doesn't always result in a two-digit decimal result...

WV: trolles - thankfully, not on this thread.; 12/6/11, 12:09 PM
Jeff with one 'f' said...: Why are you writing in German?; 12/6/11, 12:15 PM
Chip Ahoy said...: Three pennies were useful yesterday.

I had a cashier's check for 274.97

The three pennies nicely blocked three quarters two dimes and two more pennies. No communication with teller required either, the pennies spoke for themselves.; 12/6/11, 12:27 PM
Bushman of the Kohlrabi said...: I like pennies. The old stainless steel cents were really cool. I also had a crush on Penny from Lost In Space when I was a kid.; 12/6/11, 12:27 PM
Peter said...: We need updated currency:
One New Dollar = ten Old Dollars

Then pennies will at least be worth a dime, and dollar coins will disappear. Perhaps nickle candy bars will re-appear.

The question is, if we did this, how long would it be before we'd need New New Dollars?; 12/6/11, 12:43 PM
George Grady said...: I would have no problem if we phased out pennies. However, I disagree with the video on one thing: We absolutely should not have the sales tax already included in the prices of merchandise, and this has absolutely nothing to do with the penny itself. Sales tax always will have to be rounded, whether we round to the penny, the nickel, or the dime. Customers aren't forced to add on the sales tax mentally themselves; the store will do that for them. Including the sales tax in prices only serves to hide the tax from the consumer. This already happens, for example, with gasoline. Does anyone really know how much of the cost of the gasoline they're pumping is from taxes? Whose interest is really served by hiding the amounts of taxes?; 12/6/11, 1:08 PM
bagoh20 said...: Kill the stinking penny, and his fat useless brother, the nickle, as well. I'll keep the dime because he divides so nicely into the dollar, and he keeps himself slim and sexy.; 12/6/11, 1:09 PM
Yellowfin said...: What needs to die is the runaway federal spending which causes inflation which has caused the penny to be worthless. Why not work on the real problem instead of just the symptom?; 12/6/11, 1:41 PM
Toad Trend said...: "I also had a crush on Penny from Lost In Space when I was a kid."

YES!

Dr. Smith was a liberal!!!; 12/6/11, 2:15 PM
rhhardin said...: If it's $9.98 you round up to $10.00 and pay with five pennies.; 12/6/11, 2:21 PM
rhhardin said...: John Gorka Oh Abraham

I see a penny and I pick it up
It's not the money
I could use the luck
And if it's face down
I turn it over
Head for Wood Avenue
Between Inman and New Dover
Back in my home town; 12/6/11, 2:34 PM
Known Unknown said...: but when was the last time you used one or received one in change?

For some odd reason, Ohio Stadium concessions during Buckeye football games like to give half-dollars as change. I give them to my kids.; 12/6/11, 2:54 PM
Phil 314 said...: A centsible proposal.; 12/6/11, 3:24 PM
Psychedelic George said...: Pennies are about 95 percent zinc.

And what prominent American politician owns a giant zinc mine? And in its own backyard?

Hint: He inherited it from his father, another prominent national leader who bought it from the notorious Armand Hammer....

It's a gore-y conspiracy, people. Wake up to the zinc menace!; 12/6/11, 3:26 PM
Bob_R said...: No pennies, no nickles, turn the quarters into $.5 pieces. Only one decimal to the left of the dollar.; 12/6/11, 4:45 PM
Bob_R said...: That should be only one significant digit to the RIGHT of the decimal, said the dyslexic lefty.; 12/6/11, 4:47 PM
Thorley Winston said...: The government also mints half-dollar coins yearly, but when was the last time you used one or received one in change?

Some of the new pop machines will give you a dollar coin in change if you put in a dollar and hit the “change” button.; 12/6/11, 4:49 PM
Tyrone Slothrop said...: Lately I've been hearing O'Reilly read viewer's emails about his (ghostwritten) book, Killing Lincoln. It is a little jarring to hear someone say, "I really enjoyed Killing Lincoln.

And on topic, I think they should make solid copper pennies again, but make them worth ten cents. The dime is a silly little coin, and FDR's head does not fill me with admiration.; 12/6/11, 8:18 PM
sorepaw said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 12/6/11, 9:43 PM
jamboree said...: I read recently that this would allow people with copper pennies to melt them down and cash them in for the materials. There's a law against it now as well as and obscure law against trade of over $5 in pennies.; 12/6/11, 10:16 PM