Lose the penny, once and for all

A penny for my thoughts, or perhaps not. The penny arcade is long gone. As is penny candy.

Let me throw in my two cents worth. Even the upgrade, the five-and-dime store has seen the wrecking ball.

You want a penny, just pick it up off the street, they're littered with them or on a jar on every counter in every store, free for the taking. It apparently has no value. (Heck even Penny Marshall is dated!)

They sit in drawers in your bedroom accumulating dust. The only redeeming feature they have is to weigh down piggy banks, and who wants to lug that to the bank?

The mint spent nearly $100 million manufacturing pennies in 2006 alone. The U.S. Mint places the number of pennies in circulation at around 140 billion. Others have estimated as many as 200 billion currently circulating. So why is our government spending millions more to prolong the penny with new minting? Probably for the same reason gas stations can rip off the public with an even more ridiculous nine- tenths of a penny!

The war is costing billions. Young servicemen are losing their lives and some their homes. Taxes are exorbitant and continue to climb to astronomical numbers. The space program is out of this world with costs. The political scene is intent mostly with raising campaign funds by the millions. Medical research is too busy promoting new drugs treating symptoms, rather than attacking the cause!

What's my point? Discontinue the penny. If you lost the sum of all your pennies, would it hurt you? What if the government tomorrow eliminated the penny? Now imagine what they could do with all that new found wealth. Better yet, let's scrap the penny and put a referendum on the ballot, where all the pennies would have to be funneled. Can you think of any good causes? We can literally "change" the world overnight!

Think it can't be done? Look what just happen with the Euro. I am talking about close to $2 billion. Think about that debt, your kids will be inheriting.

Randy F. Gollay

Buffalo Grove