四 川 铁 FourRiverIron

The real problem is printing worthless fiat money that is not backed by gold, silver or anything else of value.

If Schweikert wants to improve things then he should be campaigning to end the unconstitutional Federal Reserve Board and stop printing worthless fiat money.

I hate the current one dollar coins because they are heavy and can be confused with quarters. I like $1 bills because they are easy to carry in my wallet. But I would quickly stop complaining about the weight of coins if they were gold or silver coins that were worth their face value.

Source

Schweikert's plan to scrap dollar bills for coins raises fuss

Posted: Saturday, October 22, 2011 7:30 am

By Howard Fischer, Capitol Media Services

The self-proclaimed friends of George Washington are not going to let a first-term member of Arizona’s congressional delegation take his picture out of circulation.

Members of Americans for George have organized to counter legislation by Republican Rep. David Schweikert to scrap the dollar bill in favor of a coin. They not only have put together a website but have financed a poll that they say shows that Americans not only hate the idea but would be more likely to vote against any candidate who supports replacing the bill with a coin.

On paper, the coalition appears diverse, ranging from a Seattle hair salon and the Alabama Automobile Dealers Association to some bingo operations.

But Schweikert said the key is that word: paper. The group also includes Crane and Co., the Massachusetts family-owned firm that has been the exclusive supplier of paper for U.S. currency for more than a century.

The U.S. Treasury produced more than 1.8 billion dollar bills last year. And Schweikert figures that gives the company a strong incentive to want to keep that folding cash around.

Amy Scarlett, a publicist for Americans for George, would not disclose how much the campaign has spent and how much has come from Crane. And calls to a Crane spokesman were not returned.

But she argued that the interests of members of that group were no more suspect than members of the Dollar Coin Alliance which has formed to back Schweikert’s legislation. They include the owners of coin-operated devices, the United Steelworkers Union and the Copper Development Association made up of firms that dig that metal from the ground.

That last factor is significant, as the current crop of dollar coins being minted are 85 percent copper.

The bottom line, said Scarlett, is that the poll shows that Americans are no more in love with the idea of a dollar coin than they were the last two times Congress had some minted up.

That nationwide telephonic poll of 800 likely voters conducted earlier this month by Lincoln Park Strategies found that 77 percent of those responding said they found the bill more convenient than the coin, versus 14 percent who saw things the other way.

Fully three quarters of those questioned described the dollar coin as unnecessary, versus 12 percent who said that about the dollar bill. And 49 percent of those asked described the dollar bill as environmentally friendly, against just 28 percent of those who said the same thing about the coin.

All that is going to require Schweikert to do a bit of public relations of his own.

“My fixation is, it’s $184 million a year,’’ he said, based on a study by the General Accounting Office of the amount that would be saved by making the switch. While coins cost more to produce than bills — about 15 cents versus just 3 cents — the coins last far longer than the 42 months’ average the Treasury Department reports for the dollar bills produced.

“You can’t get around the math,’’ Schweikert said. “I have a job to go tell the story of why that savings is important.’’

The coalition, however, argues the math is not as simple as Schweikert would make it.

Since the first modern-era dollar coins were mandated, the U.S. Mint has produced $4.2 billion worth of them. That includes the Susan B. Anthony and Sacagawea coins, no longer in production, and the currently minted presidential and Native American coins.

But about $1 billion worth of these are sitting in reserve, money the coalition claims “no one wants.’’

Schweikert conceded the coin has not taken off. But he argued all that can be changed if Americans are forced to use it.

His legislation would require federal reserve banks to stop issuing dollar bills four years after it becomes law — and sooner if there are 600 million of the dollar coins in circulation.

Gaining public support is only part of the problem.

Schweikert first needs to convince his colleagues. And the anticipated savings to the federal budget may not be enough to overcome the first rule of politics: get elected.

The coalition survey is designed to remind lawmakers about that.

It finds that only 11 percent of those questions are more likely to support someone who wants to replace the dollar bill with the coin. But 63 percent reported just the opposite, with the balance saying it made no difference or not answering.

Number of coins produced, 1979-2009

* U.S. Mint reports that about $1 billion is held in reserve and not in circulation.

Source: General Accounting Office

They call themselves public servants. But with this attitude they certainly seem like they consider themselves our masters - "Schweikert acknowledged low public acceptance of dollar coins ... But he believes Americans can be made to love the coin - or at least use it - once the dollar bills are gone"

If Schweikert really wants to make us happy he should stop issuing the worthless fiat money that isn't backed by anything.

Source

Obama administration wants to scrap presidential dollar coins

Posted: Tuesday, December 13, 2011 4:54 pm

By Howard Fischer, Capitol Media Services | 1 comment

Saying it will save money, the Obama administration is scrapping the production of presidential dollar coins even as an Arizona congressman wants them to replace greenbacks.

Vice President Joe Biden announced Tuesday it was ending the "wasteful production" of the coins. He said while there was some interest in the series, more than 40 percent of the coins have been returned to the Federal Reserve banks because people have shown little interest.

Biden said the result is there are 1.4 billion of the coins sitting in vaults. He said scrapping production except for a relative handful for collectors will save taxpayers at least $50 million a year in production and storage costs.

The move comes just months after Arizona Republican Congressman David Schweikert introduced legislation to pretty much do the exact opposite. He wants to halt production of dollar bills.

Schweikert acknowledged low public acceptance of dollar coins. In fact, the presidential series is the third attempt to make dollar coins popular. And he said he's willing to go along with the administration's decision to suspend further production given that 1.4 billion stockpile.

But he believes Americans can be made to love the coin - or at least use it - once the dollar bills are gone.

And Schweikert cites his own figures to buttress his argument that doing things his way would save far more money, at least in the long run.

Neal Wolin, the deputy treasury secretary, said the problem dates to 2005 when Congress mandated that the Mint issue four new presidential dollar coins each year from 2007 to 2016. But he said the demand for each new coin drops significantly after introduction, with the excess winding up in the Federal Reserve.

He said what's already set aside is "enough to meet current levels of circulating demand for more than a decade." More to the point, if current trends hold up, the inventory of dollar coins will grow to 2 billion by the end of the program in 2016.

Schweikert, however, said the administration is looking at the numbers all wrong.

"If done right, transitioning to the dollar coin could save us billions," he said.

He cites a report by the General Accounting Office which puts the cost of minting a coin at about 15 cents, compared to less than 3 cents for a paper bill. But the GAO puts the average life span of a bill in the neighborhood of three years.

By contrast, Schweikert said, a coin remains in circulation for about 30 years. He pegged the annual savings at $184 million.

"At a time when we are $15 trillion in the hole, every common-sense, money-saving measure needs to be given consideration," he said.

That still leaves the issue of public acceptance.

Schweikert said too many people still have memories of earlier attempts to mint dollar coins. He said these newer coins are lighter and copper colored, meaning they won't be mistaken for quarters.

He said once people get their hands on the newer coins they'll be much more accepting. Schweikert said that can be done by convincing merchants who use those automatic coin change machines - the ones that spit out change of less than a dollar on purchases - to use dollar coins.

Wolin, in a prepared statement, said the move by the White House does not require congressional approval. He said federal law directs the treasury secretary to mint coins "in amounts the secretary decides are necessary to meet the needs of the United States."

"Given the substantial, growing inventory of $1 coins, it is clear that the minting of hundreds of millions of additional $1 coins over the next several years is not necessary and not an effective use of taxpayer dollars," Wolin said. By suspending production of new coins, Wolin said any demand will be met by taking those now stored out of the vault.

There will be some new coins, though.

The next set to be minted honors President Chester A. Arthur, set to be released this coming spring. Wolin said there will be a "dramatically lower production run which will be set based on collector demand."