Should We Get Rid of The Penny?

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-- -- -- -- And the chuckle because.

The penny may be getting cheaper yes you heard correctly for years there's been -- -- of talk about getting rid of the penny altogether but now congress.

Is considering a plan to keep the penny but used steel and set -- price easy.

Saving taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars my next guest is the sponsor of the bill and he is congressman Steve its diverse a Republican from.

Ohio congressman great to -- Great -- -- -- -- well let me just ask you this candidate did it why don't -- get rid of the penny altogether it's a new since.

It just rattles around the bottom my pocketbook -- -- why keep it.

And you know we've had some discussions about that and that's a discussion that I think -- continue but if we're gonna make the -- We need to make it as cheaply as we can and frankly the problem with not making a penny and it just came out at the hearing we had a couple weeks ago on my bill.

Is if you don't make the penny it results in short term inflation obviously it's not sustained.

But you have to -- things up not too many folks -- around their prices down to the penny.

Down the lowest nickel -- around it usually up.

So it could result in some short term inflation.

And there it could cause some ripples in our economy.

So that's that's the reason maybe they're not get rid of it.

Most transactions don't occur with Paper money and coins anyway their electronic so there's no reason to.

Not necessarily.

Yeah -- crimes -- 2.4 cents to make a penny.

In fact it costs eleven point two cents to make a nickel so what -- the new components of the penny being high even at -- the zinc producers could say look says stands.

To lose the most in this plan.

Right and that's what.

That's what actually inspired the bill was a cost more to produce a nickel and opinion in their face amount.

And what this bill does is it replaces the components of the -- it creates a multi -- steel.

That would be coated with copper for a penny and nickel for a -- also they would look and feel the same to.

Of people that use them but it would save almost 500 million dollars a year or a year.

And you know frankly there's other needs for -- and I don't think that.

The zinc producers are gonna -- be hurt too bad by this the commodity price for zinc has gone up.

Ever since 2006 it will probably continue to go up.

But making American.

Pennies and -- out of steel.

Will be good for American jobs because.

Steele is an American resource and in fact Canada made this shift.

About ten years ago in 2001 they use steel multi -- points for all their points and in fact the blanks are made here in America the steel blanks.

Congressman your Republican.

It is a notoriously bipartisan congress right now so what are some of the Democrats think about this plan.

You know -- my bill has bipartisan support Tim Ryan from Ohio.

Is -- cosponsor of the bill believe cosponsor he's a Democrat from Ohio and we worked together to get Republicans and Democrats on this bill.

And after hearing two weeks ago.

-- it wasn't really a partisan affair there were lots of questions but both Republicans and Democrats support this bill and we're excited to try to get it done.

Alright well thank you so much congressman -- divers.

And -- blistering -- out there -- some -- and stay with me for a second this is not unprecedented right because back in 1943 -- -- from zinc coated steel.

Because.

-- World War II demand for copper so we thought that was kind of interesting as well so it's been done before why not again.

That's correct and it saves almost half a billion dollars a year and if you -- -- the current copper zinc and nickel.

You can actually generate about between two and six billion dollars.

From reclaiming the materials in the old points interesting how.

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Should We Get Rid of The Penny?

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