While both political parties are forever trying to find places to cut spending, one of the biggest federal wastes is being largely ignored. In 2011 alone, the Mint spent $103.1 million on 4.29 billion pennies, meaning that for each penny produced, the US government lost 1.4 cents. The simple solution is to end the production of the penny. It is essentially worthless and a drain on our economy.
The discontinuance of the penny would not be unprecedented. A number of other countries, including Canada, Sweden, and Australia, have eliminated the lowest denominations of their currency. Even the US armed forces have eliminated the penny in their overseas bases. Instead of cutting crucial programs that will hurt the economy, let’s stop the production of the penny and keep moving forward.