Posted by MondoHebe [198.81.26.45 - cache-ntc-ab08.proxy.aol.com] on 08 June 2004 at 16.12.52 ZuluTime:

Yet another documentation to prove to future generations we were really this fucking dumb...

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     Reagan the new face of the $10 bill?

Conservatives will push for image of 40th president to grace $10 bill, $20 bill or dime.
     June 8, 2004: 11:59 AM EDT

NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Ronald Reagan's face could one day adorn the $10 bill or half the dimes minted in the country, if fans of the late president get their way.

USA Today reported Tuesday that Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) plans to sponsor legislation in the Senate to have Reagan's image replace that of Alexander Hamilton, the nation's first treasury secretary, on the $10 bill.

Meanwhile, an effort is underway in the House of Representatives, led by Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.), to put Reagan's face on the $20.

If either effort is successful, it would represent the first change of a person on U.S. currency since 1929, when the nation's paper money was standardized in size and general design. Although various anti-counterfeiting measures have altered the look of paper notes since then, the principals depicted have not changed.

The proposal has the support of Ronald Reagan Legacy Project, which is headed by Grover Norquist, an influential conservative activist.

Democrats in Congress may not be ready to embrace the idea, though none has publicly declared opposition after Reagan's death Saturday.

A change would require majority votes in both houses of Congress. In the Republican-dominated House of Representatives, passage of a bill seems achievable, according to Washington sources. In the Senate, however, cloture rules would allow the Democratic minority to block any legislation.

Proponents of Reaganized money, however, are proposing an alternative to paper: coins. Unlike decisions about notes, coinage can be changed at the discretion of the Secretary of the Treasury.

Over at the Treasury Department, however, lips are tightly pursed on the notion of honoring the 40th president on money. "It's premature to get into any discussions about it, including discussions of process or timing," said Ann Womack Colton, a Treasury spokeswoman.

     
     But GOP activist Norquist has said he has already had discussions with Snow and senior White House staff about the idea, and found no opposition.

If Reagan is not put on the $10, an alternate proposal is to have half the nation's dimes carry Reagan's face, with the other half continuing to honor Franklin D. Roosevelt.

The idea of removing Roosevelt from the dime altogether in favor of Reagan had enough opposition, even from Nancy Reagan, to be dropped, USA Today reported. But the Gipper's fans think giving equal time to Reagan and FDR strikes an appropriate compromise.

One person opposed to removing Hamilton from the $10 bill is Ron Chernow, author of an acclaimed biography of the revolutionary war hero and founding father.

He told USA Today that he believed even Reagan would have objected to the snub of Hamilton.

"Hamilton was the prophet of the capitalist system that Ronald Reagan so admired," he was quoted as saying.