posted on June 10, 2004 01:38:38 PM new
GOP: Which coin or bill for Reagan? It's a tossup
By Al Kamen
The Washington Post
Published June 10, 2004
WASHINGTON -- A spirited disagreement has broken out among Capitol Hill Republicans about what coin or bill should bear Ronald Reagan's likeness.
At lunchtime Monday, Marcus Dunn, legislative director for Rep. Jeff Miller (R-Fla.), sent an e-mail to top Hill staff asking for co-sponsors to Miller's bill to put the 40th president on the half-dollar coin. The bill had been drafted in the fall and held pending Reagan's death.
A couple of hours later, Rick Dykema, chief of staff to Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.), sent an e-mail to the same group, saying Rohrabacher had a bill to put the late president on the $20 bill.
"Not only is the $20 bill much more prominent than the half-dollar coin," Dykema said, "we believe that replacing Andrew Jackson on the $20 bill will prove to be more defensible and less controversial than replacing John F. Kennedy on the half-dollar coin or FDR on the dime." (Nancy Reagan scotched the dime maneuver a while ago.)
"Honestly, we didn't think of it as a JFK-versus-Reagan battle," Dunn replied. "The Kennedy coins are not going to be suddenly recalled and melted," he said. They would continue to circulate.
Rohrabacher introduced his bill Tuesday. With Tennessean Jackson's family all gone, it seemed there would be no problem. But Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) thought Reagan deserved a higher denomination.
Another suggestion is to bump first Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton off the 10-spot because he wasn't a president. But many lawmakers admire him.
Re-defeat Bush
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June is Gay Pride Month
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Change is constant. The history of mankind is about change. One set of beliefs is pushed aside by a new set. The old order is swept away by the new. If people become attached to the old order, they see their best interest in defending it. They become the losers. They become the old order and in turn are vulnerable. People who belong to the new order are winners.
James A Belaco & Ralph C. Stayer
posted on June 10, 2004 05:10:38 PM new
My history's a little rusty, but didn't Andrew Jackson start the "Trail of Tears" that killed so many THOUSANDS of Native Americans? If so, dump him in favor of Ronnie. Of of our nations most shameful atrocities should not be rewarded.
At least Alexander Hamilton did some POSITIVE stuff in his day.
Kennedy? I don't care, but too many people remember him fondly to take off a coin.
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We do not stop playing because we grow old. We grow old because we stop playing -- Anonymous
posted on June 10, 2004 05:59:40 PM new
Why put him on anything right now?
Let the historians have their 40 years and then you can decide if he was one of the great ones.
Rushing to slap names of the recently dead on public property has always irked me.
RR already has the nation's capital's Major Airport , a Nuclear Carrier and numerous schools etc. Leave the money alone.
When I'm king noone gets ANYTHING named after them until they're dead 25 years - and then it takes a 3/4 vote of the Congress AND a Presidential signature with no veto override possible.
posted on June 11, 2004 07:22:51 AM new
Bob, I agree with you. It is to soon to start this process. Yes he left office 20 years ago, but will history show his presidency is deserving of a portrait of Regan on currency?
The guy hasn't even been dead a week and a portion of I-88 near his hometown of Dixon, Illinois has already been renamed the "Regan Memorial Highway".
Re-defeat Bush
------------------------------
June is Gay Pride Month
------------------------------
Change is constant. The history of mankind is about change. One set of beliefs is pushed aside by a new set. The old order is swept away by the new. If people become attached to the old order, they see their best interest in defending it. They become the losers. They become the old order and in turn are vulnerable. People who belong to the new order are winners.
James A Belaco & Ralph C. Stayer
posted on June 11, 2004 03:23:12 PM new
Well, in the interest of liberal sensitivities I suggest he be put on the $100 bill. It makes sense, most liberals will never have to look at him. And the liberals that DO handle $100 bills will never see him as it will be rolled up.
Sorry, the three dollar bill is reserved for Clinton. He is on the ones I have seen.
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You know...the best way to defeat a liberal is to let them speak.
posted on June 11, 2004 05:59:03 PM new
We should put Reagan's face on the several trillion dollar "bill" he left for us and our grand children to pay.
