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Get Rid of the Penny

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The penny must be eliminated as quickly as possible. The United States is in massive debt and instead of cutting programs which are vital to the economy and to citizens of the United States, the United States must find ways to cut expenses in parts that are often over looked. One great way to cut down on unnecessary spending is the penny. Believe it or not, the penny, the smallest denomination of currency in the United States is a huge waste of money. The one cent denomination has no use. You can no longer “buy anything with a penny” anymore. (William) The only use the penny has is to pay for the taxes, which, can be rounded off to the nearest nickel thus obliterating the need for a penny.
On top of not having a use, the penny is a big waste of time, literally. Gore, a graduate student at the University of California at Berkeley has made a calculation that approximately “four hours per person per year” is wasted on rummaging for pennies which in turn costs the nation “over $15 billion per year.” (Kahn) These $15 billion could be used to create jobs, invest in renewable energy, or invest in education, all of which would greatly improve the nation while at the same time getting rid of a pointless coin.
People admittedly do not favor change. Many have seen the statistics concerning how much it costs to maintain making pennies, the time it wastes and the overall problem it creates, but they still would not want to get rid of the penny. The Harris Poll has data supporting that

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