Lincoln: Not Gone, But Somewhat Forgotten

Since I haven't posted any entries here for awhile, I thought I would talk about our 16th U.S. President, Abraham Lincoln, since today is what would have been his 203rd birthday if he were still alive.

Even though it is his birthday today, he is mostly forgotten today. Special editions of Good Morning America and Today this morning focused their broadcasts almost entirely on the passing of singer Whitney Houston.

But what I really want to talk about today is the United States penny which has a portrait of President Lincoln on the heads side of the coin. I want to try to give my opinions to some important questions: Why is the penny still around and should the penny still be manufactured today? I also want to mention how the outcome of this year's Presidential race could somewhat determine the fate of the penny.

Since we currently pretty much have the technology to do away with the penny, what are the main reasons why we still have it?

1. President Obama: He is from Illinois which is where President Lincoln is from. Even though they are from opposite political parties, Pres. Lincoln is still popular among many Democrats.

2. Lincoln's 200th birthday: In order to celebrate what would have been his 200th birthday, the U.S. Mint came up with the idea to release new designs for the tails side of the penny which is likely prolonging the penny's lifespan.

3. General public and politicians not open to change: It is rather strange how politicians and the general public seem to be OK with making changes these days from everything to Postal Service operations, definitions of marriage, and the legalization of certain controlled substances to make them fit with our modern times. But the penny seems to be ignored when making changes to modernize our currency.

Now should the penny still be manufactured today? Well it sort of depends on whether you are rich or poor. It also sort of depends on whether this country wants to be technologically advanced and globally competitive from other countries.

If President Obama wants to live up to his State of the Union address comments when he talked about being ahead of the other countries' technology and being competitive with them, one of the moves he should make is to eliminate the penny. Mitt Romney, who could be running against President Obama this year and is extremely wealthy compared to most Americans probably didn't make his fortune from the penny. The penny is becoming less important as inflation continues to dwindle the value of the penny.

In conclusion, my opinion is that the Lincoln Penny should probably be phased out sometime this century. With President Obama re-elected it will likely happen at a somewhat slower pace than it would with a potential Mitt Romney Administration since a rich guy like Mitt has practically no need for the Lincoln one cent piece, and our current president is likely to keep alive a piece of currency that shows the image of one of his political idols.