Don't blame me, I voted for the other guy. (Politics General)

@Background Pony #7A70
He picked the Chiefs to win and as the saying goes, Everything Trump Touches Dies.

For anyone wondering what might be the long-term consequences of all the government purges going on these days, it might be worth noting that the last time we saw a gutting of bureaucracy of this magnitude was during the anti-communist Red Scare in the 1950s. Thousands of government employees were fired or forced to quit just because their background had even the slightest association with anything considered “disloyal” which could range from progressive groups, civil rights activities, or even just possibly being homosexual.

I mention this because I just came across an interesting article that explains this subject and how it might relate to today’s issues:
https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2025/02/06/government-workers-purge-1950s-communism-00202336

One thing I found particularly interesting near the end of that article is the speculation that, had it not been for so many good people being forced out of these government jobs, it’s possible these departments and advisors might have reconsidered getting involved in Vietnam the following decade.

@Wiimeiser
I believe the Canadians are already doing the same thing (rounding prices up to the nearest 5 cents after eliminating the penny), if I’m not mistaken.

And I clearly recall, back when I was a child, that before the euro got introduced, shelf prices in francs were also expressed in multiples of 5 centimes because it was the coin with the lowest facial value.

@Dustcan
Same. Pennies are worst than worthless.

…

Hey Trump can you go give Elon and the rest of your inner circle a nice long handshake?

Uh. Doesn’t this need to get through congress to say stop mass producing the pennies?

I don’t think he can’t tell the United States Department of the Treasury to just stop. What happened to checks and balances? Didn’t we learn that Schoolhouse Rock’s I’m only a bill?

But then again, it’s Trump dicatoral government now.

@Background Pony #1F81
Elon’s fame already dead.

@Ereiam
so what does that do for sales tax that isn’t in 5 cent increments?

@lonewolf
Everyone rounds up, and/or cash is handled differently than electronic transfers (credit cards/purchase orders/etc). Like everything else the Republicans are doing, they declared it was happening without figuring out how to implement it or what the effects would be.

Oh, look. Eggs just went up another dollar at my grocery store, as did a gallon of fuel oil. Thanks, Trump.

PS: Don’t worry, it’s just more smoke and mirrors. Odds are Trump will forget he did it in a month and Republicans will just keep declaring it a ‘victory over the libs’ even though it never happens and just causes mayhem and chaos in the meantime.

Again, you round off the final total to the nearest nickel. Or pay the exact amount with a card. It ain’t rocket science.

And prices on the shelf don’t get rounded off. There’s no need. When I look at that last digit, I see sevens, twos, fours, and more nines than all the other numbers combined. Getting rid of pennies changed exactly jack shit about prices in Canada.

@Kazapsky
Round off isn’t free. That’s where some of the greatest profits have been in large systems, and some of the most successful thefts. What happens to those cents, right down to the tenth or hundredth of a cent, is why your gas is billed to at least one decimal point - if not two - per gallon.

They do matter. Maybe not when you’re buying eggs, but at the scale of “the whole of the American economy”, it is a vast amount of money.

There should be no hand waving. Trump and his administration have to show the maths.

Fetterman is about to explain how Trump ordering the military to execute every last Gazan is a proactive solution to the Palestinian question

Man got brain damage and immediately became Hitler

@Ciaran
Getting rid of pennies is good in my opinion, but I doubt the Trump’s team could pass a middle school test, let alone the best way to alter the economy after getting rid of pennies.

Well, he does not want to lose his seat since that Pennsylvania elected MAGA Dave McCormick in.

Fun fact. The only time Fetterman wore a suit was when Netanyahu visited Congress.

Lurch is infamous for his casual wear, but he really wanted his genocide-senpai to notice him.

It’s still so awful that they’re planning ethnic cleansing on Gaza. One would think that at least one Trump supporter could see just how evil the plan sounds on paper…

@Dirty Bit
They saw Hitler’s genocide and thought the problem was that the victims weren’t brown enough.

@Meanlucario
Yeah, I agree. For me, they’re like the Yen. I wish we’d just make them out of aluminum like the Japanese do so we’d have more cute little coins to use as money in D&D games.

I mean - seriously. Yen is the perfect D&D money. $20 worth of rolls of their equivalent of pennies, nickles, and dimes, and you’re all set for a full campaign.

Throw in some fake jewels and you’ve got a dragon horde. I love them. I wish America would just use aluminum for pennies, and make them prettier. That would be awesome for gaming.

The coins are almost impossible to get if you don’t actually live there, though. And coming through customs with rolls of coins is … let’s just say ‘sub-optimal for getting through customs without a full search’. Of course, the suitcase filled with doujinshis and manga probably didn’t help.

Isn’t aluminum more expensive than copper? And a hell of a lot more energy intensive (and therefore less environmentally friendly) to generate than smelting existing copper ore?

I feel like that wouldn’t fix the problem of pennies being obsolete and a money sink.

I recall my cousin coming back with a coin after a business trip overseas. He’s a lucky guy.

@Dustcan
I recently turned in some aluminum cans. It was 50 cents per pound.

@Dustcan
Honestly I don’t know. I just want the coins for D&D and board games. Because buying custom minted coins for a campaign is gobsmackingly expensive, and painting pennies different colors is ugly and awful.

Maybe I should just get some hardened stamps to make my own :P

Seriously. Does no one watch Office Space anymore?

@Background Pony #3E47
Right? Why do the effort of making real money when you can just suck up the dust left after the counting is done.

… actually, that was the plot of Paint Your Wagon, too …

Forbes, WashPo etc are now reporting that DOGE is using AI to determine what gets cut or not.

That’s just grand. It’s not like we have an entire entertainment genre all about how it’s a bad idea to give AI power over the government. It’s not like the thesis of one of the most famous film series ever is “What would happen if we give AI access to our nukes, and also what if Arnold Schwarzenegger is a time traveling robot?”

Tech bros really do look at the Torment Nexus and be like “That, but unironically.”