Reagan on the $50?

[OneAngryDemocrat]

Recently, Republican Rep. Patrick T. McHenry of North Carolina proposed to replace President Ulysses S. Grant, a union general during the Civil War who led the North to victory and later became the nation's 18th POTUS, on the $50 bill.

“Every generation needs its own heroes,” McHenry said.

“One decade into the 21st century, it’s time to honor the last great president of the 20th and give President Reagan a place beside Presidents Roosevelt (on the dime) and Kennedy (on the half dollar).”

In part, Congressman McHenry is spot on with his assessment. Every generation needs its own heroes.

Where he falls flat in his analysis, is his proposal to put Ronald Reagan, a polarizing historical figure if there ever was one, on our money.

As Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Sherman Oaks), who serves on the House Financial Services Committee, said Reagan is too controversial. “Our currency ought to be something that unites us,” he said.

That is why I propose putting a less divisive figure on our cash... one who won't raise the rankles of any bona fide patriot... a hero for our day, and for all time:

Martin Luther King Jr.

Besides a martyr for the cause of American civli rights, Rev. King helped shape the world we live in, today, in the 21st century, as did no other figure, in the 20th.

There are no men of color on our currency, and the precendent of placing non-presidents on our money was set long ago, when Ben Franklin made it to the $100 bill.

I believe that this issue should be seriously discussed, and brought to the attention of our Congressmen. If we can help draft the legislation - that shouldn't be too hard...

Republican Rep. Patrick T. McHenry already has written up most of the language, and all we need do is convince our Congressmen to amend his legislation and replace Reagan with the Reverend.

[veganlush]

1. I second that...n/t

[WVRICK13]

33. It Would Make Me Proud To Have Martin Luther King, Jr.

on the $50 bill. His actions shaped our country and society while Reagan's bankrupted the country.

[eppur_se_muova]

42. I thought MLKJ might make it on to the DC quarter dollar ...

but NOOOOOOOOOOO!! We get Duke Ellington. A great man, grew up in DC, then spent most of his career in NYC. First AA to appear on US currency. But imagine the March On Washington on the reverse and you can see why the Duke should not have been first choice.

MLKJ is still waaaaaaaaaay too hot to handle for anyone even slightly to the right of center. Some subterfuge will be necessary. Personally, I'd like to see a MLKJ 2 cent piece. If a 2 cent were introduced while the 1 cent were still circulating, it might sneak in "under the radar" as some kind of minor oddity, and no one would be bumped off of existing currency. An official 2 cent piece could effectively displace the 1 cent eventually, and become the most common currency in circulation. (Seriously, there are people trying to eliminate the 1 cent.)

Oh, and Lincoln would still be on the $5 bill, so no disrespect to Abe.




















BTW -- a "penny" is an English coin. America has only a 'cent', and it is marked as such. :)

[veganlush]

51. indeed.agreed. n/t

[OneAngryDemocrat]

54. My Proposal...

My proposal was not mere idle chatter... I am seriously going to my Republican Congressman to give him this idea, and put him on the spot - hopefully with the cameras rolling.

If Republicans are NOT a party of racists - let 'em PROVE it.

If you are active in politics in your area, you should do the same.

[The_Casual_Observer]

2. I'm all for putting ronny on the $3 !

[The Genealogist]

11. What a queer notion!

:-~

[Froward69]

23. not so queer really (I say on the penny)

America has used $3 bills examples can be found... just google.

But I say place Raygun on the penny. Lincoln is still on the $5 and a penny is what raygun presidency left us all with exactly what he was worth! A Penny is what actually "trickled down" to the rest of us.

[The Genealogist]

25. Well, that is true. n/t

[bridgit]

3. So then,what is to be the tag line: In Junk Bonds We Drown?

[provis99]

4. as long as they don't start fiddling around with Ben Franklin on the $100.

Ben Franklin was the MAN.

[dflprincess]

5. GE is trying to make a deal out of the 100th anniversary of his birth (2/6/1911)

we'd best brace ourselves for more of this crap over the next few months.

:puke:

[Deep13]

6. The ONLY great president of the 20th isn't on any paper money.

And Adams, the father of independence, isn't on any money and has no national memorials.

[stellanoir]

7. They were discussing the matter on Stephanie Miller's show over the past

couple weeks, and somebody said that they should superimpose Reagan's head over Grant's, melting down (i.e. trickling down) on Grant's, since "trickle down economics" was such a raging success.

Was pretty funny but fairly sad at the same time.

His deification is so annoying and thoroughly unwarranted and undeserved.

[Ian David]

8. I would draw Hitler mustaches on my $50 bills. n/t

[shotten99]

9. No Reagan = No Bush = No Obama = No HCR

Fuck him, thank him out of irony:)

[951-Riverside]

16. We can thank Clinton for Bush II

If Mr. Clinton respected women and kept it in his pants, George Bush wouldn't have had a platform to run on, Al Gore would have won, Sept 11th might have been thwarted and never happened, we wouldn't be Iraq and Afghanistan and we probably would have HCR in 04.

[WeekendWarrior]

22. Complete and utter bullshit

Clinton's approval rating was high when he left office. Bush got in because the election was stolen. Plain and simple.

[951-Riverside]

34. Re: "Clinton's approval rating was high when he left office." ...That didn't help Gore

Bush's whole platform was "restoring dignity and integrity to the whitehouse" :rofl: ...no really but I digress. If Clinton kept it in his pants, what would Bush's platform have been?

Even with the fraud it was a pretty close election, if people weren't focused on the sex scandal they never would have taken Bush seriously, they never would have taken Ralph Nader seriously and Gore probably would have won the election by 8 or 9 percent minimum.

[WeekendWarrior]

35. Nobody cared about the sex scandal at that point

except the fundies. Clinton's ratings were high.

What happened to Gore was a right wing hit job (he says he invented the Internet!!!), idiots voting for Nader and the Supreme Court reversing their usual stance and handing Bush the presidency without counting the votes -- which were clearly in Gore's favor. It was basically a right wing coup. I'll never blame Clinton for that.

Gore's problem was also Gore. He came across like a stiff.

But he still won.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

52. Yeah, and rape victims can thank their skimpy clothes for their rapes.

:puke:

[YankeyMCC]

10. Bugs Bunny n/t

[regnaD kciN]

12. It makes sense to put Ronnie on the $50...

...because, after all, you're not going to replace George Washington on the $1, so why not put Reagan on the bill that, thanks to him, is now worth what the $1 used to be?

:spank:

[OneAngryDemocrat]

17. LOL!!!

...

[MUAD_DIB]

13. Here's an idea for you...

[texastoast]

14. Well, in any event, Andrew Jackson should come off the $20

Murdering genocidal bastard.

[Xithras]

40. Replace him with Wilson.

Wilson used to be on the $100,000 bill for good reason, but was left off of money when denominations over $100 were discontinued.

Wilson pushed through the Federal Reserve Act, the progressive income tax, the Federal Trade Commission, America's first great antitrust act, and helped to support the passage of Womens Suffrage legislation. He helped to found the League of Nations and won the Nobel Peace Prize for his work. He was strongly pro-labor, and openly a friend of socialists and leftists. He wasn't perfect and did have some policies that modern progressives would disagree with, but he has to be looked at through the lens of his era.

Wilson is nearly unknown today outside of history classrooms, but was certainly one of the most important presidents of the last century. Much of our national economic success can be traced to his presidency and the policies he pushed while in office. He was honored for decades by having his photo placed on the largest denomination of currency available (which some took as a snide joke...the large corporatists hated him because of his antitrust, pro-labor positions, and his photo was placed on a currency denomination that only those corporatists would have...every time they looked at their beloved money, they had to stare at the face of a guy they despised). It's unfortunate that he isn't honored at all today. Putting him on the $20 would be a fitting tribute.

[texastoast]

41. Hear! Hear! n/t

[MajorChode]

15. Raygun's face doesn't even deserve to be painted on a port-a-john

Almost without exception, anything good attributed to him was the result of someone else's efforts. His administration fucked up more and was more corrupt than even W's. It's high time the wingnutery claims of Raygun's high and mightiness were fact checked and Raygun takes his place among the worst Presidents in American history. Carter accomplished 10 times more in his 4 years than Raygun did in his 8, yet the right has managed to somehow convince the masses that Carter was a fuckup and Raygun was a hero when the reverse is far closer to being historically accurate.

[deutsey]

18. Sure, put Reagan on the 50...

so long as it's Monopoloy money.

[Urban Prairie]

44. +1

[tanyev]

19. How about a special commemorative series of wooden nickels?

[lpbk2713]

20. When they were in power they changed the existing law ...

so that they could name an aircraft carrier after his sorry and useless ass.

That and the Wash DC airport should be sufficient.

Piss on em all.

[WeekendWarrior]

21. How about the 50 Million Dollar Bill?

Then only the people who benefited from his policies will have to look at his face.

[Rambis]

24. I wouldn't put raygun on a urinal cake

:thumbsdown:

[Ignis]

26. Damn, I'm going to go broke with $50/piece toilet paper!

[librechik]

27. I think we should save him for the million dollar bill

coming soon to a mint near you, if the dollar keeps on crashing thanks to Reagan....

[deaniac21]

28. I don't use cash.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

29. They don't like Presidents who kicked their asses in a WAR.

That's why they were after FDR in the dime, and now Ulysses Grant in the $50.

[lpbk2713]

30. If anything, he would have to appear on a thirty dollar bill.

Fifty dollars from RayGun's time is now worth about thirty dollars
thanks to RayGunomics and the corrupt and evil BushCo Regime.

[Retrograde]

31. Put Reagan on the $1 coin

and stop producing paper one-dollar bills. That's the only way we'll be able to get Congress to do switch over to the more durable coins.

[Festivito]

32. Perhaps we could develop an I-Owe-You currency.

Reagan would be perfectly pictured.

Hey, I owe you three bucks for that!

Fork it over.

Sorry, I don't have three bucks, but, hey, do you have a Ronald Reagan IOU three-dollar-bill.

Well, let me check. Why, yes, I do.

Fork it over. Now, I indeed owe three dollars.

Does that mean you'll pay me later?

Of course not! I'm going to pass this off on my kids, who, together with your kids will have to pay it back.

That's beauteous.

Sure is, and thanks for helping make the economy look good when it really isn't good, with this ridiculously silly bill.

Thank you Ronald Reagan three-dollar-IOU bill.

Hey! Kids! I have something for you.

[beac]

36. Brilliant!

And seriously funny too. :rofl:

I'm picturing grandparents all over the country giving these for Christmas. "Gee thanks, Grandpa! And I love my new socks and underwear too!"

[troubledamerican]

37. Why not Cheney? Richard Bruce Cheney = anagram for "Behead Rich Currency"

[goclark]

38. It woulld really be a DREAM to have MLK on the money

But I don't think it will happen in my life time. :cry:

I would fully support any effort.

[eppur_se_muova]

43. See post 42. I might forward that one to Obama. ;^) nt

[woo me with science]

39. Let's keep Grant.

Keeping the Union together is still worth honoring.

[craigmatic]

46. aYeah plus he was the last strong president we had before the gilded age took hold.

[marmar]

45. How about the $2 bill?

[craigmatic]

47. Jefferson is on the 2

[Heywood J]

50. You want to bump Thomas Jefferson?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:US_$2_obverse-high.jpg

[white_wolf]

48. Personally

I think Paine deserves to be on some form of money. Though I'll admit I'm slightly biased as I think Paine was awesome. Dr.King does deserve the honor as well far more than Reagan.

[misanthrope]

49. How about Teddy Roosevelt?**nm

**

[Stevenmarc]

53. If they do, I know what I'll be trickling down on.