"Save the Greenback ultimately prevented a phaseout of the dollar bill thanks in part to Trent Lott (Mississippi's cotton industry makes the dollar's fabric) and Ted Kennedy (Massachusetts' Crane Paper Co. produces the dollar's paper)."
"Kolbe and many other coin supporters said politics has also been a major obstacle. Prominent Massachusetts Democrats such as Financial Services ranking member Barney Frank and the late Sen. Edward Kennedy have been ardent defenders of Crane & Co., which manufactures the cotton-based paper used in U.S. currency."
"One-dollar bills represent nearly half of Crane’s currency business, and replacing the $1 note altogether would mean the loss of hundreds of jobs, the company said."
"Clearly they had an interest in maintaining the use of the paper,” Kolbe said. [Pay big attention here>>>] “Crane was the only company that could qualify as the producer.”
And just to add to how much a paper dollar costs compared to a coin: A dollar bill costs $0.04 and is remade every 18 months. A dollar coin costs $0.08 and lasts 30 years.
Looks like a bunch of personal quotes from opinion pieces. Just because you don't agree with someone, dosen't mean they are fueled by some grand conspiracy. Occasionally people will just have a different view.
Crane & Co. has yearly revenues of about 300 million (revenues mind you, not profits). Less than a quarter of that is US currency paper. A 75 million dollar a year business is hardly worth it to invest in bribery or lobbying.
You don't have a firm grasp of how American politics work. Every single member of Congress works to keep as much money and power in their district as they can. Retaining even a couple of hundred jobs in a given district can be a huge advantage in an election.
One doesn't need an op-ed to know that Congressmen lean to help companies in their districts that also make campaign contributions. Crane may be a small fish in the global paper mill business, but how much did they contribute to Kennedy's campaign fund over the last 5 decades?
Every other country on the planet has managed to smoothly eliminate the paper dollar/deutschmark/pound/etc when introducing an equivalent coin. All the claims of "oh, the people want to keep the dollar" are bullshit. Where's the documented public protest over keeping the paper dollar, other than the astroturfed group Save The Greenback?
"In 2006, then-Rep. Jim Kolbe (R) of Arizona, the country’s largest supplier of copper, introduced a bill that would have done away with the dollar, but it lay dormant in a Financial Services subcommittee. Kolbe, who introduced similar legislation AT LEAST FIVE TIMES throughout his career..."
The facts remain. Any legislative movement to eliminate the paper dollar has either been stalled in committee or never even mentioned in dollar coin legislation. Why is that?
If my beliefs are off base, let's hear your theory.
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/asection/la-oe-stei...
"Kolbe and many other coin supporters said politics has also been a major obstacle. Prominent Massachusetts Democrats such as Financial Services ranking member Barney Frank and the late Sen. Edward Kennedy have been ardent defenders of Crane & Co., which manufactures the cotton-based paper used in U.S. currency."
"One-dollar bills represent nearly half of Crane’s currency business, and replacing the $1 note altogether would mean the loss of hundreds of jobs, the company said."
"Clearly they had an interest in maintaining the use of the paper,” Kolbe said. [Pay big attention here>>>] “Crane was the only company that could qualify as the producer.”
http://www.rollcall.com/news/Dollar-Bill-Coin-Coalition-Lobb...
And just to add to how much a paper dollar costs compared to a coin: A dollar bill costs $0.04 and is remade every 18 months. A dollar coin costs $0.08 and lasts 30 years.
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2007/03/lca_coins_notes.php