OCR Text |
Show I Garn Voices View j I U.S. Senator Jake Garn lampooned t i a government task force recom- I mendation that the $1 bill be replace 1 with Susan B. Anthony dollar coins f I and $2 bills. J "The next logical step would be f I issuance of a $3 bill - which 1 I Americans long have held as the f I standard of phoniness," said Garn, a 1 I member of the Senate Banking i I Committee. "Of course, the saying 1 1 'phony as a $3 bill' is a good way to f I describe the government's fiscal and J 1 monetary policies, so maybe it would f f be appropriately symbolic." J 1 Garn noted that the recom- f I mendations were contained in a 1 1 report prepared by a government f task force, including representatives 1 1 of the Federal Reserve System, the U. f S. Mint, the Treasury Department, J I and the Bureau of Engraving and f f . Printing. "The Treasury Department, in f asking for public comment on the recommendations, pointed out that they have not been adopted," Garn said. "I hope they never are because they don't make sense - from a practical or psychological standpoint. i "Only a bunch of Washington 1 bureaucrats could dream ud a hare- f brained scheme to force Americnas to use a coin and a bill which have J proven to be as popular as the Edsel," he added. I Garn said proposals for eliminating 1 the $1 bill at a time when the country J is experiencing double-digit inflation "would only worsen the inflationary J psychology which is I gripping the" nation and further J I weaken public confidence." I I The traditional dollar remains the J I basic unit of currency in the country f I he added, and its elimination "could J create new problems at a time when I 1 increased monetary stability is J essential." f Commenting on the Anthony dollar, J Garn noted that he had proposed C unsuccessfully market surveys to J determine public reaction to its size I and design before authorizing mass J minting. "Based on initial response, I I am very skeptical about whether the J public will ever accept the coin. That l is just one more reason for wondering J about the logic and advisability of the task force proposals to expand its J role," he said. 1 |