Response to William Safire’s “Abolish the Penny”
Response to William Safire’s “Abolish the Penny”
The saying “A penny for your thoughts” means a lot to society; however, William Safire does not agree with this notion. In Safire’s “Abolish the Penny,” he argues that pennies are a burden to the society and should be completely taken out of the circulation. Safire states, “The time has come to abolish the outdated, almost worthless, bothersome, and wasteful penny” (515). He says that the penny is a scam by the government that makes something look cheaper than it actually is. He believes that the penny is a hassle and is no help to the government. Although Safire may have a good point about abolishing the penny, he does not realize how much harm it could actually do to a society in the form of taxes, shopping, and entertainment.
Safire says that instead of rounding money to the nearest tenth, merchants would lower their prices. For example, something that costs $10.97 would be lowered to $10.95 instead of raised to $11.00. This may have been true in the past; however, now, with the government dealing with debt problems, the price would increase instead of decrease to help the government. This could have a negative impact on shoppers because, instead of paying $10.97 plus tax, they are now paying $11.00 plus tax. If merchants need to buy equipment for their stores, it would cost twice as much after tax. In result, this would make them raise their prices even higher than to the nearest cent ending in five or zero.
Abolishing the penny could have an effect on tax rates throughout the United States. Taxes would have to be based on a number ending in five or zero; therefore, a county with a tax rate of eight percent would now be raised to ten percent. This could cause small businesses to close and make the cost of living more expensive. Not only might the government raise taxes, but they might also lower the minimum wage. Instead of making $7.56/hour employees would now be making $7.50/hour, which would
The saying “A penny for your thoughts” means a lot to society; however, William Safire does not agree with this notion. In Safire’s “Abolish the Penny,” he argues that pennies are a burden to the society and should be completely taken out of the circulation. Safire states, “The time has come to abolish the outdated, almost worthless, bothersome, and wasteful penny” (515). He says that the penny is a scam by the government that makes something look cheaper than it actually is. He believes that the penny is a hassle and is no help to the government. Although Safire may have a good point about abolishing the penny, he does not realize how much harm it could actually do to a society in the form of taxes, shopping, and entertainment.
Safire says that instead of rounding money to the nearest tenth, merchants would lower their prices. For example, something that costs $10.97 would be lowered to $10.95 instead of raised to $11.00. This may have been true in the past; however, now, with the government dealing with debt problems, the price would increase instead of decrease to help the government. This could have a negative impact on shoppers because, instead of paying $10.97 plus tax, they are now paying $11.00 plus tax. If merchants need to buy equipment for their stores, it would cost twice as much after tax. In result, this would make them raise their prices even higher than to the nearest cent ending in five or zero.
Abolishing the penny could have an effect on tax rates throughout the United States. Taxes would have to be based on a number ending in five or zero; therefore, a county with a tax rate of eight percent would now be raised to ten percent. This could cause small businesses to close and make the cost of living more expensive. Not only might the government raise taxes, but they might also lower the minimum wage. Instead of making $7.56/hour employees would now be making $7.50/hour, which would
Cited: Safire, William. “Abolish the Penny.” Successful College Writing: Skills, Strategies, Learning Styles Ed. Kathleen T. McWhorter. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s 2009. 515-516. Print.