Those of you who would prefer to see the dime and half-dollar stay the way they are — that is, without Ronald Reagan’s picture — will be pleased to know that some high-profile Dems are on the case.
Alexander Hamilton has his defenders from those who would replace his visage on the $10 with that of Ronald Reagan; now Presidents Roosevelt and Kennedy have theirs.
Democrats for America’s Future (DAF), an organization that includes James Carville, Robert Reich and Carol Moseley Braun among its advisers, has launched an effort to prevent Reagan from upstaging FDR on the dime or JFK on the 50-cent piece.
Apparently, there’s even a website — www.SaveTheFDRDime.org — in which people can contact GOP lawmakers and the U.S. Mint director to share their concerns. (As of this minute, the site doesn’t appear to be working. FYI)
Echoing one of the Gipper’s most famous lines, the suggested e-mail text on the website reads, in part: “I am a big supporter of the exemplary life and good works of Presidents Franklin Delano Roosevelt and John Fitzgerald Kennedy. Both FDR and JFK served their country during times of war and times of peace. They earned their spot on the dime and the half-dollar piece. Their images should not be dumped on the ash heap of history in order to make way for any other president.”
DAF Executive Director Jennifer Petty said: “People who are attacking the Roosevelt and Kennedy coins are pursuing a two-track agenda under which they wouldn’t just honor President Reagan. They also want to exploit this as an opportunity to tear down and vilify the memories of two of the greatest Americans: FDR and JFK.”
I have a hunch they’ll have to launch similar efforts to maintain the status quo on the $10 bill, the $20 bill, the $1 coin, the Pentagon, Mount Rushmore…