henare

well, i managed to get on the san marino list (total dumb luck on my part) so now i get their issues regularly ...

that sede vacante set is pretty ... uh ... busy-looking. the VA 5€ is attractive, tho. too bad they'll probably be impossible to get.

definitely! please count me in ...

The IRS will *never* find me here!

who will be in SF for this? should be a great time!

Dear Senator Boxer: I'm writing about S. 1047 (based on HR 902), which was referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs on 17th May 2005. This bill seeks to change the design of $1 coins to commemorate past presidents, and it also seeks to issue bullion coins to honor the spouses of past presidents. I write to ask that you withhold your sponsorship and that you vote against this bill should it be brought to a vote. Section 101 of this bill suggests that changing the design on the $1 coin will cause it to circulate--there is already ample evidence that this doesn't work. With the fairly recent failures to introduce $1 coins into daily commerce it's not clear that the proposed changes will change this trend. The state quarter series is popular, in good part, because people already use quarters in daily commerce and so the designs are readily available to everyone. Similarly, it's not clear why spouses of presidents should have a coin which honors them individually--while some First Ladies have given invaluable service to our Nation, it's not clear that a series of bullion coins are appropriate to honor those First Ladies. If our government were truly interested in achieving the savings that could be had by common use of a $1 coin we should learn from our own mistakes and the success of our neighbors by withdrawing the $1 Federal Reserve Note from circulation. No design change is required, and our countrymen can start saving as soon as we stop producing the $1 FRN. Thanks for your support on this issue! Cordially, Henry Mensch

done

i'm back ... i guess. it's a good thing i checked back tonite--i really did think things were gone ...