[url=http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/obama-mint-trillion-dollar-coin-deal-debt-ceiling-article-1.1235224]Article[/url]
[quote] New York Rep. Jerrold Nadler is the most prominent politician arguing that minting a trillion dollar coin to pay some of the nation's debt is a better option than another fight over raising the U.S. debt ceiling that could result in default.
And with Washington bracing for yet another game of brinkmanship in less than two months over the $16 trillion debt limit, the seemingly far-fetched idea seems to be gaining currency.
Nadler and other proponents, however, argue that a trillion dollar coin is no more absurd than the debt ceiling itself, which caps the government's ability to cover spending Congress has already authorized.
The proposal stems from a line in federal law that allows the Treasury Department to "mint and issue platinum bullion coins and proof platinum coins" in any size or denomination it chooses. That loophole, intended to allow for collectors' coins, theoretically opens the door to the trillion dollar coin.
While platinum is a precious commodity, a platinum coin would have to weigh more than 20,000 tons to have an actual value, when melted, of a trillion dollars. But the face value of no U.S. coin actually matches the value of the metal used to make the coin.[/quote]
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This is stupid on a number of levels that aren't even worth explaining.