Stories like this make me mostly happy. It makes lots of sense to scrap dollar bills, pennies and nickles, and to mint $1 (and probably $2) coins. The arguments against mostly run the gambit from inane to stupid: "It's always been there, it's reliable, it's a symbol of our nation's history, it's a symbol of our nation's economic strength." Really? Printing paper $1 bills is a symbol of economic strength? How, exactly?
About the closest thing to a sound argument is an odd one: we are in the midst of the lesser depression and printing paper dollars means jobs. Of course, I'm not so sure that it really means more jobs than switching to coins would--especially if we were to add a $2 coin along with killing the paper $1's--but since it's saving the government money, it probably means fewer jobs, which may not be able to be absorbed by the rest of our depressed economy.
Also, the congressional back and forth is very parochial politics (mining vs. paper industry) so seems more petty than it should, but that's also the way politics works (well, used to work). Still, the end is right and the means aren't actually bad so may as well support the people working toward this noble goal that is my personal preference :)-
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