By Will Cade

When I was about 14, the U.S Treasury Department revamped some of the dollar bills. The first time I saw one of the oversized and misplaced pictures of an ex-president, I thought I was looking at play money. I learned that this gawky, off-centered picture (which cost the government millions) was supposed to fight counterfeiting in an unprecedented way. Within a month, they had been counterfeit, and someone had invented a $2 pen that marked tan on real money and black on fake. Glad to know the government was putting my tax dollars to good use, in more ways than one.

After wasting millions on redesigns in the past, the Treasury Department is currently resisting a redesign to help the blind and visually impaired. The blind cannot distinguish between the different notes, for they feel the same and are the same size. The Treasury Department’s main concern is the potential cost of redesigning vending machines. Looking at the history, I suppose this governmental response logically follows: of course the government should waste millions in hopes of saving itself money, but spending money to better the people it is meant to represent is absolutely uncalled for.

Before you loose all faith in government and barricade yourself in a commune somewhere in the desert, at least remember that the U.S. government has a system of checks and balances set up to prevent one branch from being too much of a douche bag. Hence we have Congress, Federal Courts, and… the President. Unfortunately this system doesn’t always work perfectly (like when George Bush invaded Iraq without Congressional approval) but it is meant to iron itself out over time.

Thankfully, last week a U.S. Federal Appeals Court upheld the ruling that the U.S. Government has to change its bills to allow the blind and visually impaired to distinguish between the denominations. The Treasury Department could fight the ruling by taking the case before the Supreme Court, but it would have to do so within 90 days. Until this day passes, we will not know how or when the Treasury Department will go about remedying this situation.

When I see the way the U.S. government functions at times, it helps me to think of a bully in a kindergarten class. Being a child, he naturally he wants more for himself. He’s usually bigger than the other kids, so he starts to take advantage of this. He gets more cookies and milk at snack time, and at first kids laugh when he makes other kids cry. But, eventually, one of two things will happen. He’ll either get sent to the principal’s office - crying to his mom over the phone about how he’ll never do it again - or his class mates will avoid him out of fear. Either way, come recess time, he won’t be having too much fun, not until he straightens up his act. If he does this, though, he may even learn that his size can benefit others, a hallmark of maturity.

I realize that the U.S. is a young and preciously powerful country. More times than not, I see it using its strength for selfish reasons, which inevitably leads it to take advantage of others - both inside and outside of its borders. However I do think that it’s starting to feel the pangs of loneliness, if only from a monetary perspective. If it can be a little more mature and learn to use its influence to truly help, I believe it might get along better with the other kids in the class. And maybe they’ll even share some of their milk and cookies.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/21/washington/21money.html?ref=nyregion