I was pretty shocked at the news of the advocacy group that wants to put the King on the twenty. They have put up a web site, putkingonthe20.com, that explains why they want the change and why he is more deserving of the honor than Andrew Jackson. I haven't read the site, but I hear it's pretty informative.
You can see my impression of what the new $20 bill might look like here. I think that they should do like they did with the stamps and use the image of Elvis before the weight gain.
Elvis would enter the long line of men and women who were not President of the United States to have their bust on US currency. These folks include Ben Franklin, Susan B. Anthony, Alexander Hamilton, Sam Chase, and Sacajawea. Most of these people were chosen because of their influence on the lives of the American people, and I don't think that Elvis doesn't qualify. I mean, who doesn't have a velvet print of Elvis hanging in their living room?
In fact, I think that since we're revising our money every ten years, we should consider revising all of the photos on US currency. Here are my suggestions:
- $100 - Bono
- $50 - O.J. Simpson
- $20 - Elvis Presley
- $10 - Lucille Ball
- $5 - Bob Hope
- $1 - Jaleel White
Maybe instead of actors and performers, we should stick to the tried and true method of using people who have made a difference to the country. And only those who made a positive difference - after all, if it was any kind of difference, we'd have Bin Laden and Hussein on our cash.
And they should also have to be dead.
As long as we keep those folks with fake holidays and a one-note song off of our currency, I'm ok with pretty much anyone's face on my money. I use debit cards mostly, anyway.
