Our Government Turns its Back on the Blind
The United States Treasury Department is currently appealing a U.S. Court of Appeals decision which would require them to draft and implement a plan to create a paper currency which is recognizable to the blind.
The U.S. Treasury Department is opposed to the ruling because as recently as 1996 they instituted an infrared marking system for bills which can be read by an electronic scanner and they say further improvements would cost millions of dollars.
Here is why I think the government is making the wrong decision:
-The Equal Protection Act of the U.S. Constitution should not allow government to make money which is not recognizable by all citizens.
-Articles report that the devices which read the infrared markings on current bills are slow, inaccurate, and expensive.
-The cost of redesigning the currency so it is functional for the blind would be minimal when compared to the treasury's annual budget and the regular costs of redesigning bills to stay ahead of counterfeiters.
-The blind should not have to rely on the hopes of honest bankers and retailers to count and sort their money.
-We are all equal citizens and money should be designed so it is functional for all of us.
I have to say I am disappointedly to know that a problem which could be easily fixed is being shot down by the government for monetary reasons, especially in a time where we are spending billions of dollars a month in Iraq. I think that everyone in this country should have equal rights, equal treatment under the law, and equal ability to use currency.
The U.S. Treasury Department is opposed to the ruling because as recently as 1996 they instituted an infrared marking system for bills which can be read by an electronic scanner and they say further improvements would cost millions of dollars.
Here is why I think the government is making the wrong decision:
-The Equal Protection Act of the U.S. Constitution should not allow government to make money which is not recognizable by all citizens.
-Articles report that the devices which read the infrared markings on current bills are slow, inaccurate, and expensive.
-The cost of redesigning the currency so it is functional for the blind would be minimal when compared to the treasury's annual budget and the regular costs of redesigning bills to stay ahead of counterfeiters.
-The blind should not have to rely on the hopes of honest bankers and retailers to count and sort their money.
-We are all equal citizens and money should be designed so it is functional for all of us.
I have to say I am disappointedly to know that a problem which could be easily fixed is being shot down by the government for monetary reasons, especially in a time where we are spending billions of dollars a month in Iraq. I think that everyone in this country should have equal rights, equal treatment under the law, and equal ability to use currency.