ON THE MONEY - Women!

"How Harriet Tubman kicked Andrew Jackson off the front of your $20 bill?" PBS NewsHour 4/20/2016

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  For the first time in over 100 years, famous American women will appear on U.S. paper currency.  Harriet Tubman will replace Andrew Jackson on the front of the $20 bill, a group of suffragists will be added to the $10 bill and the $5 bill will show Eleanor Roosevelt and singer Marian Anderson at the Lincoln Memorial.  Treasury Secretary Jack Lew joins Judy Woodruff to discuss the changes.

JUDY WOODRUFF (NewsHour):  It has been a much anticipated decision, but the United States' currency is in for the first changes in a long time, giving new prominence to civil rights and women's history in this country.

The familiar greenbacks haven't seen a new face in almost 90 years.  And when the Treasury Department announced last year a woman might grace a bill for the first time in history, there was jubilation from American women, but a backlash from Alexander Hamilton fans, who were upset over anyone replacing him on the $10 bill.

The first secretary of the treasury, Hamilton has become a darling of popular culture with the runaway success of the Broadway musical named after him.  There was plenty of feedback and even some indignation at the suggestion Hamilton might be replaced.

Today, after much speculation, Treasury Secretary Jack Lew announced it's the seventh President of the United States, Andrew Jackson, who loses his spot on the front of the $20 bill.  He will be replaced by Harriet Tubman, the Civil War anti-slavery activist and a leader of the Underground Railroad.

Hamilton stays put on the $10 bill, but the reverse side will now include leaders of the women's suffrage movement, including Susan B. Anthony, and another abolitionist, Sojourner Truth.

The $5 bill also gets an update to include civil rights leaders such Marian Anderson, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Martin Luther King Jr.

I caught up with Treasury Secretary Lew earlier today.

Secretary Jack Lew, thank you for joining us.

JACK LEW, Secretary of the Treasury:  Great to be with you, Judy.

JUDY WOODRUFF:  So, big decision, the first time a woman is going on the face of a piece of U.S. currency that's in wide circulation.

Why Harriet Tubman?

JACK LEW:  You know, when we started the public discussion of this almost a year ago, I said it's been almost 100 years since we have had a woman on our currency, and that had to change, and it had to change as soon as possible.

We went through a process of listening.  And I kind of did it the old-fashioned way.  We actually listened.  Heard from well over a million people in one way or another, responses through handwritten notes and e-mails and tweets and retweets.

And the amount of support and interest in Harriet Tubman was quite impressive.  It showed that the story of Harriet Tubman means a lot to people of all ages in this country, and it speaks to something very important about American democracy.

Here, a woman born a slave, illiterate her whole life, can, after spending countless trips going back and forth freeing people on an individual basis, worked for the Army to help — as a spy, help them find their way into battle in the Civil War, and then be a founder of the women's suffrage movement, how that can change our country.  And I think that's — it's a tremendous American story.

POLITICS - Congress and the Debt Limit

(aka: Tea Party Terrorists Loose a Battle)

"Treasury Secretary Lew on Congress ‘coming to terms’ with the debt limit" PBS NewsHour 10/28/2015

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  The bipartisan budget deal passed by the House is the product of negotiations between Congressional leaders and the White House.  Treasury Secretary Jack Lew sits down with Gwen Ifill to discuss how Congress achieved its moment of breakthrough, plus a rundown of some of the budget nuts and bolts.

GWEN IFILL (NewsHour):  Earlier this afternoon, I sat down with Treasury Secretary Jack Lew.

Secretary of Treasury Jack Lew, thank you for joining us.

JACK LEW, Secretary of the Treasury:  Great to be with you, Gwen.

GWEN IFILL:  As we speak this afternoon, it looks like a vote is imminent on the budget deal and on budget deal that would also allow the debt limit to go up.

After kicking this can down the road repeatedly with Congress, what changed this time to allow a two-year deal to be on the verge of approval?

JACK LEW:  Well, I think a lot of things came together.

Obviously, the fact that the debt limit is going to be reached on Tuesday of next week, and they have to act before then, focused their minds on the debt limit in a very real way.  I have been communicating with Congress on a very regular basis.  It’s been getting closer and closer.  And I think it’s a good thing that they have reached an agreement, so that it certainly seems to be on track for the debt limit being raised in time to avoid that unnecessary self-inflicted wound.

On the budget side, there have been conversations going on for many years, but intensely for many weeks, to try and figure out how to resolve this year’s funding bills.  The approach is one that we have supported for a long time, which is to relieve the across-the-board cuts in sequestration by replacing the savings with a balanced mix of tax and spending items.

The breakthrough in the last week has enabled us to reach an agreement, where we have achieved that goal, and providing $80 billion of relief is going to give Congress the ability to write appropriations bills to meet our domestic needs and our defense needs.  This means that they will be able to invest in research and education and also in our national defense.

I think that’s what Americans want Congress to do.  It shouldn’t be so hard to get to these moments where these agreements can be reached.  And I hope this passes in a way that’s uneventful and enables Congress to get on with its work.