No 10 times, no 20 times

And it does make a dime's worth of difference to me.

New York (CNN/Money, June 8) - Ronald Reagan's face could one day adorn the $10 bill or half the dimes minted in the country, if fans of the late president get their way.

Apparently legislation is to be introduced in the Senate to plaster Ronnie's smirking puss on the $10 bill, bumping Alexander Hamilton, while in the House it's Andrew Jackson's $20 bill that's in the line of fire. The efforts "have the support of" - read "were prompted by" - Grover Norquist's Ronald Reagan Legacy Project, which wants "dedications" to Bonzo literally everywhere you look.

In fact, the effort to beatify Reagan began long before now as conservatives, doubtless aware that their arguments don't stand up to logical scrutiny and can only be sustained by deception, distortion, and distraction - and that eventually people do catch on despite their efforts - want to put Reagan and his "legacy" in the "out there," that gauzy area of hagiographic mist where such as Abraham Lincoln and "the Founding Fathers" reside. They don't want that legacy discussed or described, just referred to in terms of ingrained adoration.

(There was even an earlier move to put him on the $10 bill, which lost steam when even Nancy opposed it and an attempt to push a Reagan postage stamp which stalled when it was pointed out that - oops - it's common to wait until the person is actually dead to do that. At the same time, PostalMag.com notes that every deceased president has gotten a stamp and says a Reagan one should be out within a year.)

And of course they know there's a good chance their plot will fail for lack of Congressional support, so they have a fallback.

Proponents of Reaganized money, however, are proposing an alternative to paper money: coins. Unlike decisions about notes, coinage can be changed at the discretion of the Secretary of the Treasury.

That way, they don't actually have to have a debate or anything equally icky, they just have to lobby one of the Shrubberies.

Originally, they wanted the twerp's mug to replace FDR's on the dime, but that didn't fly, so now they propose to have each on half the dimes. Treasury will only say that discussion of the idea is "premature ... Including discussions of process or timing," which makes me suspicious that discussions of the idea are exactly what have already taken place.

Well, if they really want to honor Ronnie Raygun, if they're really set on this, I have my own proposal: Start reissuing $1000 notes and have his portrait on them.

At least that way, I'd never have to see them.