Pledge of Allegiance of the United States

"I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."


In 1954, in response to the Communist threat of the times, President Eisenhower encouraged Congress to add the words "under God," creating the 31-word pledge we say today. Today it reads:

"I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."

Section 4 of the Flag Code states:

The Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag: "I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.", should be rendered by standing at attention facing the flag with the right hand over the heart. When not in uniform men should remove any non-religious headdress with their right hand and hold it at the left shoulder, the hand being over the heart. Persons in uniform should remain silent, face the flag, and render the military salute."

Thursday, June 9, 2011

DAY 16 - DAILY HISTORY - AMERICAN MINUTE FOR JUNE 9, 2011


American Minute for June 9th:

    Withholding taxes from people's paychecks began JUNE 9, 1943. Congress passed it as an emergency measure to get money to fight Hitler. The idea came from Beardsley Ruml, treasurer of Macy's and chairman of New York's Federal Reserve Bank. Called the "pay-as-you-go" tax, so much money came in with so few complaints that it continued after the war. John F. Kennedy told Congress, April 20, 1961: "Introduced during the war when the income tax was extended to millions of new taxpayers, the wage-withholding system has been one of the most important and successful advances in our tax system in recent times. Initial difficulties were quickly overcome, and the new system helped the taxpayer no less than the tax collector." But Americans weren't always so taxed. In his 2nd Annual Message, 1802, Thomas Jefferson wrote: "To proceed as we have begun in substituting economy for taxation." President Andrew Jackson stated in his 8th Annual Message, December 5, 1836: "There is no such provision as would authorize Congress to collect together the property of the country, under the name of revenue, for the purpose of dividing it equally or unequally among the States or the people. Indeed, it is not probable that such an idea ever occurred to the States when they adopted the Constitution." In his Message to Congress, May 27, 1830, Andrew Jackson said: "Through the favor of an overruling and indulgent Providence our country is blessed with general prosperity and our citizens exempted from the pressure of taxation, which other less favored portions of the human family are obliged to bear."


Endnotes


Kennedy, John Fitzgerald, April 20, 1961, Special Message on Taxation, April 20, 1961. Public Papers of the Presidents-Containing Public Messages, Speeches & Statements of the President, (Wash., DC: U.S. Gov. Printing Office.) Jackson, Andrew. May 27, 1830, Veto Message to Congress. James D. Richardson (U.S. Representative from Tennessee), ed., A Compilation of the Messages & Papers of the Presidents 1789-1897, 10 vols. (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, published by Authority of Congress, 1897, 1899; Washington, D.C.: Bureau of National Literature & Art, 1789-1902, 11 vols., 1907, 1910), Vol. II, p. 489.


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