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Civics... the study or science of the privileges and obligations of citizens. I took a civics quiz recently and didn't do so well - I got a 'D' - even though it was only 33 questions with multiple-guess answers and instant results and Ginger helped! You probably already know all this stuff but here are a few references to motivate you to take the 2009 Civics Quiz if you dare.
United States Declaration of Independence
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

Statue of Liberty
..."Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"
Lady Liberty: was dedicated on October 28, 1886 The tablet in her hand represents knowledge and shows the date of the United States Declaration of Independence, in roman numerals, July IV, MDCCLXXVI. (explosion)

Liberty Bell
"Proclaim LIBERTY throughout all the Land unto all the Inhabitants thereof Lev. XXV X"
Independence Bell: delivered in late August/early September 1752, inscription from Leviticus 25:10, rings to the tune of E-flat.

Great Seal of the United States
The first design for the official seal of the United States recommended by Franklin, Adams and Jefferson in 1776 depicts the Jews crossing the Red Sea. The motto around the seal read: "REBELLION TO TYRANTS IS OBEDIENCE TO GOD." Congress, however, was not impressed and ordered the recommendation to "lie on the table".
The current design has two mottos...
Annuit Coeptis signifies that Providence has "approved of (our) undertakings."
Novus Ordo Seclorum, freely taken from Virgil, means "a new order of the ages."
Great Seal: December 13, 1884
The Constitution of the United States
We the People of the United States, in order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
U.S. Constitution: September 17, 1787

First Amendment
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
First Amendment: December 15, 1791 (Part of the United States Bill of Rights - the first 10 amendments)

Second Amendment
A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.
Second Amendment: December 15, 1791 (There are twenty-seven amendments to the constitution.)
Gettysburg Address
Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. - and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.
Gettysburg Address by President Abraham Lincoln: November 19, 1863
The New Deal
The initial Wall Street Crash of the U.S. stock market occurred on Thursday October 24, 1929; then, on "Black Tuesday" October 29, the stock market fell even more than it had the week before. These events were the catalyst of a worldwide economic depression.

From 1929-1933, unemployment in the U.S. increased from 4% to 25%, manufacturing output reduced by approximately a third. Prices fell causing a deflation of currency values, which made the repayments of debts much harder.

Upon accepting the 1932 United States Democratic Party nomination for president, Franklin Roosevelt promised "a new deal for the American people."

Throughout the nation men and women, forgotten in the political philosophy of the Government, look to us here for guidance and for more equitable opportunity to share in the distribution of national wealth... I pledge myself to a new deal for the American people. This is more than a political campaign. It is a call to arms.

The "First New Deal" of 1933 was aimed at short-term recovery programs for all groups. The Roosevelt administration promoted or implemented banking reform laws, emergency relief programs, work relief programs, agricultural programs, and industrial reform (the National Recovery Administration), a federal welfare state, as well as the end of the gold standard and prohibition.

A "Second New Deal" (1935-36) included labor union support, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) relief program, the Social Security Act, and programs to aid farmers, including tenant farmers and migrant workers. The Supreme Court ruled several programs unconstitutional; however, most were soon replaced, with the exception of the NRA.

Roosevelt asked Congress to expand the number of justices on the Supreme Court so as to allow him to appoint members sympathetic to his ideas and hence tip the ideological balance of the Court. This proposal provoked a storm of protest.

In practice the New Deal ended with World War II.

The Federal Government of the United States
The Federal Government has three branches: Through a system of separation of powers and the system of "checks and balances," each of these branches has some authority to act on its own, some authority to regulate the other two branches, and has some of its own authority, in turn, regulated by the other branches.
  • LEGISLATIVE: The United States Congress is the legislative branch of the federal government with the exclusive power to declare war, to raise and maintain the armed forces, issue patents and copyrights, and to admit new states to the Union. It is bicameral, comprising the House of Representatives and the Senate.
  • EXECUTIVE: The Executive branch consists of the President and delegates. The President is both the head of state and government, as well as the military commander-in-chief (only when called into actual military services), chief diplomat and chief of party.
  • JUDICIAL: The Supreme Court is the highest court in the federal court system. The court deals with matters pertaining to the federal government, disputes between states, and interpretation of the United States Constitution, and can declare legislation or executive action made at any level of the government as unconstitutional, nullifying the law and creating precedent for future law and decisions.
POTUS... Presidents of the United States of Amreica
1 George Washington: April 30, 1789 - March 4, 1797. VP John Adams / Independent
2 John Adams: March 4, 1797 - March 4, 1801. VP Thomas Jefferson / Federalist
3 Thomas Jefferson: March 4, 1801 - March 4, 1809 / Democratic ~ Republican
4 James Madison: March 4, 1809 to March 4, 1817 / Democratic ~ Republican
---
30 Calvin Coolidge: August 2, 1923 - March 4, 1929 / Republican
31 Herbert Hoover: March 4, 1929 - March 4, 1933 / Republican.
32 Franklin D. Roosevelt March 4, 1933 April 12, 1945 / Democratic
33 Harry S. Truman April 12, 1945 January 20, 1953 / Democratic
34 Dwight D. Eisenhower January 20, 1953 January 20, 1961 / Republican
35 John F. Kennedy January 20, 1961 November 22, 1963 / Democratic
36 Lyndon B. Johnson November 22, 1963 January 20, 1969 / Democratic
37 Richard Nixon January 20, 1969 August 9, 1974 / Republican
38 Gerald Ford August 9, 1974 January 20, 1977 / Republican
39 Jimmy Carter January 20, 1977 January 20, 1981 / Democratic
40 Ronald Reagan January 20, 1981 January 20, 1989 / Republican
41 George H. W. Bush January 20, 1989 January 20, 1993 / Republican
42 Bill Clinton January 20, 1993 January 20, 2001 / Democratic
43 George W. Bush January 20, 2001 January 20, 2009 / Republican
44 Barack Obama January 20, 2009 - ? / Democratic


note: There have been 56 terms of presidency
free·dom  (unbelievably there are 17 definitions for this word... here's 11 of them.)
  1. civil liberty, as opposed to subjection to an arbitrary or despotic government.
  2. political or national independence.
  3. a particular immunity or other privilege enjoyed, as by a city or corporation.
  4. personal liberty, as opposed to bondage or slavery.
  5. state of being at liberty rather than in confinement or under physical restraint.
  6. exemption from external control, interference, regulation, etc.
  7. power of determining one's or its own action.
  8. Philosophy the condition of the will as the volitional instigator of human actions; relative self-determination.
  9. absence of or release from ties, obligations, etc.
  10. exemption or immunity; freedom from taxation.
  11. exemption from the presence of anything specified (followed by from): freedom from fear.
lib·er·ty  ('leave granted to a sailor, esp. in the navy, to go ashore' was removed for brevity.)
  1. freedom from arbitrary or despotic government, or, often, from other rule or law than that of a self-governing community.
  2. freedom from external or foreign rule, or independence.
  3. freedom from control, interference, obligation, restriction, hampering conditions, etc.; power or right of doing, thinking, speaking, etc., according to choice.
  4. freedom from captivity, confinement, or physical restraint: the prisoner soon regained his liberty.
  5. the freedom or right of frequenting or using a place, etc.
  6. unwarranted or impertinent freedom in action or speech, or a form or instance of it.
  7. at liberty...
    • free from bondage, captivity, confinement, or restraint.
    • unoccupied or disengaged.
    • free, permitted, or privileged to do or be as specified.
From My Father's The American College Dictionary, ©1962
Entitlement... guarantee of access to benefits because of rights, or by agreement through law. It also refers, in a more casual sense to someone's belief that one is deserving of some particular reward or benefit.
The larger and better known initiatives of the U.S. entitlement program called 'Social Security' are:
  • Federal Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance (OASDI)
  • Unemployment benefits (UI)
  • Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF)
  • Health Insurance for Aged and Disabled (Medicare)
  • Grants to States for Medical Assistance Programs (Medicaid)
  • State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP)
  • Supplemental Security Income (SSI)
Payments to current recipients are financed by a payroll tax on current workers' wages, half directly as a payroll tax and half paid by the employer and are collected under authority of the Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA).
  • By dollars paid, the U.S. Social Security program is the largest government program in the world and the single greatest expenditure in the federal budget
    • 20.9% for social security
    • 20.4% for Medicare/Medicaid
    • 20.1% for military expenditure (for comparison)
"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."

The Pledge of Allegiance to the United States flag is an oath of loyalty to the country. It is recited at many public events. It should be recited 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. People in uniform should remain silent, face the flag, and render the military salute. The Pledge, written by Francis Bellamy, was first published in 1892.

The Star-Spangled Banner, a poem written by Francis Scott Key during September 3-16, 1814 and later set to the tune of a popular British drinking song, is treated similarly. On March 3, 1931, President Herbert Hoover officially made it the national anthem of the United States of America.

" . . the world may know, that so far as we approve of monarchy, that in America THE LAW IS KING. For as in absolute governments the King is law, so in free countries the law OUGHT to be King; and there ought to be no other. "
Rule of Law by Thomas Paine in his pamphlet Common Sense (1776)
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