Mint reverses "ungodly" move

Normally I don't like riders on congressional bills as they're full of pork-barrel spending in the like, but I can quite easily get behind this use of the procedure.
Whether you believe it is because they could do it (as the Mint claims) or as a step towards removing it completely (as a lot of activist groups claimed) the U.S. Mint moved "In God We Trust" from either face of the US dollar coin to the edge of the coin. You can imagine the furor that arose. As a response the huge consolidated spending bill added a rider that moved "In God We Trust" back to a coin face. Below is part of an article on the issue. Link to article here.

The first four coins, honoring George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams and James Madison, were released during the course of 2007, with the motto on the edge, except some "error" coins that inadvertently were released by the Mint without the edge lettering. The 2008 series will honor James Monroe on Feb. 14, John Quincy Adams on May 15, Andrew Jackson on Aug. 14 and Martin Van Buren on Nov. 13, also will have the motto on the edge.

The Mint explained when the coins were introduced that it moved the motto from the face of the coins to the thin edge in order to allow for larger portraits of the presidents on the face and the Statue of Liberty on the reverse.

But the public outcry over the "disappearance" of "In God We Trust" proved to be too much for Congress, and a plan introduced by Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., and others made its way into the consolidated spending plan and was approved.

"Since the colonial beginnings of the United States, citizens of this nation have officially acknowledged their dependence on God," said Brownback in a news statement reported by Baptist Press. "It is important that our national motto, 'In God We Trust,' is prominently displayed on all of our currency. We should not relegate our heritage to the side."

The plan was proposed separately, but eventually was included as part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2008, approved by Congress and signed into law on Dec. 26 by President Bush.