Before becoming President, Barack Obama was a "community organizer" who taught groups like ACORN a special type of math that would ensure their "fair share".
Like Henshaw, your venerable Daily Plunge host, Club Soda received a notice from the Census Bureau stating that the Bureau would soon invade my home with a form to fill out with such pertinent information as my race, gender and so on and so forth. As noted in Henshaw’s earlier post about the Census Bureau notification, it reads in part:
Your response is important. Results from the 2010 Census will be used to help each community get its fair share of government funds for highways, schools, health facilities, and many other programs you and your neighbors need. Without a complete, accurate census, your community may not receive its fair share.
As with the Henshaw notice, the words “fair share” made an appearance on my notification form. I immediately picked up my copy of The Federalist Papers, which also includes The Declaration of Independence, The Articles of Confederation and The Constitution, to see what the founders had to say about getting my “fair share”.
Shockingly, the phrase “fair share” does not make an appearance in either The Constitution or in any of the letters that constitute the founders’ defense of the new Constitution, The Federalist Papers. However, I did find some interesting notes about the census, its purpose and why the founders believed a census was a crucial element of the republic.
“As the accuracy of the census to be obtained by the Congress will necessarily depend, in a considerable degree, on the disposition, if not on the cooperation of the States,” wrote James Madison in Federalist No. 54, “it is of great importance that the States should feel as little bias as possible to swell or to reduce the amount of their numbers. Were their share of representation alone to be governed by this rule, they would have an interest in exaggerating their inhabitants. Were the rule to decide their share of taxation alone, a contrary temptation would prevail. By extending the rule to both objects, the State will have opposite interests which will control and balance each other and produce the requisite impartiality.”
With the ratification of the 16th Amendment in 1913, which established the personal income tax, these “opposite interests” – taxation versus representation – no longer applied. Now, the temptation to exaggerate essentially doubles with the added incentive for everyone to grab their “fair share” when it comes time for the Feds to dole out cash.
As Madison implied, without some type of counterbalance to ensure an accurate and unbiased census, corruption would taint the entire process as the states and various special-interest groups within those states would look for ways to make the numbers come out in their favor. This is fertile ground for ACORN-like groups that are not above filling out forms on behalf of dead people, movie stars and professional athletes in order to get their “fair share”.
I’m back! I’ve spent the past two weeks in North Carolina for my wife’s brain surgery. Everything went well, but it’s still a very trying and emotional process. She had the surgery on the 9th and every day has been a challenge. I’m so thankful she’s doing well and hopeful this will put an end to this thing once and for all. We’ll learn more in six weeks.
I can’t say enough about Duke University Hospital. Everyone was nice. I was happy to be back in NC for a few days, but we were both ready to get back to Florida. Two weeks away from home and friends is about all we could take.
Meanwhile, The Daily Plunge has been lacking any daily activity. So much has happened the past two weeks… Obama gave a speech that will only be remembered for Joe Wilson. Alas, it’s a different Joe Wilson. Whatever happened to “speaking truth to power?”
In less than a year the left has turned a complete 180. Protests used to be grassroots uprisings against the government. Now they’re characterized as angry racist mobs more concerned about the color of the president’s skin than the content of his proposals.
What else have I learned? Cable news really is horrendous. Fox and MSNBC are almost unwatchable. I’m not sure how anyone can complain about Fox. MSNBC has thrown objectivity completely out the window. MSNBC’s coverage of the ACORN incident is hilarious.
Speaking of ACORN, who would have believed it was criminal institution? Who saw that coming? I jest of course. It’s amazing that the press had to be dragged kicking and screaming to cover the story. I gripe a lot about the mainstream press, but the great thing about the Information Age is that real journalism still exists.
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