Plunging Towards Gomorrah
Posts tagged Census
Disenfranchised Census
Apr 5th
When it comes to creative counting there’s no one better than the Democratic Party. The DNC has a simple philosophy; if you’re behind, keep counting until you win. Then, quit counting. If by chance counting doesn’t work, blame the courts and the voting machines. Never ever accept the will of the people if they choose the opposition. It’s a simple philosophy that’s worked well in the state of Washington and in Minnesota. I’ve been thinking about counting this week because I received my second census form.
This is your last chance to respond by mail before a Census Bureau Representative contacts you.
It is important that each household respond only once. If you have already provided your census information we thank you – there is no need to provide it again.
I’m horrified. What if the Census Bureau never received my first form? How is my community going to receive its “fair share” if they don’t count me? What’s could be worse? What if everyone is receiving two forms and filling them out? I am disenfranchised! Some of the least-educated places in the United States are also the most densely populated. I’m afraid that the people in these areas will be over-counted. Am I supposed to believe that the entire nation took the time to read the fine print? Who can blame these people? They only want their fair share.
It’s just a bad idea to send two forms that close together. What if John Smith filled out his form for his family and didn’t tell his wife, Jane? A week or so later Jane gets the mail and fills out the form for the family and mails it in? Now I’m sure there’s a process in place for this kind of screw-up; however, how confident are we as citizens in seasonal Census Bureau workers? It’s kind of like going to Best Buy during Christmas and buying an extended warranty from some acne-faced teenager named Todd because he said “it covers everything.” The only problem is Todd has only been on the floor for 48 hours and doesn’t know anything.
Before anyone gets too upset about me picking on ignorant retail workers, keep in mind that I was once an ignorant retail worker. The main point is that this is a colossal program full of waste. That shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone, but it’s still worth pointing out.
RE: U.S. Census Notification
Mar 10th
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”.
U.S. Census Notification
Mar 9th
I have some more news about the Census. This time it’s a little more personal. The United States Census Bureau sent a notification to my address today. My household will be getting our Census form in about a week. Plus, the form has a handy explanation of why filling out the form is important.
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.
I guess the Constitutional explanation was too difficult. The Census was designed to determine representation and taxation only, not some kind of income redistribution giveaway. The exact quote from the constitution reads: “representatives and direct taxes shall be apportioned among the several states which may be included within this union, according to their respective numbers.” The words “fair” and “share” are conspicuously absent from Article I of the Constitution.
The notification is also in Spanish, just in case illegal immigrants wish to participate in the American experiment. If you happen to speak French, German, Chinese, or Italian, I’m sorry; you’ll just have to learn English first. Then there’s the plight of the the Taiwanese American.
RE: Gerrymandered Census
Feb 26th
I mentioned House Rep. Mel Watt last week in my post about the Gerrymandered Census. As I stated before Watt is one of the most liberal members of the Congress and the only way he continues to get elected is because of gerrymandered districts.
The National Journal has posted the top 10 most liberal and conservative members of the Congress. It’s no surprise that Watt is tied for first. Is Watt really representing the average voter in the state of North Carolina?
The 10 Most Liberal House Dems 1. Rush Holt (D-NJ) 1. Gwen Moore (D-WI) 1. John Olver (D-MA) 1. Linda Sanchez (D-CA) 1. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) 1. Louise Slaughter (D-NY) 1. Mel Watt (D-NC) 1. Henry Waxman (D-CA) 9. Kathy Castor (D-FL) 10. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-IL)
Gerrymandered Census
Feb 17th
One of my pet peeves about the Census is that there are far too many questions that don’t need to be asked. Question 8 asks if a person is of Hispanic origin while Question 9 asks about race. The Constitution requires a census to help draw up Congressional districts; however, that data is being twisted to draw up crazy-snake districts. It’s odd that in a nation that champions equality we have districts in place specifically designed to have a disproportional amount of one race or another.
The U.S. Census webpage has an interactive chart that explains each question on the census. The justification for Question 9 is puzzling.
Race has been asked since 1790 but not because of the Voting Rights or Civil Rights Acts. Initially, only property owners were allowed to vote and African Americans were slaves in most cases. At this stage of our glorious Republic it’s not necessary to know what the race of a citizen is anymore. We are all supposed to be equal. If some Americans wish to know the percentage of the population that’s white or black a simple survey will suffice. The snake districts that have been created over the past century were designed with the justification to create African American districts when in fact they’re designed to create non-competitive districts for Republicans and Democrats.
Nothing better represents gerrymandered district like North Carolina’s Congressional 12th district. When I was living in Charlotte in 2003 my sister lived in Winston-Salem and my parents lived in Statesville. These cities were over an hour drive apart in different directions yet we were all somehow in the same district. It’s not surprising the representative from this district is Mel Watt. Watt is one of the most socialist members of Congress and would never get elected in North Carolina, but he’s reelected every election thanks to this ludicrous district drawn up in Raleigh. Congressional districts should be drawn based on population and not race. It’s time this disgusting practice is abolished.
U.S. Census Mockumentary
Feb 16th
The U.S. Constitution requires a national census every ten years. It’s that time again and the Federal Government is spending our tax dollars on an ad campaign that doesn’t make a lot of sense. Even worse, they ran this ad during the Super Bowl. I understand that running an ad during the Super Bowl is going to reach a large audience; however, shouldn’t the ad convey more information than this?
I love pretty much anything by Christopher Guest, but a mockumentary doesn’t seem like an effective way to promote the census.
