Last year, Nevada Secretary of State Ross Miller stopped by our office here in the Stephens Media bunker, escorting a guy from the Census Bureau. Their joint message: Tell people to fill out their census forms, since the count will be used to distribute lots of goodies from Washington.<\/p>\n
I politely told our guests I didn\u2019t think the \u201cgoodie bag\u201d argument was their strongest. The Constitution mandates the decennial count, for allocation of congressional seats and of direct taxes (last assessed against the states to pay off the Civil War debt, as I recall, under never-repealed language that means the personal income tax, not being capitated, cannot be a direct tax, but must instead be collected as an indirect excise, just for the record.)<\/p>\n
Americans should tell the census takers how many people live in their homes, for those purposes only.<\/p>\n
\u201cYour problem,\u201d I told the Census public relations man last winter, \u201cis that your forms have gotten so intrusive. You ask all kinds of nosy questions that have nothing to do with that basic Constitutional mandate, and that\u2019s why you\u2019re stirring up so much resistance.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOh, we\u2019ve learned that lesson,\u201d he smiled. \u201cNo more long forms. Just 12 simple questions.\u201d<\/p>\n
Still 11 too many. But I took his answer at face value.<\/p>\n
Which only proves I\u2019m a slow learner.<\/p>\n
As with most things you\u2019ll hear from a government man, that \u201cno more long forms\u201d stuff was accurate … up to a point.<\/p>\n
The bureau may have dropped their \u201clong form\u201d for purposes of the actual decennial census. But they haven\u2019t given up asking all those intrusive questions, which enable the outfit\u2019s current, massive mission creep, marketing toilet counts to bathroom fixture salesmen, or whatever other unconstitutional folderol they\u2019re up to.<\/p>\n
In fact, late last year, with the actual Census under their belts, instead of laying off all but a skeleton staff of night watchmen for the next nine years, the Census snoops started sending them out again, to selected households, as the 2011 \u201cAmerican Community Survey.\u201d<\/p>\n
A reader, who happens to be a retired Army officer, got the nosy questionnaire, and was particularly riled at the accompanying, undated, photocopied letter from Census chief Robert M. Groves, informing him that filling the thing out \u201cis required by law.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLook,\u201d the retired colonel told me after turning over the 28-page, green-and-white form, \u201cI\u2019m a patriotic guy. I served my country. And last year I cooperated with the Census count. But have you read the questions on this new form? They\u2019re ridiculously intrusive, and I\u2019m not going to answer them. How are they going to punish me? They mailed this thing to \u2018Resident.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
For each of up to five people living in the house, the form wants to know name; race (one box specifies \u201cBlack, African Am., or Negro\u201d), and relationship to Person 1 (\u201cUnmarried partner\u201d?)<\/p>\n
But that only gets you through the first four of the survey\u2019s 28 pages.<\/p>\n
When was your home built? On how many acres? In the past 12 months, what were the actual sales of all agricultural products from this property? Have you got a flush toilet? A stove or range? A \u201csink with a faucet\u201d? Do you heat with gas, fuel oil, coal or coke, wood?<\/p>\n
What were your heating costs? Your rent? Water and sewer bill? \u201cDoes the monthly rent include any meals?\u201d Got a second mortgage?<\/p>\n
Is person 1 a citizen? (Gee, I\u2019m sure THAT one registers high on the accuracy scale.) Is person 2 a high school graduate? College? Nursery school? (Yes! There\u2019s a box to check off \u201chighest level of school completed: Nursery school.\u201d) Does person 3 speak a language other than English at home? Does person 4 have health insurance? Is person 5 deaf? IS SHE DEAF?<\/p>\n
Does person 1 have serious difficulty walking or climbing stairs? How any times has person 2 been married? Three or more times? Has person 3 given birth to any children in the past 12 months? If person 4 worked for pay last week, \u201ceven for as little as an hour,\u201d where? (Include street number.) How did he or she get to work? How many people rode in the car? Did that person miss work last week to due to illness or weather? Was person five on welfare last year? Report Person 1\u2019s income from wages, salary, commissions, bonuses, tips, and\/or \u201cself-employment income. …\u201d<\/p>\n
I\u2019m sure glad they got rid of all the \u201cintrusive\u201d stuff.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe long form questions which previously went out to a sample, to one in six households, the long forms with those detailed characteristic type questions, the change that was made in this census is that we dropped those for the Census itself, we just had the short form, that\u2019s the reference to the 12 questions,\u201d explains Doug Wayland, the Bureau spokesman from Denver who returned my call.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd yet the American Community Survey is still a part of the census in gathering that information. So yes, it wasn\u2019t part of the 2010 Census, but yes, you\u2019re required to answer.\u201d<\/p>\n
So they just passed a law that anything the Bureau chooses to ask, you have to answer?<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s decided by Congress. All those questions are related to specific budgetary type matters; those questions aren\u2019t just arbitrarily asked,\u201d Mr. Wayland insists.<\/p>\n
Wow. Sure glad to know it was 218 congressmen, and not just some bureaucrat, who decided Uncle Sam needs to know whether I\u2019ve got \u201ca flush toilet\u201d and \u201ca sink with a faucet.\u201d What the heck is that for — the new sink installer\u2019s stimulus bailout program?<\/p>\n
And if people don\u2019t fill these out, what happens? They get fined? They get arrested?<\/p>\n
\u201cIn terms of Dr. Groves\u2019 reference to \u2018Is it mandated?\u2019 … our staff people who are conducting the American Community Survey are really trained and instructed in how to present it so that they can overcome some of the objections that you\u2019re hearing. …<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Census Bureau is not in law enforcement, our goal is to collect the information, so they try to emphasize the benefits of why those questions are asked, what they are related to, trying to explain so that they understand it relates to revenue … coming back to the community, programs that relate to senior citizens, road construction and so forth. So typically an objection is outweighed when they understand the importance of that data, how it translates into programs and services to their community.\u201d<\/p>\n
Yeah. And does anyone ever get fined for refusing to fill it out?<\/p>\n
\u201cAt the Census Bureau, we don\u2019t get into the enforcement part of it. There\u2019s specific language that talks about fines, et cetera. …\u201d<\/p>\n
And … does anybody get fined?<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not aware of anyone being fined.\u201d<\/p>\n
What\u2019s the compliance rate?<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s very, very high.<\/p>\n
You do follow-up calls, visits?<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a whole sequence,\u201d Mr. Wayland replied. \u201cYou do the initial questionnaire by mail, then by phone, and then the last resort is in person, with the goal of getting the accurate information. … One of the things we absolutely emphasize is the confidentiality. There are significant fines if there\u2019s a breach of confidentiality, and the data they\u2019re retrieving is not on the individual.\u201d<\/p>\n
So they\u2019ve already got the street address, and now they want my retired Army officer\u2019s first name, his last name, the names of everyone else in the house, where they were born, their relationships, the address where each of them lived one year ago, the street address where they work, what time of day they usually leave for work, how they get to work, total income including interest and dividends … but nothing personal.<\/p>\n
Got it.<\/p>\n
All our questions can actually be answered online, Mr. Wayland concludes.<\/p>\n
\u201cJust go to www.census.gov, and then click on \u2018American Community Survey.\u2019 When you get to that, then click \u201cAbout the survey,\u201d then click on \u201cquestions on the form.\u201d<\/p>\n
Under Frequently Asked Questions, there\u2019s even one labeled \u201cMust I respond?\u201d<\/p>\n
I asked Mr. Wayland if he doesn\u2019t think the Bureau breeds resistance by threatening a fine.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t stress that. We constantly reinforce why it\u2019s a benefit. We\u2019re not in law enforcement. Our rule is, if there\u2019s resistance to it, if it becomes a law and order thing, that\u2019s referred to another agency.\u201d<\/p>\n
What other agency?<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Justice Department, if it got to that.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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