Letter to My Neighbors (in regard to the upcoming Census) - [vanity]

self | 7/21/2009 | NewJerseyJoe

[NewJerseyJoe]

I have given the following letter to my neighbors:

Hello Neighbor:

You probably know that the decennial US Census is coming up soon. What you may not know is the degree to which the next census is being politicized by the current crop of crooks in Washington.

The census has one (and only one) purpose: to count the number of people. Period. That’s in the Constitution. But the plan now is to ask a number of invasive (and illegal) questions of citizens. Furthermore, people will supposedly be threatened with fines if they do not comply with the questioning. Even worse, census takers are being instructed to ask neighbors to “rat” on each other, if the first neighbor isn’t home or refuses to comply. (This is assuming that the neighbors even know the correct answers in the first place!)

When the census taker comes to my house, I will tell him how many people live here — and that’s all. Any other questions will be met with “Decline to answer” — no matter how much he protests or “threatens.” And, should he ask me any questions about you, I will answer “That’s none of your business, and I wouldn’t tell you even if I knew.”

I want you, my neighbors, to know: under NO circumstances will I answer any questions about you. Your privacy and your rights are as important to me as are my own.

I have attached some articles of interest, if you wish to read more about this.

Please do not hesitate to get in touch if you would like to discuss this.

Your neighbor,

I also enclosed copies of the following articles:

EXCLUSIVE: Minn. lawmaker vows not to complete Census

"An individual comes to your door and announces they are a representative of the government. The individual then proceeds to tell you that they’ve been trying to get in contact with your neighbor, but, for whatever reason they keep missing them. They ask you if you could answer a few questions about your neighbor..."

"She sent a portion of the U.S. legal code that says anyone over 18 years of age who refuses to answer "any of the questions" on the census can be fined up to $5,000"

[ErnBatavia]

,

[divine_moment_of_facts]

Is it a fact that census takers have asked people for information on their neighbors? How slipshod can they get?

[NewJerseyJoe]

>> ,

I couldn't agree more!  ;-)

[The Great RJ]

While you might be compelled to answer the census questions there is nothing that says you cannot provide vague or inaccurate answers ...like how are they really going to check. My wife may have distant Native American ancestry... so certainly that would be important to report her race as Native American. One can never be too sure of all your ancestry so perhaps my race is mixed. Having worked on the 2000 census as a program manager I can tell you that the data collected by these census workers is mostly junk anyway.

[NewJerseyJoe]

> My wife may have distant Native American

I *am* native American. I was born here.

>Having worked on the 2000 census as a program manager I can tell you that the data collected by these census workers is mostly junk anyway.

In 2000, NObama was not (ostensibly) Pres*ent, libs were not controlling the government, and ACORN thugs were not conducting the census. Times have changed.

[dforest]

The wording states “ if a person refuses to answer “any” of the questions, It does not say “all” of the questions.

I will only answer the very basic.

[Adder]

But the junk is used nevertheless, is it not?

[NewJerseyJoe]

Another option is to answer all the questions with the same answer:

Q: How many people live here?
A: X people live here.

Q: What kind of car do you drive?
A: X people live here.

Q: How many bathrooms do you have?
A: X people live here.

Q: What is your political party?
A: X people live here.

[americanophile]

The problem is the census clause in the Constitution, which provides Congress with some wiggle room. They have to conduct an ‘enumeration,’ but it’s to be done, ‘in such manner as they shall by law direct.’ Congress has subsequently directed that they will ask additional questions, so there are relevant statutes on the books. If think you’re instinctively right, by the plain meaning of the Constitution, but the Courts have a way of interpreting the Constitution to mean all sorts of things that it clearly does not, and failure to comply will mean fines, etc. Personally, I think it’s worth the risk...it may give you standing to challenge it in court, but everyone should be aware of what they’re getting into - a potential protracted fight with the Census Bureau and ultimately the Congress.

[ZULU]

Do you have any information about people REALLY being fined for not answering questions not directly related to the number of people?

Is not cooperating with them a crime? Does it impact one’s qualifications to own firearms?

[lafroste]

My family are complete mutts. We're Irish, French, German, Asian, American Indian, South Pacific Islander, Jewish, and (I think) Moorish. What box should we check?

However, I have read elsewhere that it is better (legally) to decline to answer than give false info. I don't know if that's true.

[Daffynition]

doug from upland posted this:

[NewJerseyJoe]

Whether or not people have been fined in the past? -- I don't know. But Shelley the Census Bureau spokesbabe "... sent a portion of the U.S. legal code that says anyone over 18 years of age who refuses to answer 'any of the questions' on the census can be fined up to $5,000."

If that's the case, I'll give an answer. It may not be an answer they'll understand, but it will be an answer!

[Gandalf_The_Gray]

Having worked on the 2000 census as a program manager I can tell you that the data collected by these census workers is mostly junk anyway.

I worked the 2000 census as a second shift clerk in a regional office. I can say with some assurance that if you glued three average office rats together you could scrape up enough IQ to emulate a fine igneous rock. I could tell stories at length but it would just cause taxpayers pain to have to hear how their money was pi$$ed away.

Regards,
GtG