Posted on 03/01/2010 12:49:41 PM PST by MsLady
Soitenly!!
Last time they took the census I filled out only the numbers of people. They called and called and called trying to get more info
Finally they sent some lady to ask me the rest of the questions like how many bathrooms in my house etc.
I asked her why she needed to know all this stuff, she said it was required by the Constitution. I said "OK wait one minute." I went and got my pocket Constitution and a 100 Dollar Bill and told her if she could find such in the Constitution she could have the money.
She read it all and then said it must be in an Amendment. I pointed out that all the Amendments were listed in the book I gave her and she said "Well they told me it had to all be answered because it was in the Constitution."
She then proceeded to ask me the question again and I answered them all with the response of 42.
Except for the ones about race.
I told her I was Black, my wife was Italian and our Daughter was full blooded Eskimo. She asked if she was adopted and I told her "no she is our natural born child."
She said nothing else gathered her papers and left. I never signed a thing. ;-)
That assumes bureaucrats uniformly abide by law. We know just how well that worked with personal info that was released about Joe the Plumber when he ran afoul of The One (yes, it was the state of Ohio, but the same principle applies).
Human
Next question
If you have doubts about whether something HAS to be answered, scribble some unintelligible mark in the space.
GOOD FOR YOU...but don’t answer any questions other than the one asking how many people are in your household.
I hope that ALL of our fellow FReepers would do this. Use the Cloward-Piven strategy on Obama’s Census Bureau — have so many people refusing to answer the questions they have no right of knowing that they can’t do anything about it. OVERWHELM the system!
My question is about the last part, it says, in such Manner as they shall by Law direct. What does that mean? Does that mean they can take the census anyway they want? And ask any question they want?
DON'T ANSWER IT...but if you do, say "HUMAN".
Yes they are!
There are fines for non-response and for false response as well, though the amount has risen from the 1790's $20. Today failure to respond can result in a $100 fine; providing false answers is a more severe offense, and carries a $500 fine. Recent news reports, however, indicate that punishment for failure to respond is not usually enforced. The controlling section of the Code is 13 USC 221.
Source
So, if you want to say your are Eskimo, you had better be Eskimo - unless you have $500 to spare.
Finally, there is this little gem (same source)
The biggest problem for the suit is the Constitution itself: "[The Census] shall be made ... in such Manner as [Congress] shall by Law direct." The questions on the long form are there because of legislation duly enacted into law by the Congress and signed by the President. Though the ire of citizens is being directed at the Bureau, the Bureau itself says that the Congress is to blame. The Census Bureau is looking to find ways to collect the data on the long form in other manners, such as polling and sampling. Though there is a possible $100 fine for failing to file with the Census, the Bureau also notes that no one has been penalized for failing to file in the past. The fine is more of a psychological reminder of the importance of the census than a source of income for the government. Advice to leave the form blank or to fail to fill it in may actually bring more of the government into your life than you want - unfiled and incomplete forms will be followed-up upon by actual census workers, either in person or by telephone.
As far as telephone number?? I might just put down a phoney number. Any additional census info should be face to face and they have an address. They want an appointment?? Tough..They get paid by the hour...or do we sneak in a commish, too.
They only want to know if you are of Spanish, Hispanic or Latino origin. Gee, I wonder why...
All answers to the questions you do not wish to answer should be: “Information Not Available” ... Straight from the Dept. of Justice Lawyer’s mouth ... via radio program during drive time. They stated that they are too busy to bother with piddly cases such as these ... period.
I will answer nothing but population in my house with out an order from a judge.
I like “the tortoise and the hare”.
13 USC 221 - Sec. 221. Refusal or neglect to answer questions; false answers 13 USC - U.S. Code - Title 13: Census (January 2004)
Text
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(a) Whoever, being over eighteen years of age, refuses or willfully neglects, when requested by the Secretary, or by any other authorized officer or employee of the Department of Commerce or bureau or agency thereof acting under the instructions of the Secretary or authorized officer, to answer, to the best of his knowledge, any of the questions on any schedule submitted to him in connection with any census or survey provided for by subchapters I, II, IV, and V of chapter 5 of this title, applying to himself or to the family to which he belongs or is related, or to the farm or farms of which he or his family is the occupant, shall be fined not more than $100.
(b) Whoever, when answering questions described in subsection
(a) of this section, and under the conditions or circumstances described in such subsection, willfully gives any answer that is false, shall be fined not more than $500.
(c) Notwithstanding any other provision of this title, no person shall be compelled to disclose information relative to his religious beliefs or to membership in a religious body.
The hell they aren't!!?? That's just about all they do!
;-/
My question is about the last part, it says, in such Manner as they shall by Law direct. What does that mean? Does that mean they can take the census anyway they want? And ask any question they want?
I’m not a legal expert but it appears they pretty much asked what the want and have so far. Get one of the American Community Surveys of theirs and it is very intrusive of what they ask for.
http://www.census.gov/acs/www/SBasics/SQuest/QbyQfact/Housing09.pdf
http://www.census.gov/acs/www/SBasics/SQuest/QbyQfact/Population09.pdf
http://www.census.gov/acs/www/
I’m not even going to answer that. I live alone...do I want some temporary worker to know that? How do I know he/she is not going to tell the homies so they can invade my house or worse?
Sorry...I didn’t answer the last census; not going to answer this one either. Come and get me.
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