[GingisK]

The purpose of gathering such info is for legitimate use.

Not according to the Constitutional limitations prescribed for the census.

[Tyroblogger]

Tell him:

"A census taker once tried to test me. I ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice Chianti."

[redbaiter]

My thought exactly.

[Our man in washington]

Ah, but consider the following:

The income tax is constitutional thanks to an amendment. (I've heard the "wasn't properly ratified" arguments, and I'm not convinced.)

Ronald Reagan signed a law to index the tax brackets to prevent bracket creep. If an income tax is constitutional, it logically follows that it is constitutional for the government to pass a law mandating the appropriate collection level.

To complete a constitutional function, it is reasonable to say that the government can take whatever reasonable steps are necessary to complete that function. The Constitution doesn't say that the government can buy army uniforms, for example, but it reasonable to say that the government can do this as part of the task of national defense.

In order to index the tax levels, we need to have a Consumer Price Index. In order to have a Consumer Price Index, we need to sample the population and figure out what they purchase so that we can apply appropriate weights to that index.

Guess who does that sampling? The Census Bureau. That's probably why the Census worker was knocking on doors.

[massgopguy]

The mailed me one. It's a lifestyle audit. I refused to comply.
"
What time do you leave your home to go to work?"

[justshutupandtakeit]

There are no such "limitations" and detailed census information has been compiled for centuries.