Posted on 02/05/2009 10:42:45 AM PST by PghBaldy
The director of the Census Bureau will report directly to the White House and not the secretary of Commerce, according to a senior White House official.
The decision came after black and Hispanic leaders raised questions about Commerce Secretary nominee Judd Gregg ’s commitment to funding the census.
Gregg, New Hampshire’s senior senator, voted in committee and on the floor for a 1995 Republican budget that envisioned the elimination of the Commerce Department. Of even more concern to black and Hispanic leaders, Gregg battled President Clinton over a request for “emergency” funding for the 2000 census.
“Secretary of Commerce-designate Judd Gregg ’s record raises serious questions about his willingness to ensure that the 2010 census produces the most accurate possible count of the nation’’s population,”” the National Association of Latino Elected Officials said in a release on Tuesday, the day Gregg was named to the post. “”Policymakers and planners at all levels of government rely on these data to make important decisions about their services, such as the number of teachers that will be needed in their classrooms, the best places to build new roads, or the best way to provide job training.”
The selection of the Republican Gregg for Commerce — a plum often given out to a big fundraiser or personal friend in the president’s own party — left many Democrats scratching their heads and others fearful that Gregg might not defend favored agencies and programs with the department.
“Sen. Gregg’s record of previously voting to abolish the Commerce Department and his attempts to block President Bill Clinton’s efforts to secure adequate funding for the 2000 census raise troubling concerns regarding his commitment to the department’s core missions,” Congressional Black Caucus Chairwoman Barbara Lee said on Tuesday.
(Excerpt) Read more at cqpolitics.com ...
At bottom, the primary jobs of the Commerce Department are:
1. Running the census.
2. Reporting the weather.
You might say Gregg's job is now half-assed...
They send 2 before they start calling and visiting. We put both straight in the trash.
Since then we tell them we are busy, travelling, etc. Hopefully they will back off soon...without sending a $500 fine notice!
I wonder, do you have to pay the fine AND fill it out if it gets to that point?
I'd take the fine, or tell them I did fill it out and mailed it. . .prove I didn't!
Not sure. But the consensus among dissenters seems to be that so far no one has heard of someone being fined. They think they are afraid to go that far because someone might cause a stink, it could cause an uproar, and the Bureau could have their funding revoked for the ACS.
I don't know if the fine will be enforced under Obama. Hope not because $500 doesn't come easy to me.
Apparently, when Pres. Bush was asked about a long census form they tried to send to everyone in 2000 he said he wouldn't fill it out if it was him. LOL.
Real birth certificate appears and President Biden takes control of the presidential crisis. Vice President Hillary then offers Gregg some support.
Secretary Gregg, please pick up the black courtesy phone.....
You been had, dude. Ha! Loser.
He hasn’t even been confirmed yet?
If he had a pair (which he clearly doesn’t), he’d now decline the nomination.
Undercut before confirmed. That has to be a new land-world-speed-record.
Obama is setting up a new framework where a slew of program leads bypass the cabinet and report directly to him. There’s no way he will personally be able to manage all those miniscule details without the massive amount of delegtion required of such a byzantine executive branch.
Shades of Carter.
The decision came after black and Hispanic leaders raised questions about Commerce Secretary nominee Judd Gregg's commitment to funding the census.
I believe it is compulsory to answer the census (at least the short form, as the head count is part constitutional mandate), but am not sure about survey.
I refused to fill out the long form in 2000. I had several census bureau people visit. I just told them I would answer the first few questions that had to do with how many people lived here and their names. That was all the law required me to fill out.
They did issue some kind of dire threat. The last time they visited I told them I had gone to the library and filled out a short form. They have them there. They said they didn’t have any record of it. I told them that’s not my fault that they lost it. Last I heard of them.
I will not pay any fine. And if they want to put me in jail that’s fine. My husband is laid off, we’ve lost a good portion of our pension, we both have alot of medical issues. I don’t have much left to lose at this point and hey, at least someone else can house me and take care of my medical expenses. If they want to start putting 55 year old sick grannies in jail for this go ahead.There are other things I’m more afraid of right now that a few idiotic census bureau workers.
The short forms are usually available at post offices and libraries. You are not legally required to fill out that 10 page intrusive fact-finding missive. Tell them you already filled one out and mailed it in because you were afraid you may be on vacation when they came to call.
I’ve not heard of any pre-census type of questionnaire but I’d have them give me a copy of the legislation that requires it and tell them you’ll get back to them.
It’s none of the government’s business now many miles my husband drives to work and how many bathrooms I have in my home. The IRS has my address and the address of my husband’s employer. Don’t they have calculators? They can figure it out.
They will CHEAT on the census and inflate the numbers to MAKE SURE Blue States do not lose Congress seats!!
“The census is a Legislative power under the Constitution. How can the WH just grab it ?”
HOPE’N’CHANGE!
That’s how....
We elected the CRIMINALS to run the country, what did you THINK was going to happen??
They try to keep this low-key, I believe, because if people generally found out what kind of answers were being demanded by the Federal Gov't there would be an outcry.
Comments above are correct that this ACS survey has taken the place of the long form they tried in 2000. It is a sneakier way of getting the same information.
They're still after us but I'm hoping we're nearing the end of our trial.
I don’t care who they report to, they’re still only getting one answer to the question of how many people live here.
Fine, don’t ask me to fill the fing thing out. I’m over it now, in full revolt mode.
I think the constitution says that states will count the population (enumerate?0 every ten years.. he does not mention all the BS stuff they want to know.. I worked last census in the office, and never did send it in..I thought it was intrusive all the info they wanted...
How’s it feel to be a “hood ornament” there Juddie?
Zero is a piece of work...he also suspended the Gitmo trial today overiding the military judge override of Obama...wow this is starting to get really interesting...
>>I’m sure these will be the jobs Obama ‘creates’.<<
I’m sure they’ll be all ACORN people.
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