Posted on 02/07/2009 6:09:26 AM PST by Tolerance Sucks Rocks
President Obama has decided to bring the U.S. Census Bureau under White House jurisdiction, a move that incensed House Republicans, who fired off a blistering letter to him Thursday, calling it "outrageous and unprecedented" and a "blatant partisan and political maneuver."
The move would shift the chain of command with the bureau and the Commerce Department, where the bureau currently resides. It comes after the Congressional Black Caucus, National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials and other groups expressed displeasure with Obama's nominee for Commerce secretary, Republican Sen. Judd Gregg of New Hampshire.
Gregg, the groups said this week, opposed efforts to secure emergency funding for the 2000 Census, which they asserted exposes a potential lack of commitment to ensuring that hard-to-reach minority populations are properly accounted for in the 2010 census.
A White House spokesman confirmed Thursday that Obama plans to work closely with the bureau, which will remain within the Commerce Department.
"From the first days of the transition the census has been a priority for the president, and a process he wanted to re-evaluate," the spokesman said in a prepared statement.
"There is historic precedent for the director of the census, who works for the Commerce secretary and the president, to work closely with White House senior management -- given the number of decisions that will have to be put before the president," he said. "We plan to return to that model in this administration."
House Republicans reacted quickly. House Oversight and Government Reform ranking member Darrell Issa, R-Calif., and Oversight and Government Reform Census Subcommittee ranking member Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., seized on speculation that the move would place the yet-unnamed Census Bureau director under the watchful eye of White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, instead of leaving Gregg in charge.
They suggested the move could improperly influence legislative redistricting, which is shaped by Census counts.
"By circumventing the secretary of Commerce's oversight of the Census Bureau and handing it directly to a political operative such as Mr. Emanuel, you are severely jeopardizing the fairness and accuracy of the 2010 Census," Issa and McHenry wrote Obama.
Details of the day-to-day relationship between the White House and the Census Bureau seem hazy.
Aides speculated Thursday that the bureau's budget and public-affairs functions may be routed through OMB, an arrangement that would assuage the fears expressed by advocates concerned that the Census director's public statements and congressional testimony would be subject to censorship by less-than-supportive leadership at Commerce.
Sources on both sides of the issue said black lawmakers and others interested in securing more funding for the 2010 Census had been hoping for assurances of support from Obama as soon as they learned about Gregg's possible selection to Commerce post.
One Democratic aide close to the matter called the administration's decision a direct response to the grievances of minority groups upset with Gregg's appointment.
"People started yelling at them," said the aide, who added that the details of how the White House's interactions with the Census director remain woefully undefined.
"Their answer was 'OK, fine, [Gregg] won't be in charge,'" the aide said. "It wasn't a plan. It was a reaction."
The administration's idea to shift jurisdiction over the Census Bureau was not entirely new.
In September, congressional Democrats, led by Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., proposed legislation to make the bureau an independent federal agency. Such agencies report directly to the president, as the Federal Emergency Management Agency did before it became part of the Homeland Security Department.
A Census Bureau spokeswoman declined to comment on any organizational changes until a director is in place.
PING!
The move to Socialism continues. Republicans and the country better start getting wise to “The One.”
it will be retitled to “ACORN”
They get absolutely NO information other than the number of people living in my house.
NOTHING!!
So now the Census will be as accurate as the models used to predict global warming? Oh wait, it already is! :-(
Hey! Guys...quit rearranging the deck furniture on the Titanic and get back to work on the real problem of the day...
These people are the most corrupt people ever.
They aren’t even grilled about what they do.
All the easier to jerrymander.
wow, after years of "trying" to stop voter fraud and the subsequent victory dealing with massive voting crime multiple states,anonimus record money denotations,...I sure am glad their angry now....(sarc off)
zero wants to control the “facts” and the “media”. Rush, and conservative radio will be next. he has already won the monetary debate. i can’t believe there are so many DUMBASS dims in America. I still hold out hope that some, even a few, that are patriots will wake up before it is too late.
Gaming the census is a naked power grab. Combined with vote fraud this is one of the core strategies for the democrats to retain power forever.
Which is exactly what they want. The Marxists have been trained to view everything from a political perspective...
Only one word covers this - Redistricting. The WH wants to be in charge of redistricting by biasing the census data. As Stalin said - it doesn’t matter who votes, what matters is who counts the votes.
Also note if you controls the states AGs you have your hand on the lever of power as to who controls the voting process in most if not all states. May God have mercy on this country.
This way he can more easily politicize the census, control the numbers, and create people out of thin air.
That means tht the next time ACORN creates bogus voters, their old employee will make sure those folks are counted.
But he won’t count honkies. Barry don’t like no honkies.
This is what the American people, including people like Christopher Buckley and Julie Nixon Eisenhower, voted for in 2008. Why is anyone surprised? The American people don’t give a hoot about the census, probably cannot even spell the word.
You are going to love ACORN-trained census workers.
We all are.
The Democrats are changing the rules of the game to perpetuate their dictatorship.
What’s next?
They aren’t patriots. The original term “Patriot” meant a “rebellious colonist”, and these Democrats are anything but rebellious to their “leader”. The American people are too dumb to figure out all of this.
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