Also, just because they can only be released every decade, that doesn't mean they aren't archived somewhere, with certain people who do have access, which brings us to 1950, 1960, and on.
I hate it when I start thinking along these lines.
Not exactly, according to a friendly librarian I spoke to. It'll be 2012. Apparently the statute states that a census can only be released to the public 72 years after it is taken.
...that it is being taken over directly by the executive branch.
Actually it has always been done under the executive branch, but what O contemplates is much more White House control over the methodology. Of course, there may well be litigation over that because the techniques used may violate the statute governing the census taking or even violate the constitutional mandate for an "Enumeration" and representives apportioned by "Numbers." (The Left has in the past been pushing the use statistical estimates, i. e., "fudging.")