Posted on 04/06/2010 10:00:53 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
President Obama's politicized, profligate U.S. census drive is so desperate for positive press that it has now recruited former Bush senior adviser Karl Rove to do public service announcements. Rove pleads on video: "Please answer the 10 easy questions. They're almost the same ones Madison helped write for the first census back in 1790." Message: If you don't join the census bandwagon, James Madison will have lost!
Sorry, Mr. Rove. Playing the Founding Fathers card isn't going to quell conservative criticism of how the Obama administration has exploited the census boondoggle for both economic and ideological gain.
For the record, I have no beef with the constitutional mandate. I complied by filling out my census form and sending it back -- with "American" in the blank for race/ethnicity to register my opposition to government racial classifications. Despite apocalyptic suggestions by census officials and some Republican politicians that conservatives are recklessly boycotting the decennial head count, analysis by both the right-leaning Daily Caller and left-leaning Plum Line websites shows that return rates from conservative counties are in line with national averages.
So, what makes the Obama census campaign different from other census programs? First, its naked, left-wing special interest pandering. The White House is championing a "Queer the Census" movement by pro-gay marriage groups, for example, and the Commerce Department is working with open-borders leaders who want to use the census as leverage to stop all immigration raids.
The electoral stakes are high. Some $400 billion in federal funding and, most importantly, the apportionment of congressional seats are up for grabs. Instead of straightforward enumeration of the American population, Obama and the left's identity politics-mongers are turning the $1 billion, taxpayer-subsidized census public relations drive into a government preferences lobbying bonanza.
More galling: the White House manipulation of census worker employment to goose the jobless rate. Last week, the government touted employment figures bolstered by the hiring of temporary workers for Census 2010. The Census Bureau anticipates it may add nearly 750,000 workers to its payroll by May. Liberal economist Heidi Shierholz exulted in The Hill: "This is the best-timed census you could ever dream of." And Team Obama plans to milk it for all it's worth.
Over the past several weeks, I've received e-mails from census workers across the country describing the directive from their managers to slow down, stall, waste time and stretch out their work unnecessarily. As a counter-public service announcement, I'm reprinting some of their letters:
-- "…I have been working with the census for two weeks, and every day I shake my head at the blatant inefficiency and deliberate misuse of taxpayer money. Specifically, we have been doing enumeration for those who do not have a home, the homeless in shelters, soup kitchens and in targeted non-sheltered outdoor locations, such as parks, subway stations, etc. I personally have been sent to check on shelters that were already determined to be day programs during the preceding round of quality control, yet they pay me the mileage and hourly wage to go back and make sure that they are still only day programs. I walked through parks and parking lots looking for homeless people to enumerate, not even by talking to them, but just by observing their race, sex and approximate age. …
"…The way the process has been set up by government bureaucracy is so backward and prevents a person who is industrious and efficient from being able to work freely… This is the first job where I am encouraged to be slow and inefficient."
-- "Last summer I participated in the 'address canvassing' (AC) project. What this entailed was walking around a neighborhood, literally door to door, with a little handheld computer. My job was not to enter addresses so that these people could receive their form, but to make sure that the addresses that the first wave of people put into the system and appeared on the computer were actually there… Mostly, it was me getting paid $15.25/hour plus mileage to take my dog for a walk and push a few buttons.
"In an average suburban neighborhood where the houses are somewhat close to each other, it was no problem to do about 35 to 40 addresses per hour once you learned how to quickly enter data into the computer. The census said that I should be doing about 12 to 15 per hour. My direct bosses told me that I should NOT be doing 35 to 40, because it was making them and other people look bad. So instead of walking at a snail's pace, I just did my 35 to 40/hour and doubled my time when I submitted my hours. Again, sorry for the tax dollar grab, but I was told not to be so darned efficient or else I'd be cut!"
-- "I had the great pleasure of working for the address canvassing last spring. I was hired in early April for a job that was to be completed by the first week of July. I have a military background and a background in human resources, and the whole process left me with blood squirting from my eyes… I worked in the field for four days so that I would know what to do. The remainder of my time was spent sitting in a McDonald's to have a daily progress meeting with each of the enumerators. I was paid from the time I left my house to the time I got home … plus mileage. I was told to pad the time or mileage to cover my McDonald's food, since I was camping in a booth all day. For all that, I was paid $11.75 an hour. …We had a really good crew and were done by the second week of May... Philadelphia was going nuts because our region was getting done so fast, but there was nothing we could do to slow it down another two months.
"… I never saw such a mismanaged outfit in all my life. I just shook my head in total disbelief. Our work could have been done with half the people. We did have those that quit right after training, to the tune of $800 spent on nothing. I earned approximately $3,000. I will say, to be quite honest, it was the easiest money I ever made. On the exit interview, I was asked if I wanted to be called back for further work. I wrote 'NO' in big letters. I didn't want to take any further part in what I saw to be a racket."
What would Madison think now?
The census is a joke. Whose bright idea was it to count foreigners anyway?
Thanks for posting these. It reminds me I still haven’t mailed my census form yet. Maybe I’ll get around to it next...
They start with some reference to the Constitution, and then torture it into an act designed for political gain.
Oh I’m sick - must run outside to empty insides
Karl Rove???
I, at this time, find it hard to forgive!
Dear Lord help me to regain balance within Your Justice and Mercy!
Thank you, Michelle, for this American service announcement.
I would also add that the census is about keeping tabs on citizens and where they live. Think REALLY BIG BROTHER.
A few months ago we contacted a small wifi outfit in the area. Due to our remote location, it’s difficult to find wireless service. The owner of the small outfit said that he couldn’t provide us with service, but asked if we could write the said authorities a letter. This individual stated that Obama wanted to provide government funds to internet companies whom provide service to remote areas. I told myself, “I bet he does”.
Naturally, I did not write a letter, or contact that individual again.
That’s funny. I never got one.
We have a home in the burbs, where we received our census form. I filled it out and sent it in.
Not good enough it seems. We also have a ranch in the mountains. I spoke today with the census enumerator for the area where our ranch is located. He wanted to put my ranch down as a vacant address, even though we spend nearly half our time there. Then he wanted to come out and do the GPS thing at the house. I said “no”, and then spent the next 20 minutes arguing with him. I told him I considered that an unreasonable search, without a warrant, and that I don’t trust the Obama administration who has politicized the census and put Rahm Emanual in charge of it.
Give me your address. I'll send you mine. I only answered the question about the number of people. So if that's different, don't worry. They'll never know.
>Give me your address. I’ll send you mine. I only answered the question about the number of people. So if that’s different, don’t worry. They’ll never know.
**
Please allow me...I have the Spanish version.
Change you can believe in.
How does one say 'Be my guest' in Spanish?...
For the record, Michelle (and with all due respect, because you're definitely one of the good guys) the is no constitutional mandate with which you had to comply. The real constitutional mandate is that the government make the count WITHOUT your participation - it is NOT a requirement for your particiation. And, there is zero damage to government operations by your non-response.
No joke, and no exaggeration. But I understand that such a serious claim requires an adequate explanation, so see this article for the legal details: Census 2010 and the Law.
We all laugh every day at the incompetence and inefficiency. It's either that or cry.
When it comes to the census I think about 21 million plus illegal aliens inside our borders. Then I think about Rove being the top advisor to Gerge W. Bush. Then I remember that George W. tried his best to force amnesty for these aliens on us.
After that I have to wonder whether I can trust Rove. I don’t have to wonder long though. I trust him as much as I trust Bush, so he can save his breath when he assures me that the census is just fine and we should all fill out all of the questions.
“I would also add that the census is about keeping tabs on citizens and where they live. “
Perhaps I am naive but I figure they know all about that since I file tax returns every year.
Our hard earned dollars at work, or lack thereof.
Welcome to ObamaCare.
Well what do they DO with part time houses anyhow. Roolz is roolz I suppose. If not occupied on April 1, 2010... VACANT.
The problem is you have two houses. This makes you an enemy of the people.
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