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Opinion: Trump wants to reframe the census to fit his definition of America, not protect Americans
NBC "News" ^ | March 29, 2018 | by Michelle Chen

Posted on 03/30/2018 6:18:06 AM PDT by Oldeconomybuyer

The purpose of an accurate census count is to help the government understand the people for whom it is responsible — full stop. A fully inclusive census is vital for informing policy-making, whether determining how many roadways are required for a region’s population, monitoring local public health trends or ensuring our tax dollars are fairly allocated to school districts.

Trump’s move to add a citizenship question to the census follows months of intense opposition across Washington and civil society. Asking about citizenship status (a question that federal authorities have deliberately left off the census since 1950) risks alienating many prospective respondents and depressing the count of our population. Despite seemingly neutral wording, under an administration that is notoriously hostile to immigrants, the question shades the otherwise banal census form with a chilling tone of “papers, please.”

Querying about citizenship would at best make the census process more chaotic and less effective; at worst, it risks validating and codifying citizenship status as threshold of social legitimacy for a growing immigrant population.

By attempting to reframe the census to fit his definition of America, Trump is stealthily molding a new political reality: A nation matching Trump’s vision of “great again” seems increasingly divided by race and borders, and less democratic for native- and foreign-born alike.

Nonetheless, the real America pushes beyond the borders of the White House’s cherry-picked Republic. The rising public resistance to the impending policy and brewing court battles show that, regardless of how they are reflected in the official survey, people will continue to voice their uncompromising demands for representation and equality before the law. Whether we exist on paper or not, we all have a right to stand and be counted.

(Excerpt) Read more at nbcnews.com ...


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Editorial; Government; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: 2020census; census; illegalaliens; progressives; republic
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

She writes for a pro Communist ‘Socialist’ publication.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dissent_(American_magazine)

An issue I have from the 50s tries to make the case that Communist groups in America pose no threat to the Anerican way and shouldn’t be seen as anything evil.


41 posted on 03/30/2018 7:44:06 AM PDT by a fool in paradise (Wear an orange pin to mourn the victims of the Tide Pods Challenge)
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To: cba123

Been counting citizens since the mid 60s until Obama changed the 2010 census.


42 posted on 03/30/2018 7:45:10 AM PDT by a fool in paradise (Wear an orange pin to mourn the victims of the Tide Pods Challenge)
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

I was taught and brought up to believe that one had to be a citizen in order to VOTE! Apparent for morons, something happened on the way to the forum.


43 posted on 03/30/2018 7:46:44 AM PDT by Parmy
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

Poor little Shelly. Not much of a writer so she plays the race card. Protect Americans from what b*tch? “Lone wolf” refugees being imported into the U.S. by the communist “democrat” party?


44 posted on 03/30/2018 7:55:50 AM PDT by FlingWingFlyer (#NotARussianBot)
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To: pepsionice
...three-quarters of this group are in California, NY, and Florida (my humble guess), then the question weighs greatly upon the 2024 Presidential election and the Electoral College.

Don't forget Texas, Arizona, Georgia, the Carolinas. etc..

This cuts both ways and isn't as straightforward as it seems. The immigrant population is pretty widely dispersed.

45 posted on 03/30/2018 8:16:15 AM PDT by semimojo
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To: Oldeconomybuyer
HA HA. MSN was running a little poll on the front page.

Do you think the census should include the question, are you a citizen?

The response was YES 75%

They've changed the question. It now reads

Do you think such a change would lead to an inaccurate count of immigrants?

46 posted on 03/30/2018 8:17:37 AM PDT by Bearshouse
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To: Oldeconomybuyer
Get a clue Chen: ILLEGAL ALIENS AREN'T AMERICANS!

And yes I am YELLING in the hope that Chen can hear me.

47 posted on 03/30/2018 8:17:56 AM PDT by Jmouse007 (Lord God Almighty, deliver us from this evil in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, amen.)
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

Yeah - actual factual statistics are never a good thing....especially when one wants to use illegals to up their “representatives” and to “justify” spending money on residents vs. citizens.


48 posted on 03/30/2018 8:23:01 AM PDT by trebb (I stopped picking on the mentally ill hypocrites who pose as conservatives...mostly ;-})
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

Michelle, you ignorant slut!


49 posted on 03/30/2018 8:56:27 AM PDT by jospehm20
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To: suthener

Why not count heads of visitors to DisneyMGM Florida or the number of people presently in hotels in Vegas?

That is if Rats don’t believe citizen is a necessary condition. The number of transient occupants doesn’t drop off much.


50 posted on 03/30/2018 9:08:52 AM PDT by a fool in paradise (Wear an orange pin to mourn the victims of the Tide Pods Challenge)
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

She must have learned that from the “Little Red Book” she carries around.


51 posted on 03/30/2018 9:09:42 AM PDT by willk (everyone)
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

>>>A nation matching Trump’s vision of “great again” seems increasingly divided by race and borders, and less democratic for native- and foreign-born alike<<<

With a leap like that, I’m surprised she doesn’t have an Olympic Gold Medal in the Pole Vault.


52 posted on 03/30/2018 9:14:35 AM PDT by Kickass Conservative ( An Armed Society is a Polite Society. An Unarmed Society is North Korea.)
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

Querying about citizenship would at best make the census process more chaotic and less effective.

Massive ignorance on parade.


53 posted on 03/30/2018 9:42:45 AM PDT by Vaduz (women and children to be impacIQ of chimpsted the most.)
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To: Oldeconomybuyer
The purpose of an accurate census count is to help the government understand the people for whom it is responsible — full stop.

The purpose of an accurate census is to count citizens - full stop. If you're here illegally, you don't get to inflate social welfare program budgets for yourself by falsifying census results.

54 posted on 03/30/2018 10:39:01 AM PDT by blueplum ( "...this moment is your moment: it belongs to you... " President Donald J. Trump, Jan 20, 2017)
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

Actually, Obama did that.


55 posted on 03/30/2018 10:39:33 AM PDT by AppyPappy (Don't mistake your dorm political discussions with the desires of the nation)
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To: Oldeconomybuyer
The United States Census is a decennial census mandated by Article I, Section 2 of the United States Constitution, which states:

 

 "Representatives and direct Taxes shall be apportioned among the several States ... according to their respective Numbers ... . The actual Enumeration shall be made within three Years after the first Meeting of the Congress of the United States, and within every subsequent Term of ten Years."[1][2]

 

The United States Census Bureau (officially the Bureau of the Census, as defined in Title 13 U.S.C. § 11) is responsible for the United States Census. The Bureau of the Census is part of the United States Department of Commerce.[3]

The first census after the American Revolution was taken in 1790, under Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson; there have been 22 federal censuses since that time.[2] The current national census was held in 2010; the next census is scheduled for 2020 and will be largely conducted using the Internet.[4] For years between the decennial censuses, the Census Bureau issues estimates made using surveys and statistical models, in particular, the American Community Survey.

Title 13 of the United States Code governs how the Census is conducted and how its data are handled. Information is confidential as per 13 U.S.C. § 9. Refusing or neglecting to answer the census is punishable by fines of $100, for a property or business agent to fail to provide correct names for the census is punishable by fines of $500, and for a business agent to provide false answers for the census is punishable by fines of $10,000, pursuant to 13 U.S.C. § 221-224.




 

Decennial U.S. Census figures are based on actual counts of persons dwelling in U.S. residential structures. They include citizens, non-citizen legal residents, non-citizen long-term visitors and illegal immigrants. The Census Bureau bases its decision about whom to count on the concept of usual residence. Usual residence, a principle established by the Census Act of 1790, is defined as the place a person lives and sleeps most of the time.




 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Census

56 posted on 03/30/2018 11:39:20 AM PDT by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
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To: Oldeconomybuyer
Trump’s move to add a citizenship question to the census...

Oh REALLY???

57 posted on 03/30/2018 11:40:02 AM PDT by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
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To: circlecity
The only reason not to determine citizenship in the census is so they can count illegals as citizens.

The Democrats have a long history of trying to count non-citizens to inflate their power in Congress. They did this with the slaves, too, wanting them to count fully where districting, thus political power, is concerned, but not allowing them any rights.

No one should be surprised by how little the Democrats have changed since they were the party of slavery.

58 posted on 03/31/2018 11:08:36 AM PDT by exDemMom (Current visual of the hole the US continues to dig itself into: http://www.usdebtclock.org/)
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To: Oldeconomybuyer
Looks like China is trying to interfere with our election system.

Is this woman a registered foreign agent?

59 posted on 03/31/2018 11:45:12 PM PDT by Cowboy Bob ("Other People's Money" = The life blood of Liberalism)
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