The United States Census

Just One More Abuse Of Power

The constitution of the United States of America gives our government the authority to Enumerate every ten years.  This enumeration is specifically for and limited to the purpose of a correct number of representatives corresponding to the population.

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, in such Manner as they shall by Law direct. The Number of Representatives shall not exceed one for every thirty Thousand, but each State shall have at Least one Representative…

With the Constitution as our guide, only one question on the census is a legitimate one.  That question is,

The census, if we are going to be ruled by the Constitution, should start and end there.  But of course, the Census questionnaire does not end there.

The second question is a bit redundant asking,

The questionnaire then  gives five choices from which to pick.  Still a reminder to list ALL of the inhabitants on question one would be sufficient.

So far, so good really.  Nothing too bad other than a poorly worded second question instead of a reminder to list ALL inhabitants of the enclosure to which the census was addressed.  Then we come to question three, which is,

On the census.gov site we are told that this data serves as an indicator of the nation’s economy and also that this data is used to administer housing programs and to inform of planning decisions.  Funny, I don’t remember this being a reason for the census as is outlined in the Constitution.

From there we move on to question 4.

Let me get this straight.  They might need to call if they do not understand the number of people that live in my house???  They might not understand a numerical number that is given?  It is difficult to imagine that these people actually have jobs, even though they are government jobs.  And these people want us to turn over our healthcare to them???

With question 5 the questionnaire goes further askew in asking for the name of a person living here, the address to which the form was sent, who owns or rents the enclosure.

Question 6 might have been necessary before women could vote, but this is a totally useless question in determining the number of representatives today.

The questionnaire then goes on to ask more questions that are totally unrelated to determining the amount of representatives that are needed for a congressional district.

Once again the question I will raise is, “what does a person’s age, origin, or race have to do with determining the number of representatives that a congressional district will have?”

Then basically, the same questions are asked for person 2 and so on until you have answered the questions for everyone residing at the address to which the form was mailed.

I am NOT asking people or telling people what to do in regard to the US Census.  I am just pointing out that like so many things, the census has become something unconstitutional.  For me, I cannot afford a 5,000 dollar fine, so I will be filling mine out.  I will be contacting my representatives though to have the census bureau reigned in and to allow them only to conduct the census as is proscribed and to the end that is called for in the US Constitution.

Exit Question:  What action do you think is best in regard to the Census questionnaire?  Should we abstain from sending it in?  Should we send it in, but let our representatives know that we are not about ANY loss of freedom?

If there is a better way to handle this, please let us know.

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