2010 Census—Honesty is the Best Policy

We’ve heard about it on television and the radio, and now by mail I'VE been warned that in about one week from now, you will receive a 2010 Census form in the mail. No getting around it, I’ll have to answer ten questions that will give the government information that will help determine Congressional Representation and federal aid.

While I’m not crazy about the census, I’m even less fond of the American Community Survey [more on that in an upcoming post] I’m certainly not advocating lying. As a matter of fact, I strongly suggest that EVERYONE tell the TRUTH. So, let’s take a look at each of the ten questions on the census, shall we?

First, we have questions one and two, the later is redundant.

#1. How many people were living or staying in this house, apartment, or mobile home on April 1, 2010?

In and of itself, it is appropriate; because THAT is the type of information the government needs to determine Congressional Representation. My answer: 4

BUT question #2:

Were there any additional people staying here April 1, 2010 that you did not include in Question 1?

Seriously? Do they think I'm hiding a bunch of illegals in my basement? I realize the government is accustomed to lying, therefore they assume everyone else is too. But do they really think that if I didn’t tell them in question one the amount of people in my household that I’m going to admit it in question two? Get real! Like I said, a redundant question, but do we expect any less? My answer: REFER TO QUESTION #1

Then we have question number three which asks whether the household is owned, rented, mortgaged—including home equity loans, or occupied without payment of rent. Exactly HOW does THAT determine Congressional Representation? It’s NONE of the government’s business if I own my house outright, if I’m mortgaged to the hilt, or if I’m leaching off my brother. My answer: NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS

There is room for your telephone number under question number four, where they have politely written, may we call you if we don’t understand an answer. My answer: RESPECTFULLY NO

Why they need my first name, middle initial, and last name for question five is beyond my comprehension. Call me Sally, call me Sam—neither matter, just represent me in Congress already! My answer for THAT question will be: RESIDENT OF PENNSYLVANIA

They may have my gender for question number six. I don’t have an issue with this, as I think it correlates with counting the population, male vs. female. My answer: FEMALE

Question seven wants your age and date of birth. One could make the argument that residents COULD be under the voting age and live on their own thus required to fill out a census. I’ll grant them this one. My answer: 44 --7/27/65

Question number eight is a question that has me totally perplexed.

Is Person 1 of Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish origin?

What the heck? If I AM, does that mean my state will get extra goodies? What about the other origins? Like Asians? Indians? Blacks? Or just plain old WHITE? Are these the NEW ethnicities they are targeting now? I don’t like this question one bit and I don’t believe it belongs on a census, because ALL ethnicities require representation. My answer: THIS DOES NOT DETERMINE CONGRESSIONAL REPRESENTATION

We can have fun with question number nine while sending Congress a BIG message!

What is Person 1’s race?

That is definitely NOT a Congressional issue and we all know it. Race has nothing to do with representation in Congress. But it does have something to do with how much money they want to pass out. And it does state that on the questionnaire, Asked since 1790. Race is key in implementing many federal laws and is needed to monitor compliance with the Voting Rights Act and the Civil Rights Act. State governments use the data to determine congressional, state and local voting districts. Race data are also used to assess fairness of employment practices, to monitor racial disparities in characteristics such as health and education and to plan and obtain funds for public services.

There you have it. However, I believe we are all Americans since America is the melting pot for ALL races and ethnicities. My answer will be: AMERICAN, just as Donald at Conservative Firestorm suggested. And as I mentioned at the beginning of my post—lying is not only WRONG, it’s also unconstitutional, so answering "American" is not telling a falsehood, because we ARE Americans. I told a friend, who said he would “fib”, that if we don’t take a stand, as Americans, and send a strong message to Congress, these types of questions will NEVER go away—they will only get worse. Don’t fib, lie or distort the truth—whichever way you choose to look at it—write in AMERICAN and spread the word to your friends and family members to do the same. Let’s send a message to Congress!


The final question—another one that is a bit baffling, but I’m sure one of my devoted readers will be more than kind enough to shine the beam of enlightenment. Anyway, the questionnaire asks if Person one sometimes lives or stays somewhere else, then lists “situations” as to where Person one could possibly be staying, like the military, college and even PRISON! Oh, I’m sure I'D readily check THAT box! By the way, the Caribbean was NOT on the list, although it does have a box for a seasonal or second residence, so Charlie Rangel should sharpen HIS memory skills before HE answers THIS question! My answer will be: REFER TO ADDRESS ON FORM

All in all, out of the 10 questions on this census, question number one is really the only question that is relevant! But isn’t 10% about what we have come to expect from our government? And at cost of $14 billion dollars of OUR money, that is totally unacceptable.


Cross-posted @ The Oracular Opinion