Census Kicks Into High Gear Today As Most Americans Receive Forms 120 Million of

[donnay]

Census Kicks Into High Gear Today As Most Americans Receive Forms
120 Million of the 10-question forms head to mailboxes across the U.S.
By MATTHEW JAFFE

March 15, 2010

And we're off!

The US government's once-a-decade attempt to document the country's population kicks into high gear today as over 120 million census forms start arriving in mailboxes nationwide.

The 10-question forms are used to count the US population, allocate seats in Congress, and dish out $400 billion in federal funds.

"When you receive your 2010 census, please fill it out and mail it back," Census Bureau director Robert Groves said in a statement. "It's one of the shortest forms in our lifetime with just 10 questions very much like the questions James Madison and Thomas Jefferson helped craft on the very first census."

The more Americans mail back completed census forms, the more taxpayer money will be saved. Hundreds of millions of dollars are at stake. The Census Bureau saves around $80 million for every one percent increase in the number of people who mail back their completed forms.

"It's a lot less expensive to get responses back by mail than it is to send census takers to knock on doors of households that failed to respond," Groves said. "It costs the government just 42 cents for a postage paid envelope when a household mails back the form. It costs $57 to send a census taker door-to-door to follow up with each household that fails to respond."

In a 30-second ad released last month President Obama urged Americans to participate in the government's once-a-decade attempt to paint a portrait of the country's population.

"Every ten years, our Constitution requires the federal government to conduct a census," the President said. "This helps determine your representation in Congress, as well as how federal funds are spent on things like schools and roads and where businesses decide to put new stores and factories."

"So when you get your census form in mid-March," he stated, "take about 10 minutes to answer 10 questions  remembering to include everyone in your household. Because we can't move forward until you mail it back."

The package that many Americans receive in the mail today will include a cover letter, a postage-paid return envelope, and the 10-question census form. The questions consist of: how many people live in the residence, any additional people that might live there as of April 1, whether the residence is owned or rented, the telephone number, the resident's name, sex, age and date of birth, whether the person is of Hispanic origin, the person's race, and whether that person also spends time living at another location.

Getting the Word Out

To boost participation the Census Bureau this year launched a $133 million advertising blitz, including a nationwide road tour to boost awareness about the coming government count.

The Bureau even aired a $2.5 million ad during the Super Bowl. The total cost of the 2010 census is expected to be $14.7 billion.

The effects of the census will not only be felt in communities nationwide and the Congress, but also in the country's struggling job market. A study released last month by the Commerce Department, which includes the Census Bureau, found that the government effort will add up to 635,000 temporary new jobs in May to the nation's employment reports. Census hiring will also cause the country's unemployment rate to drop by several-tenths of a percentage point this spring and census spending will boost the nation's gross domestic product by 1/10 of a percentage point during the first quarter of this year and by 2/10 of a percentage point during the second quarter.

"The census has a very positive effect on the economy," Rebecca Blank, Under Secretary for Economic Affairs at Commerce, told ABC News. "The hope, of course, is that this is going to be hitting just as the prime economic growth and employment are picking up, so that it will help that acceleration."

Job Creation
In all, the Census Bureau is hiring about 1.2 million temporary workers this year, with 800,000 of those people coming onboard in April and May.

But watchdogs have already criticized the Bureau's hiring effort. Earlier this year the Commerce Department's inspector general Todd Zinser reported that the Bureau had squandered around $5.6 million by paying over 15,000 employees who never even worked a full day for the government. LINK:

When the Bureau sent out over 140,000 workers last fall to update mailing lists and maps, 10,235 of them did not work at all but earned about $3.4 million for attending training and another 5,028 employees raked in $2.2 million but worked less than a single day, Zinser found.

[uwaf]

What are the 10 questions?

[donnay]

What are the 10 questions?

http://2010.census.gov/2010census/how/interactive-form.php

[Optimus]

Ron Paul to Census Bureau: 'None of Your Business!'
http://www.politicsdaily.com/2010/03/09/ron-paul-to-census-bureau-none-of-your-business/
Posted: 03/9/10

Libertarian hero and small government crusader Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) has a message for the Census Bureau: "None of your business."

In his weekly column for constituents, Paul writes that the only question the Census Bureau has the constitutional right to ask Americans is, "How many people live here?" Anything more than that, the congressman says, is an invasive expansion of government power.

"It is not hard to imagine that information compiled by the census could be used against people in the future, despite claims to the contrary and the best intentions of those currently in charge of the Census Bureau," he writes. "The government can and does change its mind about these things, and people have a right to be skeptical about government promises."

The 2010 census asks 10 questions, the fewest of any decennial count in decades. In addition to asking how many people live in each household, this year's census asks for respondents' names, addresses, telephone numbers, and race or ethnicity. Past forms have asked for people's occupations and incomes, and even the make of their cars and their immigration status.

Even though the 2010 census questionnaire is among the shortest, conservatives such as Paul, Rep.Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) and Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), have questioned the Census Bureau's authority to collect even the information on this year's forms.

Last week, Paul was the only member of the House to vote against a resolution encouraging Americans to participate in the process, which is used by governments to determine everything from transportation funding to the make up of congressional districts.

In the end, Paul writes, "If the federal government really wants to increase compliance with the census, it should abide by the Constitution and limit its inquiry to one simple question: How many people live here?"

[larsonstdoc]

  They are only going to legally ask me one question--How many people live here?


  Go Ron Paul.

  The scum at the Labor Department  are going to count these temporary Senseless Workers as employed people.  WATCH AND SEE.  They will have terrific unemployment #'s for 2 or 3 months and then it's back to over 10%.  Of course we know the real # is over 22%.

[Nailer]

I got one in the mail.
Here is how I filled out the first  questions.

Name :  Ben  Stolen.

Date of birth.  MO.13  day. 32  yr. 2012

Race:  came in first.

[RSHACKLEFORD]

Well say our fine leader has asked if ya arnt gonna fill it out please use the postage paid envelope to send the census back something you would not want to be rude hell the sent you a letter saying you were going to get a letter. As far as what to send back maybe a letter that is all cut up saying how you feel about the census. Make sure its cut up real good cuz we need them acorn assholes employed at all times. Now if they happen to paste the letter back together and send ya a response well tell them it had the census paperwork in it and if shit just flies apart defeating psychics and gravity well how can anyone expect a mere sheet o wood pulp to hold on to the weak nuclear bonds...
Hell I just might just fall into my own little black hole and disappear at any misunderstand BACK

[donnay]

Census Bureau Over Budget as Heavy Counting Gets Under Way
 FOXNews.com

The U.S. Census is well into conducting its constitutionally mandated 2010 count but the exercise is already running over budget.



The U.S. Census is well into conducting its constitutionally mandated 2010 count but the exercise is already running over budget.

Taxpayers are footing the bill of $14.7 billion for 10 years of Census counting. That price tag supports 500 local offices and a peak staff of 1.4 million workers.

But some cost overruns have already plagued this Census, like when tens of thousands of workers fanned out between March and July of last year to verify addresses -- a process known as "address canvassing." The Census Bureau, federal auditors later found, ran 25 percent over budget for a total cost of $444 million.

"When I arrived in July, the findings of that overrun were just emerging," Census Director Robert Groves said. "There was an underestimation of just the workload -- how many houses we had to go to."

Auditors also found the Census Bureau provided training to some 15,000 workers who either worked not at all or less than a single day -- at a total cost of $5.5 million. 

"Costs are escalating, mainly driven by wage costs and the escalation through inflation," 2000 Census Director Louis Kincannon said.

Groves formally launched the effort two months ago, helping to distribute the famous questionnaires -- boiled down to only 10 questions this year -- in a remote Eskimo village in Alaska. Census officials are hoping households mail back completed questionnaires by April 1.

The driving mission for Groves, chairman of the University of Michigan's Survey Research Center and a self-described "geek," is to improve on the 67-percent return rate for the questionnaires in the last Census.

The Census Bureau spent $85 million on advance letters and postcard reminders that the Census form is on its way because internal research shows such ticklers drive up response rates by 6 to 12 percent.

"Every 1 percentage point for us means that we save $85 million of salary costs of sending people out to follow up on those non-responses. If we get (a) 5 percentage-point gain out of this advance letter, we're in the $500 dollar range of savings," Groves said.

Despite Groves' pedigree, this is hardly an academic exercise. The results of the Census -- required by the U.S. Constitution to be conducted every 10 years -- control how many seats each state has in the House of Representatives, and also the allocation of some $400 billion a year in federal funding to state, local, and tribal governments.

Fox News' James Rosen contributed to this report.

[Celticknot]

On general principle i'm not filling it out. Because its none of their f**cking business, for one. For two, that's how they determine how large and needy the herd is. I'm neither so I don't apply.

For the sheep I have expressed "Please, don't fill it out.  Just a small rebellion. There's not a tiny bit of revolt in your heart? Just a tiny smidge of backbone please? Come on, please just don't, I mean seriously if you don't its not like you'll in up in Git-mo."

No they filled it out..

(sigh) 

[g1rlg0ne]

I got one in the mail.
Here is how I filled out the first  questions.

Name :  Ben  Stolen.

Date of birth.  MO.13  day. 32  yr. 2012

Race:  came in first.

Only problem with that (if you are serious) is that you are knowingly providing false information...which (please correct me if I'm wrong) is a crime...It might be better to just leave it blank.

[Bash Riprock]

I received it today. The way the form is designed. Question 1 "How many people live here" is in a separated box, with all other questions below it.

[gEEk squad]

I got mine today too.

Recently, there was an article about this on LewRockwell.com with a response letter to include with the returned form on which you only fill out the number of people in the household. I intend to include the letter with my census form. Here it is:

To Whom it May Concern,

Pursuant to Article I, Section 2, Clause 3 of the Constitution, the only information you are empowered to request is the total

number of occupants at this address. My “name, sex, age, date of birth, race, ethnicity, telephone number, relationship and

housing tenure” have absolutely nothing to do with apportioning direct taxes or determining the number of representatives in the House of Representatives. Therefore, neither Congress nor the Census Bureau have the constitutional authority to make that information request a component of the enumeration outlined in Article I, Section 2, Clause 3. In addition, I cannot be subject to a fine for basing my conduct on the Constitution because that document trumps laws passed by Congress.

Interstate Commerce Commission v. Brimson, 154 U.S. 447, 479 (May 26, 1894)

“Neither branch of the legislative department [House of Representatives or Senate], still less any merely administrative body [such as the Census Bureau], established by congress, possesses, or can be invested with, a general power of making inquiry into the private affairs of the citizen. Kilbourn v. Thompson, 103 U.S. 168, 190. We said in Boyd v. U.S., 116 U. S. 616, 630, 6 Sup. Ct. 524,―and it cannot be too often repeated,―that the principles that embody the essence of constitutional liberty and security forbid all invasions on the part of government and it’s employees of the sanctity of a man’s home and the privacies of his life.

As said by Mr. Justice Field in Re Pacific Ry. Commission, 32 Fed. 241, 250, ‘of all the rights of the citizen, few are of greater importance or more essential to his peace and happiness than the right of personal security, and that involves, not merely protection of his person from assault, but exemption of his private affairs, books, and papers from inspection and scrutiny of others. Without the enjoyment of this right, all others would lose half their value.’”

Note: This United States Supreme Court case has never been overturned.

Respectfully,

A Citizen of the United States of America

[thnkfstpal]

I got mine today too.

Recently, there was an article about this on LewRockwell.com with a response letter to include with the returned form on which you only fill out the number of people in the household. I intend to include the letter with my census form. Here it is:

To Whom it May Concern,

Pursuant to Article I, Section 2, Clause 3 of the Constitution, the only information you are empowered to request is the total

number of occupants at this address. My “name, sex, age, date of birth, race, ethnicity, telephone number, relationship and

housing tenure” have absolutely nothing to do with apportioning direct taxes or determining the number of representatives in the House of Representatives. Therefore, neither Congress nor the Census Bureau have the constitutional authority to make that information request a component of the enumeration outlined in Article I, Section 2, Clause 3. In addition, I cannot be subject to a fine for basing my conduct on the Constitution because that document trumps laws passed by Congress.

Interstate Commerce Commission v. Brimson, 154 U.S. 447, 479 (May 26, 1894)

“Neither branch of the legislative department [House of Representatives or Senate], still less any merely administrative body [such as the Census Bureau], established by congress, possesses, or can be invested with, a general power of making inquiry into the private affairs of the citizen. Kilbourn v. Thompson, 103 U.S. 168, 190. We said in Boyd v. U.S., 116 U. S. 616, 630, 6 Sup. Ct. 524,―and it cannot be too often repeated,―that the principles that embody the essence of constitutional liberty and security forbid all invasions on the part of government and it’s employees of the sanctity of a man’s home and the privacies of his life.

As said by Mr. Justice Field in Re Pacific Ry. Commission, 32 Fed. 241, 250, ‘of all the rights of the citizen, few are of greater importance or more essential to his peace and happiness than the right of personal security, and that involves, not merely protection of his person from assault, but exemption of his private affairs, books, and papers from inspection and scrutiny of others. Without the enjoyment of this right, all others would lose half their value.’”

Note: This United States Supreme Court case has never been overturned.

Respectfully,

A Citizen of the United States of America

For The WIN!!!!!!!

[donnay]

I got mine today too.

Recently, there was an article about this on LewRockwell.com with a response letter to include with the returned form on which you only fill out the number of people in the household. I intend to include the letter with my census form. Here it is:

To Whom it May Concern,

Pursuant to Article I, Section 2, Clause 3 of the Constitution, the only information you are empowered to request is the total

number of occupants at this address. My “name, sex, age, date of birth, race, ethnicity, telephone number, relationship and

housing tenure” have absolutely nothing to do with apportioning direct taxes or determining the number of representatives in the House of Representatives. Therefore, neither Congress nor the Census Bureau have the constitutional authority to make that information request a component of the enumeration outlined in Article I, Section 2, Clause 3. In addition, I cannot be subject to a fine for basing my conduct on the Constitution because that document trumps laws passed by Congress.

Interstate Commerce Commission v. Brimson, 154 U.S. 447, 479 (May 26, 1894)

“Neither branch of the legislative department [House of Representatives or Senate], still less any merely administrative body [such as the Census Bureau], established by congress, possesses, or can be invested with, a general power of making inquiry into the private affairs of the citizen. Kilbourn v. Thompson, 103 U.S. 168, 190. We said in Boyd v. U.S., 116 U. S. 616, 630, 6 Sup. Ct. 524,―and it cannot be too often repeated,―that the principles that embody the essence of constitutional liberty and security forbid all invasions on the part of government and it’s employees of the sanctity of a man’s home and the privacies of his life.

As said by Mr. Justice Field in Re Pacific Ry. Commission, 32 Fed. 241, 250, ‘of all the rights of the citizen, few are of greater importance or more essential to his peace and happiness than the right of personal security, and that involves, not merely protection of his person from assault, but exemption of his private affairs, books, and papers from inspection and scrutiny of others. Without the enjoyment of this right, all others would lose half their value.’”

Note: This United States Supreme Court case has never been overturned.

Respectfully,

A Citizen of the United States of America

A copy of that letter is going in my envelope!