2010 Census, They’re Not “Coming to Get You”

My fellow Americans,

I was going to post a blog about education, but before I did that my dad sent me this video. I couldn’t help but comment on it and I figured I’d share it with all of you. Now, let me start by saying that I don’t think my dad found this on his own, I think someone sent it to him and he forwarded it to me. It doesn’t seem like something he would actively search out. Let’s all take a minute and watch the video.

This guy seems a little “tin foil hat” to me. He makes a claim about all the outrageous questions the Census is going to ask, but it seems to me that if they really wanted all that information they could just head over to the IRS and find out exactly where you work, how much you make, how many cars you own and if you’re on disability or get food stamps. Then he goes on to wonder why the Census counts us every year instead of every ten years. Maybe it is because there are 300 million people in the US which is a lot more than there was in 1787. It is a lot easier to count some of the people every year than all of the people once every ten years. Plus they collect important statistics about the nation. They don’t ask me to fill it out every year; I have only gotten one Census form in my whole life. Then he starts talking about the government encroaching on our privacy and even though he doesn’t come out and say it, he is talking about the 4th amendment. An amendment which Dub-ya Bush basically lit on fire and threw out the window when he signed the Patriot Act into law letting him and the government, not kind of, but directly, spy on whomever the Hell he wanted to, whenever the Hell he wanted to. Also he makes a big deal about his questions not getting answered, but two minutes before that he said the Census never called him back. Well no wonder you got a “no answer” on all your questions, because you didn’t talk to anyone. But you know, I can answer some of these questions, in fact let me pick, let’s say, five of these questions, that’s half of them, and let’s see how I do answering them.

1 Q: Is there any limit to invasion of privacy? A: Not really, Patriot Act, remember they can wire tap you for no reason at all.

2 Q: Do current levels of data collection violate the fourth amendment? A: Again, due to the Patriot Act the fourth is pretty much null and void so it doesn’t matter if they do or not.

3 Q: How may we be penalized for maintaining our privacy? A: Like I said before, the really private stuff that most people would not want to answer, like “how much money do you make,” they already have that info at the IRS. But if you really want to know what the law says, according to census laws and fines Title 13 Chapter 7 Subchapter II section 221 “Whoever, being over eighteen years of age, refuses or willfully neglects, when requested by the Secretary, or by any other authorized officer or employee of the Department of Commerce or bureau or agency thereof acting under the instructions of the Secretary or authorized officer, to answer, to the best of his knowledge, any of the questions on any schedule submitted to him in connection with any census or survey provided for by subchapters I, II, IV, and V of chapter 5 of this title, applying to himself or to the family to which he belongs or is related, or to the farm or farms of which he or his family is the occupant, shall be fined not more than $100”

4 Q: Can Security agencies access my private information? A: Probably, they can pull Tax records so why not census information. Now, do I think that is right? No of course not but you wanted an answer so here it is.

5 Q: How will my homes GPS coordinates be used? A: Who knows, maybe it will help surveyors or topographers make maps, but that doesn’t really matter because you can go on google earth and not only see the GPS coordinates of my house, you can see if I’m home or not.

Census data directly affects how more than $300 billion per year in federal and state funding is allocated to communities for neighborhood improvements, public health, education, transportation and much more. It is nothing to “Fear” like this idiot would have you believe.

Thank you, God bless you, and God bless America.