For the 2010 Census: Name and Address Only

[Kevin_Kennedy]

Next year the country will go through another census. The people and the states – the creators and on-going sustainers of the federal government – have authorized this undertaking (U.S. Constitution, Article I, section 2). The census should be seen not as a burden but rather as an opportunity for Americans to practice self-government. Let me explain.

Our written Constitution embodies ideas to which every member of Congress has taken an Article VI oath to support. In taking their constitutional oath the members of Congress are joined by every member of the 50 state legislatures, every federal executive, legislative, judicial officer, and every executive, legislative, judicial officer of the 50 states, as well as all military personnel. That so many are required to take the oath "to support this Constitution" is ample evidence that the Framers thought their written document to be quite important, a belief shared by most Americans.

For the 2010 Census: Name and Address Only by Paul Galvin

 

[JD_2B]

Oh that is a good article.. Thank you for posting it. I am undecided on how to fill my census form out now.

One one hand- There is a point- it is better to just self-govern, and stop letting government have so much info about us.. Besides, they never really ask all the detailed demographic stuff anyways... at least not that I can recall.

On the other hand- it would be kinda nice to have questionnaires in place to where we could even give race, sexual preference, etc, etc, etc.. and even do other survey type things, so that there is no way that the gov't can skew the results. I would like to see this done online, in the future, really.

I also think we should be able to extend our house of representatives.. I am all for smaller government, especially when it comes to weakening the police forces and intelligence departments, but I think that the biggest problem in US enforcing this, is that the reps are having a lot of trouble with keeping the people's freedoms in mind, with such a small congress, relatively speaking. Like, in New York, there is like, what- 3 million people to each representative? How the fuck is that one person supposed to hear that many people?? It is ridiculous. Give us one per million. If 40-50% of the population votes, and only a third to a half of those people are registered to democratic or republican parties, then that leaves each representative with no more than a couple hundred thousand people to listen to. I think that is very workable, and reasonable.

 

[Midnight Marauder]

I guess, according to the author, I am un-American because not only have I not been counted since 1980 -- when I was first able to make the choice -- the sons of bitches will NEVER count me.

Most especially not for 2010.

 

[Mr. H.]

I strongly encourage everyone to participate in the census.

Congress relies on the census for purposes of allocating funds under various federal grant programs
to state governments. Inaccuracies in the census count can cause federal funds to be distributed in a
way that is not fully consistent with congressional intent. Many state-funded grant programs to localities
also rely on census counts, compounding the misallocation of grant money. For those jurisdictions
that are counted relatively poorly by the census, this translates into fewer services for families
with the greatest needs.

http://govinfo.library.unt.edu/cmb/cmbp/reports/final_report/fin_sec5_effect.pdf

 

[judyd]

Why so much upset over the census? Have you looked at the form on the census site? They really don't ask for a lot of info: who lives in the home, names and ages, do they live part-time somewhere else (so they're not counted twice), age, race, what type of housing is it (own or rent, etc), the relationship between the person completing the form and the others in the household, and a telephone number in case they don't understand your answers. They don't ask if you're employed, unemployed, retired, or anything.

http://www.census.gov/schools/pdf/2010form_info.pdf

 

[bodecea]

I guess, according to the author, I am un-American because not only have I not been counted since 1980 -- when I was first able to make the choice -- the sons of bitches will NEVER count me.

Most especially not for 2010.

So, if there are enough people like you, your state is underrepresented in the House. OK.

 

[bodecea]

Oh that is a good article.. Thank you for posting it. I am undecided on how to fill my census form out now.

One one hand- There is a point- it is better to just self-govern, and stop letting government have so much info about us.. Besides, they never really ask all the detailed demographic stuff anyways... at least not that I can recall.

On the other hand- it would be kinda nice to have questionnaires in place to where we could even give race, sexual preference, etc, etc, etc.. and even do other survey type things, so that there is no way that the gov't can skew the results. I would like to see this done online, in the future, really.

I also think we should be able to extend our house of representatives.. I am all for smaller government, especially when it comes to weakening the police forces and intelligence departments, but I think that the biggest problem in US enforcing this, is that the reps are having a lot of trouble with keeping the people's freedoms in mind, with such a small congress, relatively speaking. Like, in New York, there is like, what- 3 million people to each representative? How the fuck is that one person supposed to hear that many people?? It is ridiculous. Give us one per million. If 40-50% of the population votes, and only a third to a half of those people are registered to democratic or republican parties, then that leaves each representative with no more than a couple hundred thousand people to listen to. I think that is very workable, and reasonable.

A House of Rep with 435 barely gets things done now. You want it to be even bigger and even more unweldy. OK>

 

[paperview]

I guess, according to the author, I am un-American because not only have I not been counted since 1980 -- when I was first able to make the choice -- the sons of bitches will NEVER count me.

Most especially not for 2010.

I hope all your conservative friends, relatives and associates do the same thing as you.

Really. I do.

 

[Midnight Marauder]

I guess, according to the author, I am un-American because not only have I not been counted since 1980 -- when I was first able to make the choice -- the sons of bitches will NEVER count me.

Most especially not for 2010.

I hope all your conservative friends, relatives and associates do the same thing as you.

Really. I do.

Since I am not a conservative your idea is kind of moot. Most all of my relatives are blue dog liberals, a good number of my friends as well.

My conservative friends, the few I have, I have been working on them for years. But never discussed the census.

I simply refuse to be counted, especially when you have the attorney general running his mouth saying that people who refuse to cooperate will face jail time. Even though that is the law and always has been the law, he's the first to actually act like it has teeth and make these threats.

 

[JD_2B]

Oh that is a good article.. Thank you for posting it. I am undecided on how to fill my census form out now.

One one hand- There is a point- it is better to just self-govern, and stop letting government have so much info about us.. Besides, they never really ask all the detailed demographic stuff anyways... at least not that I can recall.

On the other hand- it would be kinda nice to have questionnaires in place to where we could even give race, sexual preference, etc, etc, etc.. and even do other survey type things, so that there is no way that the gov't can skew the results. I would like to see this done online, in the future, really.

I also think we should be able to extend our house of representatives.. I am all for smaller government, especially when it comes to weakening the police forces and intelligence departments, but I think that the biggest problem in US enforcing this, is that the reps are having a lot of trouble with keeping the people's freedoms in mind, with such a small congress, relatively speaking. Like, in New York, there is like, what- 3 million people to each representative? How the fuck is that one person supposed to hear that many people?? It is ridiculous. Give us one per million. If 40-50% of the population votes, and only a third to a half of those people are registered to democratic or republican parties, then that leaves each representative with no more than a couple hundred thousand people to listen to. I think that is very workable, and reasonable.

A House of Rep with 435 barely gets things done now. You want it to be even bigger and even more unweldy. OK>

They barely get things done because they are stuck with so many constituents, that I think they must have to ignore the majority of the mailings they receive. The only way to get anything done right in DC is to either hold a grand scale march there protesting, or through expensive lobbyists, who make about 100,000 dollars a year, and can only be hired by people and companies that can afford them.

We cannot pretend to be well represented when we have only one rep to several million people.. And Technically, including senators, there are 535- which is fewer than some graduating high school classes are..

Saying we should keep our representative numbers down (including senate) is like saying that one high school graduating class (not even a whole high school- just the graduating seniors of the one school) could be capable of representing all high school seniors all over the country in an effort to get the opinions of students heard- which we know is just not the case. Do you see what I am saying? I realize it is a bit of a contrived analogy, but the fact remains- the sheer number of people in the US now, compared to the number of citizens we had 200 years ago, has increased exponentially. We NEED better representation, and the only way to ensure that happens is to increase how many people represent us.

 

[Mad Scientist]

I strongly encourage everyone to participate in the census.

Congress relies on the census for purposes of allocating funds under various federal grant programs
to state governments. Inaccuracies in the census count can cause federal funds to be distributed in a
way that is not fully consistent with congressional intent. Many state-funded grant programs to localities
also rely on census counts, compounding the misallocation of grant money. For those jurisdictions
that are counted relatively poorly by the census, this translates into fewer services for families
with the greatest needs.

http://govinfo.library.unt.edu/cmb/cmbp/reports/final_report/fin_sec5_effect.pdf

The whole point of the article just went right over your head.

 

[Kevin_Kennedy]

Why so much upset over the census? Have you looked at the form on the census site? They really don't ask for a lot of info: who lives in the home, names and ages, do they live part-time somewhere else (so they're not counted twice), age, race, what type of housing is it (own or rent, etc), the relationship between the person completing the form and the others in the household, and a telephone number in case they don't understand your answers. They don't ask if you're employed, unemployed, retired, or anything.

http://www.census.gov/schools/pdf/2010form_info.pdf

The point is they don't have the right to ask those questions. They don't need to know our race or other nonsense to fulfill their constitutional obligation.

 

[judyd]

There's an interesting explanation on their site for each of the ten questions they ask. For those who question the constitutionality of it, some of the questions have been asked since 1790--when the founding fathers knew and apparently approved of it.

The Questions on the Form - 2010 Census

 

[paperview]

Why so much upset over the census? Have you looked at the form on the census site? They really don't ask for a lot of info: who lives in the home, names and ages, do they live part-time somewhere else (so they're not counted twice), age, race, what type of housing is it (own or rent, etc), the relationship between the person completing the form and the others in the household, and a telephone number in case they don't understand your answers. They don't ask if you're employed, unemployed, retired, or anything.

http://www.census.gov/schools/pdf/2010form_info.pdf

The point is they don't have the right to ask those questions. They don't need to know our race or other nonsense to fulfill their constitutional obligation.

They do have a constitutional right (What part of "in such Manner as they shall by Law direct" escapes you?)
....and they have been asking about race since the beginning.

1790 Census :: 1790 U.S. Federal Census :: 1790 Free Census Resources

"The 1790 census asked five questions: the number of free white males over 16 years old, free white males under 16, free white females, other, and number of slaves."

And one asked while many of the Founders will still around :: "How many persons engaged in agriculture, commercial or manufacture" and naturalization questions."

 

[paperview]

There's an interesting explanation on their site for each of the ten questions they ask. For those who question the constitutionality of it, some of the questions have been asked since 1790--when the founding fathers knew and apparently approved of it.

The Questions on the Form - 2010 Census

...posted 3 minutes before mine, as I was composing my above.

Good job.

 

[paperview]

They get to ask the questions Congress decides to ask.
The Constitution gives them that power.

In 1840, how many people objected to these questions, I wonder?

"The 1840 Census was the sixth enumeration conducted of the United States population as provided for in the U.S. Constitution. The 17 million people enumerated represented a 32.7% increase over the prior census. Enumerators of the 1840 census were asked to include the following categories in the census: name of head of household; number of free white males and females in age categories: 0 to 5, 5 to 10, 10 to 15, 15 to 20, 20 to 30, 30 to 40, 40 to 50, 50 to 60, 60 to 70, 70 to 80, 80 to 90, 90 to 100, over 100; the name of a slave owner and the number of slaves owned by that person; the number of male and female slaves and free "colored" persons by age categories; the number of foreigners (not naturalized) in a household; the number of deaf, dumb, and blind persons within a household; and town or district, and county of residence.

For the first time, the 1840census also asked the ages of revolutionary war pensioners and the number of individuals engaged in mining, agriculture, commerce, manufacturing and trade, navigation of the ocean, navigation of canals, lakes and rivers, learned professions and engineers; number in school, number in family over age twenty-one who could not read and write, and the number of insane."

1840 Census :: 1840 U.S. Federal Census :: 1840 Free Census Resources

 

[judyd]

There's an interesting explanation on their site for each of the ten questions they ask. For those who question the constitutionality of it, some of the questions have been asked since 1790--when the founding fathers knew and apparently approved of it.

The Questions on the Form - 2010 Census

...posted 3 minutes before mine, as I was composing my above.

Good job.

Perhaps we should forward all of this to Michelle Bachman!

 

[paperview]

There's an interesting explanation on their site for each of the ten questions they ask. For those who question the constitutionality of it, some of the questions have been asked since 1790--when the founding fathers knew and apparently approved of it.

The Questions on the Form - 2010 Census

...posted 3 minutes before mine, as I was composing my above.

Good job.

Perhaps we should forward all of this to Michelle Bachman!

Last I heard she was slitting her wrist in some blood-brother cultish thing.

 

[paperview]

The Census of 1850:

Census Questions (1850)

 

[paperview]

Census of 1870:

The Census of 1870

Go Back to Enumeration Forms Index


Schedule 1. Free Inhabitants in _________, in the County of ________, State of _________, enumerated by me, on the _____ day of ___________, 1870. ___________________, Ass’t. Marshal.
Post-office: _______________________.
[Inquiries number 7, 16, and 17 are not to be asked in respect to infants. Inquiries number 11, 12, 15, 16, 17, 19, and 20 are to be answered (if at all) merely by an affirmative mark, as /.]

1. Dwelling houses and number in order of visitation.
2. Families numbered in the order of visitation.
3. The name of every person whose place of abode on the 1st day of June, 1870, was in this family. Description:
4. Age at last birthday. If under 1 year, give months in fractions, thus, 3/12.
5. Sex – Males (M), females (F).
6. Color – White (W), black (B), mulatto (M), Chinese (C), Indian (I).
7. Profession, occupation, or trade of each person, male or female. Value of real estate owned:
8. Value of real estate.
9. Value of personal estate.

10. Place of birth, naming the state or territory of the United States, or the country, if of foreign birth. Parentage:
11. Father of foreign birth.
12. Mother of foreign birth.
13. If born within the year, state month (Jan., Feb., etc.).
14. If married within the year, state month (Jan., Feb., etc.). Education:
15. Attended school within the year.
16. Can not read.
17. Can not write.
18. Whether deaf and dumb, blind, insane, or idiotic.
Constitutional relations: 19. Male citizens of United States of 21 years of age and upwards.
20. Male citizens of United States of 21 years of age and upwards, whose right to vote is denied or abridged on other grounds than rebellion or other crime.