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09/28/2004 Archived Entry: "Because you need to be violated more than once a decade"
FROM LEWROCKWELL.COM comes word of a new, "improved" census that takes place annually. Implementation was scheduled to begin in July of this year, with the decennial census long form being replaced entirely by 2010.
On the US Census Bureau's site, The American Community Survey is described as a way to provide "planners and other users" the data they need every year, rather than once a decade. The Bureau "...can assure you that your confidentiality is protected."
Uh-huh.
Full implementation of the American Community Survey is planned in every county of the United States. Each month, one in six psuedo-randomly selected households will receive the survey (see it here in PDF format). In what is euphemistically referred to as "Low Mail Response Areas" (read: stubborn, cussed jerks who won't tell us how many times they sit on the toilet in an average day), that number will go up to one in three households, a process called "oversampling". In all, each year the ACS will be received by approximately 3 million households.
In addition to the usual name/age/race/marital status questions, the survey - a 24-page monster - requests information on:
The Census Bureau tried a voluntary version of the census in a few test areas in March of 2003. The result? "A dramatic decrease occurred in mail response when the survey became voluntary." ("Surprisingly, Jim, there were fewer people cooperating with the home invader once he stopped holding a gun to their heads..." )
Predictably, the American Community Survey has been deemed mandatory and non-responders will be fined $100.
Posted by Debra @ 05:12 PM CST
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