by Rep. Ron Paul

You may not have heard of the American Community Survey, but you will. The national census, which historically is taken every ten years, has expanded to quench the federal bureaucracy’s ever-growing thirst to govern every aspect of American life. The new survey, unlike the traditional census, is taken each and every year at a cost of hundreds of millions of dollars. And it’s not brief. It contains 24 pages of intrusive questions concerning matters that simply are none of the government’s business, including your job, your income, your physical and emotional heath, your family status, your dwelling, and your intimate personal habits.

The questions are both ludicrous and insulting. The survey asks, for instance, how many bathrooms you have in your house, how many miles you drive to work, how many days you were sick last year, and whether you have trouble getting up stairs. It goes on and on, mixing inane questions with highly detailed inquiries about your financial affairs. One can only imagine the countless malevolent ways our federal bureaucrats could use this information. At the very least the survey will be used to dole out pork, which is reason enough to oppose it.

Keep in mind the survey is not voluntary, nor is the Census Bureau asking politely. Americans are legally obligated to answer, and can be fined up to $1,000 per question if they refuse!

I introduced an amendment last week that would have eliminated funds for this intrusive survey in a spending bill, explaining on the House floor that perhaps the American people don’t appreciate being threatened by Big Brother. The amendment was met by either indifference or hostility, as most members of Congress either don’t care about or actively support government snooping into the private affairs of citizens.

One of the worst aspects of the census is its focus on classifying people by race. When government tells us it wants information to “help” any given group, it assumes every individual who shares certain physical characteristics has the same interests, or wants the same things from government. This is an inherently racist and offensive assumption. The census, like so many federal policies and programs, inflames racism by encouraging Americans to see themselves as members of racial groups fighting each other for a share of the federal pie.

The census also represents a form of corporate welfare, since the personal data collected on hundred of millions of Americans can be sold to private businesses. Surely business enjoys having such extensive information available from one source, but it’s hardly the duty of taxpayers to subsidize the cost of market research.

At least the national census has its origins in the Constitution, which is more than one can say about the vast majority of programs funded by Congress. Still, Article I makes it clear that the census should be taken every ten years for the sole purpose of congressional redistricting (and apportionment of taxes, prior to the disastrous 16th amendment). This means a simple count of the number of people living in a given area, so that numerically equal congressional districts can be maintained. The founders never authorized the federal government to continuously survey the American people.

More importantly, they never envisioned a nation where the people would roll over and submit to every government demand. The American Community Survey is patently offensive to all Americans who still embody that fundamental American virtue, namely a healthy mistrust of government. The information demanded in the new survey is none of the government’s business, and the American people should insist that Congress reject it now before it becomes entrenched.

by Kurt Nimmo, InfoWars

The United States Department of Commerce will send out a threatening letter if a subject refuses to submit to the American Community Survey (ACS). The ACS is a project of the U.S. Census Bureau that replaces the long form in the decennial census. A census is required by the Constitution.

	Click the image above to read the letter in PDF.

An Infowars reader has sent us a copy of this threatening letter. The anonymous recipient received the letter after he refused to fill out and send in the ACS form. “The Census people have been by my house over a handful of times. They have called my house several times. They even went to my neighbors house and asked when I’m home and what time I go to work,” he writes. “I told her that she was not welcome on my property and I received a threatening letter from census (attached) to this e-mail.”

“The primary goal of this survey,” writes Dennis R. Johnson, regional director of the Census Bureau, “is to provide current information on subjects like the current social, economic, and housing situation in the United States. Your efforts help provide the information needed by your community, county, and state, as well as the Nation, to plan programs at all levels.”

Johnson then threatens the letter recipient with a federal law under title 13 of the United States Code.

The primary goal of a national census, according to the Constitution (under Article 1, Section 3) is to provide “actual enumeration” of the population so that the proper number of congressional representatives can be elected from each state.

The Constitution says nothing about government efforts to collect social, economic, and housing data in the United States so local and national government can determine how to tax and spend the money of Americans. Mr. Johnson’s letter is unconstitutional and a color of law effort to shakedown a citizen who understands he is not obliged to provide anything beyond a head count as mandated by the Constitution.

As Ron Paul correctly notes, the Founding Fathers “never authorized the federal government to continuously survey the American people. More importantly, they never envisioned a nation where the people would roll over and submit to every government demand.”

“Keep in mind the survey is not voluntary, nor is the Census Bureau asking politely. Americans are legally obligated to answer, and can be fined up to $1,000 per question if they refuse!” Paul wrote on July 13, 2004. “The American Community Survey is patently offensive to all Americans who still embody that fundamental American virtue, namely a healthy mistrust of government. The information demanded in the new survey is none of the government’s business, and the American people should insist that Congress reject it now before it becomes entrenched.”

Addendum

In response to the above post, an Infowars reader sent a scan of a letter regarding ACS sent to him by James Sensenbrenner, a member of the Republican Party in the United States House of Representatives, on November 26, 2006.

Contrary to the letter sent by Dennis R. Johnson, Mr. Sensenbrenner indicates there is no legal obligation to complete the ACS form, although he adds that the “Department views compliance with the survey as a citizen’s civic duty.”

by Nicholas Ballasy

(CNSNews.com) - The acting director of the U.S. Census Bureau, Thomas Mesenbourg, told CNSNews.com that the bureau intends to work with community organizations to make sure every illegal alien in the United States is counted in the 2010 Census.

The Census is used to apportion the seats in the U.S. House of Representatives. There are 435 House seats that are divided among the states in proportion to their population, which is determined by the decennial census. States with more people get more seats in the U.S. House.

This means that a state harboring more illegal aliens can gain more House seats as long as the Census Bureau finds the illegal aliens and counts them. This also means that the illegal alien population resident in the United States during a census year has the potential to alter the regional and philosophical balance of power in Congress.

Mesenbourg’s comments were made after a press conference on Wednesday where Commerce Secretary Gary Locke joined several interest groups, including Univision, the National Council of La Raza, the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) and the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO) to talk about efforts to ensure a full count of Latinos in the 2010 Census.

When asked whether he intended to maximize the count of illegal aliens in next year’s census, Mesenburg said: “Our job is to count everyone that resides in the U.S.–count them once. So, certainly that’s our goal to count every individual, every resident whether they’re documented, undocumented, whether they are citizens or non-citizens.”

He said local community organizations will play a key role in making sure all illegal immigrants are counted.

“The local communities are going to have a strong partnership program in each of the local communities, and we’re going to focus on the hard to count geographic areas. That typically has been areas with high numbers of undocumented workers but it’s much more diverse than that,” he said.

“So, what we’ll do is we’ll have Census Bureau folks out in those neighborhoods recruiting community organizations, faith-based organizations, and local media to get that message out that it’s safe, it’s easy, and it’s important to file your 2010 Census form,” said Mesenbourg.

Mesenbourg also said the Census Bureau intended to reach out to illegal aliens through local organizations that the aliens see as “trusted” voices to let them know it is safe to cooperate with the Census Bureau in being counted.

“It’s more than just the Census Bureau telling them that it’s safe,” said Mesenbourg. “We need somebody that they view as a trusted voice–somebody from that community, whether perhaps the local pastor or somebody in a community organization that can assure them that it’s safe.”

“One way to improve the safety is you get a census form, fill it out, return it by mail and no one will come knocking on your door after that,” he said.

The forms Mesenbourg referenced are available on the Census Bureau’s Web site. They do not require a Social Security number to be completed and counted.

Both English and bilingual versions of the census form are available fordownloading in PDF form from the Census Bureau’s website.

Mesenbourg explained why he and Commerce Secretary Gary Locke attended the event with several Latino special interest groups.

“Well, getting a full and accurate count is job number one for us,” said Mesenbourg. “The secretary recognizes that and we recognize that the Census Bureau and the Department Commerce alone can’t carry out a successful census.”

“We need to partner with organizations that are viewed as trusted voices in their local community, and certainly this coalition’s going to go a far way in terms of accomplishing that goal,” he said.

The executive director of the NALEO Educational Fund, Arturo Vargas, said they want to make sure every single person who resides in the county is counted.

“You know the census is something that’s required by the United States Constitution, and the Constitution says that it should be an enumeration all persons. So, we want to make sure that every single person who resides in this country gets enumerated,” Vargas told CNSNews.com during the press conference.

Ruben Keoseyan, publisher of the newspaper La Raza, said the organizations at the press conference have partnered with the Census Bureau to help undocumented immigrants “come out and register” for the census.

“This is not just a partnership among the people that you see here,” said Keoseyan. “This is also a partnership with the Census Bureau because we believe that we can aid in helping those people come out and register and participate in the census. It’s a much easier form. It’s going to be in Spanish.”

“It will be a bilingual form which we will replicate in our publications, but most importantly it’ll be a pencil and paper type of thing and we will be there to support this,” he said. “But if the Census Bureau and the federal government doesn’t support the efforts and the trust that we’re going to have put out there to have people believe in what we’re trying to get there.”

Below is the full transcript of the interview with the acting director of the U.S. Census Bureau Thomas L. Mesenbourg:

CNSNews.com: “Do you want to maximize the counting of illegal immigrants in the 2010 Census?”

Mesenbourg: “Our job is to count everyone that resides in the U.S. Count them once. So, certainly that’s our goal to count every individual, every resident whether they’re documented, undocumented, whether they are citizens or non-citizens.”

CNSNews.com: “Why do you think the commerce secretary and you as well came to this event?”

Mesenbourg: “Well, getting a full and accurate count is job number one for us. The secretary recognizes that and we recognize that the Census Bureau and the Department of Commerce alone can’t carry out a successful census. We need to partner with organizations that are viewed as trusted voices in their local community and certainly this coalition’s going to go a far way in terms of accomplishing that goal.”

CNSNews.com: “They had mentioned during the actual event, local communities and their role in counting. How does that relate to the illegal immigrant counting in the census?”

Mesenbourg: “Well, the local communities are going to have a strong partnership program in each of the local communities and we’re going to focus on the hard to count geographic areas. That typically has been areas with high numbers of undocumented workers, but it’s much more diverse than that. So, what we’ll do is we’ll have Census Bureau folks out in those neighborhoods recruiting community organizations, faith-based organizations, and local media to get that message out that it’s safe, it’s easy and it’s important to file your 2010 census form.”

CNSNews.com: “I imagine it must be difficult counting them if they think it’s not safe.”

Mesenbourg: “Yeah, and it’s more than just the Census Bureau telling them that it’s safe. We need somebody that they view as a trusted voice–somebody from that community, whether perhaps the local pastor or somebody in a community organization that can assure them that it’s safe. One way to improve the safety is you get a census form, fill it out, return it by mail, and no one will come knocking on your door after that.”

by Gary D. Barnett

Just when I thought the census invasions were over, at least until the actual count next spring, the census Gestapo, or “Complete Count Committees” (CCC) are forming all around this nation-state. Once again, the long arm of government is using state and local political types to form neighbor watching and neighbor invading “community” committees. One should not take this lightly, as this is a massive government-organized army out to invade the privacy of virtually everyone. The normal culprits will be involved in this idiocy, including government agencies, education, business, faith-based organizations, nosy community “leaders,” local do-gooders, and of course the government-controlled media.

As I said in the past in my article, “In Preparation for the 2010 Census,” the 2010 census count in my opinion will be the most aggressive ever. Not only has government become much more tyrannical in the past ten years, but towns, cities, counties and states are starving for more tax revenue due to this government-caused economic debacle. Although this census is being touted by the U.S. Census Bureau as a short-form only census, only 10 questions, don’t be fooled by this deceitful ruse. In the past, one out of every six households received the long form or “The American Community Survey” which is 52 pages long and very intrusive. It is simply used as a personal information gathering and monitoring tool for government. This practice has been scrapped in its present form, but now instead of being sent every ten years, will be mailed out to many every single year. What this means is that those sent the long form each year will now be under more pressure than ever to complete and send it in. Instead of the possibility of receiving one of these long forms every ten years, you could receive one in any given year. Since the state aggression is ratcheting up for these more intrusive invasions, some of us will have to defend ourselves from the Department of Commerce on a regular basis. This is absurd!

According to the CCC guide, [see here] “Determining congressional seats and federal funding is just a hint of the many important uses of census data.” This must be news to those of us who can actually read and understand the constitution. The census was to be taken (an enumeration or simple head count) to establish the apportionment of representatives and direct taxes among the several states; nothing more. As I’ve mentioned in the past, no change in national representation has occurred in almost 100 years, and the apportionment of tax dollars has become nothing more than a tax redistribution scheme to enrich the elite few and to expand the socialist welfare state. In other words, a complete bastardization of the census process has taken place, and now it is nothing more than a scam!

But now, with Complete Count Committees in place, things have not only gotten worse, but much worse. First let’s look at some of the examples given for the many uses of the census. This comes under the very dubious heading: “Census data are widely and wisely used.” Nothing could be further from the truth. Here are some of the uses:

• Title 1 grants to educational agencies
• Head Start programs
• Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) (food grants)
• Public transportation
• Road rehabilitation and construction
• Programs for the elderly
• Emergency food and shelter
• Empowerment zones (What in the world is this?)
• The data help the private sector as well as state and federal governments determine where jobs and job programs are needed
• Census data help potential homeowners research property values, median income, and other demographic information about a particular community.
• Corporations use population data for market research to determine locations for commercial enterprises, such as food stores, pharmacies, and other essential services.

This of course is a short list. At the end of the guide, another 50 reasons are listed. And you thought the census was used to determine representative and direct tax apportionment only. No, quite the opposite is the case.

As should be obvious, local and state governments have been co-opted to help advance the Census Bureau’s reach and scope. Since the states and local communities depend so heavily on federal largess, this by design, and the census is the mechanism used to decide who gets what, they have become willing accomplices. In a local newspaper article recently, the statement was made that “$1,000.00 a year per person comes to communities based on census figures. Missing 10 people in a census can cost a community $100,000.00 over 10 years.” Scare tactic? I would say so. No wonder the state and local governments are so heavily involved.

The Complete Count Committee is something I haven’t talked about in the past, but it is a very important aspect of the census count, and is based upon a co-opting or conscription of sorts of many state and local governments and communities. The CAC guide claims that the Census Bureau can’t do the census alone, and requiresthe assistance of individuals, groups and organizations across the nation. The CCC “is a voluntary committee established by tribal, state and local governments, and/or community leaders, to increase awareness about the census and motivate residents in the community to respond.” While this language may seem benign to some, it is in fact descriptive of even a more intrusive venture.

These committees are run in a top down manner not that much unlike a military structure. I would call it the “chain-of-command” for census counts. The U.S. government via the Department of Commerce is the head, and then the governor of each state takes charge of his domain. He then is to appoint individuals as members to serve on the committee, creating in essence, a state Complete Count Committee. This committee will normally be chaired by an individual selected by the governor. “The operation of the Complete Count Committee flows from the highest elected official or community leader to the chairperson, the committee members, and/or to the community at large.” This is based on a sub-committee structure, from highest to lowest, and sub-committees should include government, education, faith-based, media, community-based organizations, business, and recruiting. This is no innocent community project, but a planned government/private (fascist) partnership ready to assault the rest of us.

These committees are to use every possible method at their disposal to force compliance. They are to identify targetsfor aggressive outreach and set up strategic partnerships with counties, schools, state agencies, and community organizations. They will also set up non-response follow-up. They are to exhaust every avenue possible to promote the census count, including but not limited to stuffing all public utility and property tax bills with census propaganda. Banners, brochures, posters, parades, and newsletters are just a few other things mentioned to advance the count in the CCC guide; all paid for by tax dollars, of course.

In addition to the use of all public and community-based organizations, and municipalities, the census Nazis also are using the public (government) school system to help in this coercive effort. In the process, the state is indoctrinating kids attending these rotten institutions from “prekindergarten through twelfth grade, as well as postsecondary education institutions. (Ages 3 and up in other words) “Census in Schools” is also taking place in 2010, with an emphasis on kindergarten through eighth grade. The importance of this in-school census is to “educate all of the K-12 students about the importance of the 2010 census.” No one should be surprised by this, but what an obvious totalitarian approach. Just how long will it be until the “Census in Schools” program is teaching kids to turn in parents who don’t cooperate with census takers? The “Hitler Youth” of socialist Germany comes immediately to mind! What an outrage!

The bottom line is this: The 2010 Census will be the most aggressive and the most intrusive we have seen. Threats of fines for non-compliance will be more evident this time around. Neighbors and friends will be encouraged by government to put pressure on any who refuse to go along with this invasion of privacy and destruction of rights. Neighbors will also become informants. There will be a “Nonresponse Follow-up” team, as I mentioned earlier, set up for those unwilling to give up their private information to these goons. “A field operation designed to obtain a completed interview from households where a questionnaire was not returned” will send “enumerators” to these households to obtain completed interviews. If attempts to contact the residents of a household are unsuccessful, an “enumerator” will obtain as much information as is possible from a neighbor, a building manager, or another reliable source. In other words, the government will use whatever method possible to get private information about you, your family, your personal finance, your cultural or ethnic background and any other information it wants.

What will it take before most get fed up with this oppressive and heavy-handed government? When will more stand against this despotic beast? I don’t know about the rest of you, but I have had enough!