United Liberty
The Census
Tue, 03/09/2010 - 12:42am | posted by Chris Moody
I just received a letter in the mail from the U.S. Census Bureau informing me that I would receive a letter in the mail from the U.S. Census Bureau.
It reads:
Dear Resident:
About one week from now, you will receive a 2010 Census form in the mail. When you receive your form, please fill it out and mail it in promptly.
Your response is important. Results from the 2010 Census will be used to help each commmunity get its fair share of government funds for highways, schools, health facilities, and many other programs you and your neighbors need. Without a complete, accurate census, your commmunity may not receive its fair share.
Thank you in advance for your help.
Sincerely,
Robert M. Groves, Director, U.S. Census Bureau
Aside from pointing out that this little friendly mailer cost taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars, I’ll let the UL community chip away at the language used; particularly the expressions, “need,” “many other programs,” and “fair share” to name a few.
Lest there be any confusion, the centenial Census is a legitimate duty of the federal government, as mandated in Article II, Section I of the Constitution. But that doesn’t mean we can’t poke a little fun at how it’s being carried out.
Well, I’ll bite. Just consider this sentence:
“Without a complete, accurate census, your commmunity may not receive its fair share.”
Let’s take that at face value. The Director is telling us, though not in so many words, that the determination of a “fair share” depends upon all of the information we provide on the census form. Perhaps somebody could explain in what way the racial or cultural composition of my community determines what our “fair share” is. I certainly don’t get it.
There are, of course, broader issues. I’d say that my community (and here I use the term quite broadly) could determine what is a fair level of community funding for community projects all by itself, without the involving the federal government at all. We meet about these things. But that argument falls flat with a certain crowd.
Still, if the census must be “complete” in order for the federal government to know how much money to send where, I find it impossible to escape the conclusion that racial and cultural information affects how much money we at the local level are “worth” to those in power in Washington. It’s big of the Director to admit as much. But isn’t that notion offensive even to those among us who wish to redistribute money nationwide?
- Peter
Post new comment