Knowing that federal and state money doesn’t come from Obama’s stash and does come from our own paychecks and our friend’s and neighbor’s paychecks, I found the 2010 US Census form letter puzzling. Yes, I know that the census is required (but not all forms are completed) and helps allocate federal funds, but this was much more in-your-face and clearly baits the reader with federal funds that they “need” as quoted:
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 community 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 community may not receive its fair share. Thank you in advance for your help.
Sincerely, Robert M. Groves
Director, U.S. Census BureauGo to for help completing your 2010 Census form when it arrives. [Note: this sentence is repeated in Spanish, Chinese, Vietnamese and Russian]
On the web it continues to tell about the 2010 census; this section does not appear on the actual form letter:
ABOUT THE 2010 CENSUS
The 2010 Census is a count of everyone living in the United States and is mandated by the U.S. Constitution. Census data are used to apportion congressional seats to states, to distribute more than $400 billion in federal funds to tribal, state and local governments each year and to make decisions about what community services to provide. The 2010 Census form will be one of the shortest in U.S. history, consisting of 10 questions, taking about 10 minutes to complete. Strict confidentiality laws protect the respondents and the information they provide.
According to the Constitution the census is to be taken every ten years to count the population to accurately determine how to apportion Congressional Representatives among the states. The census is also used to allocate federal funding to the states. Now, the White House oversees the census and Congress enacts, via law, the questions the 2010 will ask.
In addition, the census process has had to endure a White House power grab making Americans very skeptical of the WH’s true intentions. Moreover, there’s is some inherent distrust of how the census is designed and the information it may yield that could allow for a permanent Democrat-controlled government:
The civil rights community won an important battle today in the fight for a fair and accurate 2010 census that counts every person in the United States as required by the U.S. Constitution.
By voting today for cloture on the Commerce-State-Justice Appropriations bill, the Senate effectively ended debate on the divisive Vitter-Bennett amendment. The amendment, which would have forced the Census Bureau to add questions on citizenship and immigration status to the census form less than six months before the count, is clearly unconstitutional. Under the 14th amendment to the Constitution, the apportionment of members of the House of Representatives is based on a full count of persons – not just citizens – in each state. emphasis mine
Unconstitutional? Not sure about that if the people they are referring to are in this country illegally. But, because the citizenship question is not on the form, illegal residents will be more inclined to fill out the form.
Furthermore, the questions asked are quite intrusive and appear unconstitutional.
Finally, this form letter has all the characteristics of Obama’s “fair share” and “spread the wealth around” sentiment because, as we clearly know now, he will return the wealth to its rightful owner–and it’s not the ones who earned it–because that wouldn’t be fair. And it’s disturbing that other people’s money is used as the bait to motivate people to fill out the census form.