Did anyone else receive one of these? According to their web site, US Code Title 13, sections Section 141 and Section 193 your response is required by law.
In reality, those sections outline that The Secretary (who is presumably defined elsewhere) can take surveys as a part of their census process. It is Section 221 that requires you to respond:
Whoever, being over eighteen years of age, refuses or willfully neglects, when requested by the Secretary, or by any other authorized officer or employee of the Department of Commerce or bureau or agency thereof acting under the instructions of the Secretary or authorized officer, to answer, to the best of his knowledge, any of the questions on any schedule submitted to him in connection with any census or survey provided…
That’s just a crock.
Oh, sure, census information is useful and all that. It’s just the principal of it. I guess I’ll have to ask the nice lady who came to my door for some evidence that she is an authorized officer or employee of the Deparment of Commerce, or a bureau or agency thereof acting under the instructions of The Secretary.
Heck, I’d pay the $100 if it weren’t for Title 18, Section 3571 (allegedly Section 3559 as well, but that seems to deal with imprisonment and not monetary fines). With it on the books, the “not greater than $100” fine becomes “not greater than $5000” fine. That really blows.
Comments
718 responses to “American Community Survey”
Dan the Man in Maryland,
YOU SAID IT and I agree. Screw the illegals. What about us?
Maybe we should tell them we’re illegal and we can get more services and hold our crotiches and give the finger to Americans as they take our waitress, waiter, delivery, landscape, plumber, roofer, contruction jobs. You are so right – I would do those jobs because there are no “good” jobs left.
I just read a copy of the ACS. I immediately looked up the law the survey quotes, “Title 13, Sections 141, 193, and 221 of the U.S. Code.” Section 141 describes the purpose of collecting population information. Section 193 provides authority to survey other items. Section 221 states some penalties for those who don’t provide information or accurate information. What I could not find in the law was any words requiring anyone to answer the surveys. As a retired Army Officer, I am outraged at the blatant disrespect for freedom and privacy and I declare I will rot in jail before I provide such information (which will eventually happen if too many Americans fail to stand up to the government). This is clearly a time for Patirots to stand up and “Just say ‘no.’”
Just got a call from the CENSUS. I said F you and asked if I should salute Hitler. Then I recited this:
“We hold these Truths to be self-evident,that all men are created equal, that they are endowed, by their creator, with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are
Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.
“That to secure these Rights, Governments are instituted among men,
deriving their just Powers from the Consent of the Governed,
that whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these Ends,
it is
the Right of the People
to alter or abolish it, and to institute new Government,
laying its Foundation on such Principles, and organizing its Powers in such Form,
as to them shall seem most likely to effect their
Safety and Happiness.”
and hung up. I now think that they are targeting only the people or most of the people who complain to Congress about other issues, because it wasn’t five minutes after I called the Congress to complain about something else that this woman called me. OUR LIBERTY IS AT STAKE.
Also, it’s only three days since I received my second survey after not filling out the one three weeks ago.
I just wrote to Pelosi and said when she tells US how many times and when she bathes, then, maybe I’ll tell her.
By the way – if you open the door and yell at them, what happens?
Can you call the cops on them?
This is not a free country at all. It is none of their business what time of day I do things. Etc. etc.
Let’s see. The government has screwed me my whole life. I have been mostly unemployed, shot down for work, ridiculed because of Affirmative Action, foreigners interviewing me and then not hiring me, spouse of SSI recipient so I have NO FINANCIAL RIGHTS, student loans laws that torture me when I can’t pay, etc, etc. I am constantly called for jury duty and now this insipid survey.
I got the first one when I had surgery and didn’t answer – so they send another telling me I better OR ELSE? Or else what? Looks like it’s time for us Americans to rise up and fight.
Ah, dear Steven,
“Having done your duty”…. Spoken like a stakeholder or ACS supporter. I have no duty to fill out the ACS for any reason. While our privacy is not what it used to be, I will not throw in the towel and comply. My info is mine and I will decide where, when and with whom I will share it. It will not be on file in some gov computer because I willingly or unwillingly gave it to them. Imposing fines for not responding will risk a court challenge which will cause the CB to be on the losing end of this, not me. The CB is playing on the tendency for the public to want to be perceived a being nice. I am so over that. The gov has stepped over the line, violated the Constitution and now wants my cooperation to invade my privacy? There is no law which requires me to read my mail, answer my phone or open my door. So the gov can take its Title 13 and Title 18 and shove it!!!
Steven, remember that when you step into the oven, they DID ask you politely.
Well, I received another call today from Uncle Sam’s contractor – this time a very nice young man who was very deferential and polite. Because he ASKED me politely to finish the survey rather than being belligerent and threatening like the first one who TOLD me I WOULD comply, I did, in fact, complete all questions telephonically. In fact, today’s interviewer apologized for the attitude of the first caller, so I made an effort to give extremely accurate answers. I have done my “duty” and the ACS is now a moot issue for me. I fully understand those of you who refuse to do it and I repeat that my fears are that Rahm Emmanuel will turn the census bureau into a frankenstein nightmare political tool if Obama gives it to him. I think we all need to realize that, with the election of a left-wing socialist as POTUS, our country has turned a corner from which we will never return. Our right to privacy and individuality will simply not be what it once was. We will all have to deal with and accept this fact in our own way. Sorry if this sounds negative to you or defeatist.
There are too many of us to prosecute and the congress doesn’t want the backlash which would result from prosecutions.
I can easily foresee the day coming soon when the American Community Survey will be come an annual MANDATORY event in our lives and there WILL be serious penalties for failing to comply that will be enforceable. If Obama succeeds in putting the census bureau under the left wing/radical Israeli citizen Rahm Emmanel then watch out folks. We have all made brave comments in these posts about how we have resisted the census people and refused to comply with the ACS questions, but how many of us are prepared to REALLY pay $5,000 to back up our position? I can also foresee many more intrusive questions being added to the ACS like “How many guns do you own? So much for the Second Amendment.