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”
The Daily Paul – Census Bureau workers out in full force/ Ron Paul 2010, has a feature from blogger Libera Lex (fri July 23, 2010 – Principles of Statutory Construction: Title 13 the Census.) It is a good analysis and break down of the components of Title 13 and how it is being used to gain compliance for the ACS. Another BS moment for the CB.
I can’t wait to hear what happens during JoRing’s visit phase…Good for you JoRing – give ’em the Christopher Walken treatment…LOL!!!
I believe it is good advice to ignore the mailings and phone calls. The challenge comes from maintaining self-control during visits from field reps. If you are clever, like JoRing, you can toy with them to your heart’s content – that would effectively waste their resources/effectiveness. As an alternative, I believe it would be effective to quietly, calmly tell visitors that they are trespassing and must leave your property immediately or the police will be called. Then carry through with the threat to call if they do not leave immediately – be sure to tell the police/sherriff/etc that the visitor is tresspassing (having been asked to leave your property to their face) and that the visitor is creating a disturbance at your property. Moving deliberately to take photos of the rep, their vehicle/license plates, their ID/badges, etc also sounds like a very good play.
Don’t forget to notify your neighbors to ensure that they are not intimidated by the threats of fines or prosecution if they refuse to cooperate. I commited to paying any/all fines that might be levied on my neighbors for their refusal to cooperate – that is how confident I/we are about how fraudulent, disgracefully worthless and how dishonorably non-productive our marxist/socialist government has become.
Is it not obvious that term limits will resolve most of the disgraceful behavior of the federal, state and local governments??? Term limits, no (zero) pensions (except for the military which truly earns/deserves a pension) and no lifetime appointments for judges (everyone must remain accountable). It should be illegal to be a politician outside of a two year commitment – and all political/judicial assignments should be limited to two years – that is more than long enough to read about and consider the key issues of the period, draw conclusions and vote according to what is in the best interest of the majority (not the individual or minority) of the population. Some sort of draft (like with the military) coupled with a test that evaluates a basic capability to read for comprehension while drawing logical conclusions would do the trick – sadly, it is obvious that the overwhelming majority of politicians cannot seem to master these basic skill sets. Having a balanced budget and a flat tax at 10% would yield dramatic economic improvements/stimulus. I reckon that reducing the influence of lawyers and special interest groups/lobbyists would go a long way as well. What a difference it would make if everyone had to actually live under the laws that they were a part of puking out of Washington D.C.
I admire what the President of Australia said about the concern about the protests muslim groups were making there – paraphrasing, he said, “…if you don’t like Australian culture, then don’t let the door hit you on the way out…” America was, is, should remain a Judeo/Christian culture – it is what made the United States a great, powerful, blessed nation. It is a Republic that rightly based itself on the concept of separation of church and state and capitalism. Unfortunately, the muslim culture does not seem able or willing to leave religion on the sideline while considering governance. In the same vein, the marxist/socialist wackos that are growing in numbers and influence in this country just don’t get it either. So, perhaps the muslims and the socialists could share cab fare and a slow boat to China together – they can take all the homo-sexuals with ’em.
Where is the logic in allowing a homo-sexual that engages in at-risk behavior to be in combat units and combat situations where battle wounds could expose unaware soldiers, medics, aviators and hospital personnel to the risk of HIV without their knowledge? Do the health and effectiveness of the many not outweigh the liberal expectations of the few? Do the rights of the many that do not engage in at-risk behavior and their right to remain safe from exposure to HIV not outweigh the right of the homosexual to a government sponsored job? The color of a man’s skin, nor the culture of his faith will ever present risk to brother’s in arms – you cannot say the same for homo-sexuals that have engaged in at-risk behavior.
In case none of these recommended elements come into play to reverse the degradation of our great nation within the short term, it might be a good idea to ensure that you have plenty of guns and ammo ready for the civil war – as we like to say south of the Mason-Dixon Line – “…oh, it’s coming alright…!!!” If the pendulum swings so far left that it cannot be recovered, then get ready sports fans, cause it’s a comin’!!!
old mxer
I started getting the ACS back in July. They sent a couple surveys, and postal reminders, to which I ignored. In August, I received 2 phone calls. My husband answered the first one, and politely told them we do not give this kind of information out. My husband said that they acted like that was our right. A few days later, we got another call. I said that we do not give out that information via postal mail, telephone or in person. I told her I already contacted my congressman and will not participate. She asked who my congress man is, and I told her she should have access to that info, that I will not give her any info of any kind.
So, we waited. I was fully prepared to be harassed by the ACS folks. But nothing happed. I never got any more calls or a personal visit. Maybe they figured out that they will be wasting their time. Or maybe, they haven’t made it out here yet. We live in a rural area, outside of a small town. Although, that did not stop them from looking in my windows for the 10 year census. I asked her what in the world she was doing, and she said she had to look in the windows of ALL houses to make sure they weren’t abandoned before they sent the census out. (Which I filled out and sent in right away). She drove a large van with lots of rust and no muffler. No census marking. I guess she did that for everyone, according to the neighborhood. (Not a good idea for census bureau personal safety, if you ask me!)
So, I think I am in the clear. I can only hope. Thanks to this forum and all who posted.
I googled the number and it appears to be a private residence. I was, however, able to discern that the individual worked for the CB. I guess they let them work from home to get a response. By the way, they don’t care what time of day or night they call – even after 9 at night!
I had a bunch of strange calls during my CB harassment. I also got a postal survey a month after my 90 days were up. Google for the phone number and see what you get. They may be the CB or people taking polls for the up coming election. As landlines disappear, there are fewer numbers for the pollsters and telemarketers to call.
It can get annoying to get the strange calls. I would ignore those calls and they too should go away. I kept a log of the phone numbers I got with the dates and times called. Some of the calls I thought might have been from people working at a local CB office.
Sit tight, It does end.
A question for those of you who have received calls from the CB —
In the beginning, the caller ID would indicate Census Bureau. The calls stopped, the visits started (and escalated to a supervisor visit) then no more visits. Now I am getting calls from a person (their name is on my caller ID) who says to call them, but leaves no details. (yes, this harassment has left me paranoid).
Has anybody gotten CB calls from an individual (as listed on caller ID) and later found it to be the CB?
I won’t pay the fine. I’m settled with the idea to go to jail for that if they made me. They’ll have to feed me three meals a day instead of only two like I currently have out here; if not I’ll complain. They’ll have to chauffeur me back and forth to court with the police escort. I won’t mind the cameras and the reporters, the more the better. That’ll be a vacation for me. Also, I’ll tell all the jail mates about the ACS. I’ll write a diary and make a movie, and I hope all of you will be my fans.
We are 2 older citizens in Northern WI, who are being harassed with 17 phone calls, 3 visits, a letter via Fed EX and now another visit from these folks. I thank you for this site. It really has helped us in dealing with this stress in the rural area. Thank you. We will stick to our guns and not respond, fine, jail or whatever they want to do with us old folks. It is a matter of principle and privacy.
File under : what happens to the ACS info.
The CB wants you to believe that your stuff will remain private. WRONG!!!! Title 13 is a promise to keep your info confidential, not a guarantee that it will. In fact it won’t. The whole point is to divide up the info bit by bit. They say your info is protected because they don’t release the WHOLE profile. Any info released by accident is not punished under title 13, only a deliberate release qualifies for the fine.
So what happens? The CB releases the info in an aggregate form. The answers to questions are separated and released. How many grandparents parenting grandchildren; how many wealthy households with long commutes; how many families of 4 with a child of each gender; number of a specified race; how many elderly; how many disabled, etc.
The CB can release addresses by income, names with ages etc. I found a marketing company which had household income by block within a zipcode. These companies get paid to sell the your info. In fact, there is so much info out there on all of us that it only takes 6 data points to reconstruct an entire survey of questions and the CB knows that.
How do you feel about dropping a completed ACS in to a mail box? Do you do that with your taxes? Most people register their mail going to the IRS. The ACS has more in it than what goes to the IRS. Your address is connected to your health, spending habits, lifestyle choices, occupation and who you may or may not have living with you. The gov wants this to redistribute money which they took from you and now want you to buy it back from them with your info while they sell it to anyone who will buy it from them.
There is NO LAW which requires you to read your mail, answer your phone or open your door. Notice that the CB doesn’t mail the ACS by certified mail. And if it did you could refuse delivery.
Original poster: KEEP YOUR PERSONAL INFO PRIVATE PEOPLE…STOP ACS NOW!
Re: OMB control number 0607-0810 listed on Form ACS-1, 2010 (American Community Survey) as active or lapsed, visit
AND
For Notice of Office of Management and Budget Action in this matter, visit.
Upon reviewing this information, it appears that Form ACS-1, 2010 Census Bureau (ACS) survey is in “active” status and has not lapsed or expired as currently rumored on the Internet.