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.
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718 responses to “American Community Survey”
File under: The Price of “Helping” vs The Reality of “Helping”
The data mafia clings to the notion that the ACS is necessary to help people and improve communities. That gov programs and policies, with all the attached strings and manipulations, are good for the “public welfare”.
Let’s assume, for this argument, that the goal is really to “help” people and not to increase the power and control of a totally antiquated, bloated bureaucracy run by progressive morons. So… I have my own survey for them.
What is the total cost for employee salaries, benefits, retirement?
What is the cost of training people to be gov thugs?
What is the cost of supplies, office space, utilities, etc to provide a work environment?
What is the cost of work contracted out to calling centers and other contractors, who provide materials like those malfunctioning hand-held computers?
What is the cost of printing, mailing and processing the ACS?
What is the cost of providing seminars and classes to teach supporters how to use the data?
What is the cost to do damage control, so the public isn’t told the truth?
What is the cost of grants made to supporters who use the data for research?
What is the total cost?
How many individuals are “helped”?
What is the cost/individual “helped”?
Is this the BEST method to “help” people? Or is it better for the public to keep more of their own money and to decide how best to help those in need in their own community? There is nothing that the gov can’t make worse by wasting money, time or getting involved.
Well I am one of the “lucky ones” to get the ACS as well. I got it back in August. I smell a scam. I got 2 copies. One to my real address and one to the same address but abbreviated. it is way to invasive and I am refusing to answer anything but the # of people living in the household. That’s not good enough for them. They continue to call, and now have sent someone to the house that left a form letter stating I was required to complete this.
As a victim of identity fraud, I refuse to divulge all this information. In addition, letting people know when I leave the house, any disabilities, when I get home, how many bedrooms in the house, etc only sets me up for being robbed, etc. I simply REFUSE to fill this out. I am up in arms and am not going to let them do this to me
File under: Outsourcing Responsibility
“Just a Conservative Girl” wrote Ignorance and Government Dependency and made various points which apply here too.
Giving control to the gov is giving unlimited power and control over individual lives. It results in enslavement to the whims of people you have never met and don’t understand your needs and desires, nor do they care to know. They gain unbridled power to behave as they choose, then they become addicted to that power and will do anything to maintain that power.
When a bunch of people think that they can plan better than us, decide better than us or want to control our lives better than us…. it is a formula for disaster.
I got one of these surveys to fill out and I really resent it. I’m 60 years old, never even heard of it and all of sudden I am REQUIRED to fill it out. I think it is only because I refused to give my name and my ethnic background on last years regular census. And harassment! They have called everyday sometimes more than once and at any hour for several weeks – finally I answered the phone and the women was nice in trying to get me to answer the questions over the phone until I finally told her I’m not going to fill it out. Of course she said “It is authorized by Congress” I answered look I’m not filling it out let them come arrest me if that is what they have to do. Next day (Sunday) I got the phone call from some guy – very stern voice – telling me I must call him back today. I can’t wait to see what tomorrow brings! Where is the ACLU when you need them! LOL
File under: Oh, Look the CB is shocked!
Well, what took them so long? The NYT reported recently that the CB was surprised to learn about the increasing numbers of people living paycheck to paycheck and having declining purchasing power. In other words, the current policies based upon the oh sooooo very valuable data collected by the CB has resulted in declining prosperity. The CB data collection and false interpretation of that data has resulted in producing policies which have crushed the public prosperity by creating the policies which caused the housing bubble along with the massive overspending by congress to level the playing field. Well, now that playing field, while level, is non-functional. In an effort to punish the entire society for perceived racial and economic inequality, the CB has directed the gov to making things worse for the very people it intended to help. Big gov succeeds in making bigger problems and providing no real solutions.
Want the ACS gone? Then elect individuals who support the Constitution the way it was intended to be and not what the politicians have wanted it to be.
File under: What happens when the stupid rule! Or, big gov produces small people.
“The information collected in this survey will help decide where new schools, hospitals, and fire stations are needed. The information also is used to develop programs to reduce traffic congestion, provide job training, and plan for the healthcare needs of the elderly.”
Gee, how warm and fuzzy that sounds. The gov is soooo very good at developing new do nothing money wasting programs. With all those post offices scheduled to close, there should be fewer surveys mailed or one can only hope.
So back to those roads, schools, hospitals and fire stations. Exactly how many has the federal gov actually helped to DECIDE where they are needed??? Yeah, my community waits for the feds to suggest something. Right! The day my community needs the suggestions from the CB is the day those in charge get voted out for incompetence.
File under: close enough for gov work!
A memo when out to the CB employees at a Maryland office to address concerns about employees sleeping in public places during work hours. Ted A. Johnson (acting HR director) wrote, “While at work, our behavior sends a powerful message to our customers, our colleagues and the taxpayers about who we are and what we value.”
Ya think????? We needs to pay these clowns to do what???? So all you “residents” out there, remember while you are losing sleep over privacy invasions and fine threats, know that you CB employee has no problem sleeping.
R, relax, there will be no fine, only the treat of a fine. The CB only “promises” to keep the info confidential, which means that the entire profile won’t be disclosed. If it is accidentally released, which has already happened, there are no consequences for the CB. Nor were there consequences for the CB previously lost lap tops. Any info provided will be shared with the data users. Then after 72 years, the entire profile can be released. Bottom line, the CB is not entitled to obtain this info and they know it.
I realize that I am several years behind in contributing to this conversation, but I have received the ACS recently and will be refusing to answer it. I am going to take the advice of others who posted and contact my legislators, as well as my local newspapers. I cannot afford to pay a $5,000 fine, but my discomfort at answering these questions is too great to overcome. In all honesty, I would have no problem answering most of them if my name, date of birth, and place of employment was not asked of me, as well as what time I leave my house for work.
Another issue for me is confidentiality. We are told that employees must take an oath and that is lasts “forever”. Can the Census Bureau guarantee me that a careless census worker won’t leave a laptop with my information in it in their car to be stolen? No, they cannot guarantee that because it actually did happen. I can’t remember the exact year, but it was recent. That oath means about as much to those employees as the oath on a voter registration application that says the applicant is a legal US citizen does to the illegal alien that is filling it out.
Well, well, Bo has joined us to give us all a scolding. Here is another data junkie, masquerading as a ACS recipient. People who happily fill out the survey have no need to convince others to fill out the form. The CB has no business violating the constitutional rights of the public to implement central planning.