From the Declaration of Independence: “He [the present King of Great Britain] has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our People, and eat out their substance.”
The above statement most certainly describes, with great accuracy, any number of agencies of the federal government, the Internal Revenue Service in particular. This year, it could well apply to the U.S. Census Bureau, in its campaign (what else could we call it?) to make sure that all of the people respond to the 2010 Census.
Today, I received in the mail a little postcard, with the following return address:
U.S. Department of Commerce
Economics and Statistics Administration
U.S. Census Bureau
8411 Kelso Drive
Essex, MD 21261-6666
On the front, just above the address, set apart by a rectangular box, was the the following statement: “Your response to the U.S. Census Bureau is required by law.” Oh!!!!! (Shudder!!!) Kennedy: Be afraid… be very afraid! You haven’t yet responded to the 2010 Census. They are going to get you!
On the back of the postcard is contained the following letter, dated March 22 (that’s yesterday… amazing, isn’t it, how quickly the U.S. Post Office delivers mail from the Washington, D.C. area when it is coming from the Census Bureau).
Dear Resident:
A few days ago, you should have received a request to participate in the 2010 Census. It was sent to your address as part of our effort to conduct the most accurate census possible.
It is important that you respond. If you have already provided your census information, please accept our sincere thanks. There is no need to provide your answers again. If you have not responded, please provide your information as soon as possible.
If you need help completing your questionnaire, please call 1-866-872-6868, or, para ayuda en español, llame al 1-866-928-2010. The TDD telephone number for assistance is 1-866-783-2010. Census Bureau staff are available to help you every day, between 8:00 a.m. and 9:00 p.m., 7 days a week.
Thank you.
Sincerely,
Robert M. Groves
Director, U.S. Census Bureau
Yes, I did receive the Census form. I also received a previous mailing telling me that I would be receiving a Census form. On the Census form, it asks the question: “How many people were living or staying in this house, apartment, or mobile home on April 1, 2010?” Today it is March 23. So, why am I receiving a postcard that is, in effect, admonishing me because they haven’t yet received my response? Can they not wait until the time it takes to reach them from when I mail it on April 1? I suppose I could go ahead and answer question #1 (the only question on the form that is in accordance with Article I, Section 2 of the U.S. Constitution), and send it on in with tomorrow’s mail. But, if I am to be truly honest with the U.S. Census Bureau, I am duty bound to wait until April 1. After all, there is no way for me to know today whether the answer I might give today, regarding the number of living in my house, will be accurate on April 1. Indeed, none of us can answer that question accurately. Indeed, receiving a mailing like this makes me want to dig in my heels to spite them. Let them go ahead and waste more money, created out of thin air (i.e., taxed from the future), and send me more notices.
Allow me to parse the language of these forms a little bit. We will start with the postcard. On the front, it says “Your response… is required [emphasis added] by law.” On the back, Mr. Groves says “you should have received a request [emphasis added] to participate in the 2010 Census.” So, which is it? Are we required to participate? Or is it a request to participate? Since when is a request a command? It is true that “request” can be, in certain contexts, synonymous with “demand”. But, to the average person, “request” sounds less insistent than “command” or “demand”. I also note the word “please”, which appears both on the postcard and on the Census form itself. “Please” is short for “if you please”, which presumes the right of the person being requested to refuse the request.
My point in parsing the language is to demonstrate what is clearly a passive-aggressive psychological manipulation on the part of U.S. government to persuade people to participate in the sacred Census with its myriad questions, all of which, save for one (question #1), go beyond the scope of Article I, Section 2 of the U.S. Constitution. At best, answering those questions might be seen as a voluntary act, left up to the individual to decide. At worst, those questions are a violation of Article, Section 2, which makes clear that the Census exists for enumeration purposes only. The second line of the return address on the postcard gives it away (Economics and Statistics Administration) that the Census is way beyond its constitutional authority. Clearly, the Census Bureau is playing games with us by trying to be “nice” on the one hand, using words like “request” and “please” and “help”, while showing a nastier side on the other hand by threatening non-respondents with fines (which are not mentioned on any other forms, but which can be found in the U.S. code by anyone willing to look for it). Apparently they haven’t bothered with the fines in the past. The threat of fines seems to be there more for the psychological thrill of enticing submission to government. It’s like to drug to those in power.
Personally, I would not feel any sort of threat from the U.S. Census Bureau were I to provide, for example, my name or my birth date. After all, the IRS already has this information and more. But, I think it is worth pointing out that the U.S. Census Bureau has violated the law (which requires that Census information not be made public until after 72 years) by providing information to other agencies of the government on the whereabouts of various individuals. For example, during World War II, the Census Bureau furnished information on the whereabouts of Japanese-Americans (we are speaking here of U.S. citizens), which was used to round up Japanese-Americans and lock them up in concentration camps, no doubt for “national security” reasons. This was possible be simple recognizance of Japanese surnames. Similarly, the U.S. Census Bureau provided confidential information on the whereabouts of Arab-Americans (in around 2004, I believe) to help the Department of Homeland Security (or some similar agency) look for possible “terrorists” or “terrorist sympathizers”. Knowing this, and knowing that the “War on Terror” is essentially a perpetual war that will never end (unless the people force the government to end it, or if the dollar collapses and the government simply stops working), I do not trust the Census Bureau to abide by its pledge to keep this information confidential for 72 years.
In short, all the Census Bureau needs from me, or anyone else, is the number of people “living in this house, apartment, or mobile home on April 1, 2010.” They need no other information from me, nor will they receive it. I can hardly call my stance an act of civil disobedience when the U.S. Constitution, which is, after all, the Supreme Law of the Land, makes it clear that this is all they need. And, after all, this is why question #1 is set aside in a box graphic from the other 9 questions. (And I won’t even mention the American Community Survey, which is even more egregiously beyond the scope of Article I, Section 2). The U.S. Census Bureau may well be in for shock as to how many more people are informed as to what authority it has under the Constitution, as compared with ten years ago.
