August 11, 2010, - 12:19 pm
Will They Refund the Census Excess? Dream On
While most of you long ago turned in your U.S. Census forms, several readers have contacted me about the American Community Survey (ACS), which they or relatives received. It’s a much longer, very intrusive questionnaire. And I’ve advised people to just fill out their name address and the number of residents in their house. Anything further is beyond the purview of the Census, and it would make for an interesting court challenge for the government to try to require participation in the ACS. In fact, I’d be interested in taking such a case and representing someone, should the government try to take any action to compel participation in this nosy ream of paper.
But, even with the ACS, because of techonology, enhanced use of digital tracking of Census forms, and increased voluntary participation, the U.S. Census Bureau’s costs will be $1.6 billion less than the $14.7 billion budgeted by the federal government.
So, where will the excess money go? Will they refund it to American taxpayers? Ha. Dream on. You know how the government works. Once they have your money, they never give it back. It will probably be paid to Census Director Robert Groves and his top employees in the form of bonuses. Yup, they get bonuses, while the rest of the country–the private sector–is suffering. And, don’t worry, Groves and his minions are busy building the case for even more money from the feds, citing “rising costs and advertising.” You know–the wasteful $340 million the Census Bureau spent on advertising.
More of your government tax dollars at work.
Tags: ACS, American Community Survey, Census, u.s. census
The whole program was a sham. All it did was provide another form of welfare and temporarily lower the unemployment numbers. Now what are these currently unemployed people going to do? They will just find another form of welfare to latch onto, provided by our pitiful excuse of a President.
Jarhead on August 11, 2010 at 2:03 pm