Chris Graham: American Community What?
Ever heard of the American Community Survey? I hadn’t either, until I got the first of two threatening letters in the mail from the Census Bureau.
“You are required by U.S. law to respond to this survey,” the letter read, as did its followup.
“This survey” is a 28-page survey that took me about a half-hour to fill out when I finally decided that it would be better for me to fill it out than risk whatever penalty of law would come down upon me.
That decision came after the second letter and some research that indicated to me that the worst I would face for not sending the survey back in was a run of phone calls from a Census flunky and maybe a doorstep visit or two.
My first instinct was to say out loud: “I’ll take care of this bullshit. I don’t have to fill out anything I don’t want to. This is still America.”
Turns out it’s not, and in fact you do have to fill out the survey, and so it is that I told the federal government that I indeed have running water. And that, among other things, I am an employee of an independently owned for-profit business.
What I’m sure will get me a phone call or visit from the Census was my insistence at answering the questions about what county I live in by scribbling “none; Virginia has independent cities.” We’re the only state in the Union that has independent cities; I don’t expect the $10-an-hour bureaucrats who will mark up my survey to get that right off.
Whatever.
I hate to pass on bad advice, but I think I will here – if you have the misfortune to get one of these surveys in the mail, damn, just fill it out.
And then send me an e-mail (freepress2@ntelos.net). We ought to create a Facebook group to get Congress to stop this monumental waste of time from being perpetuated any further.
In the meantime, you can watch me fill out the stupid thing. Hope you have more fun than I did with the pen and paper.
Column by Chris Graham. More from Chris at TheWorldAccordingToChrisGraham.com.
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How do local governments know when to anticipate a new school? Know when a hospital or firehouse or even when a road is needed? How do you anticipate water needs? How do businesses know when or where to put stores? It all comes from data generated by these government surveys. Statistics are important to a functional society — just read James Madison’s writings to Congress right after the ratification of the Constitution. Your ignorance is quite appalling.
Um, well, your acquiescence to bureaucractic authority is appalling. For me, I don’t mind the data-mining. I get that. It’s an information age. I do mind the heavy-handed approach to the mining with the threat of criminal sanction. I would think that anyone would mind that. Including James Madison. (Or maybe I misunderstood the Revolution.)
The census is by no means science. Further, statistics can’t create fiat currency. Meaning, that if it turns out, yes a school is needed, the survey doesn’t supply the money for the school or the revenue.
Lets imagine, that the city or any city had to rely on a Federal Government survey to get things done. Who would really knows more about a local government, local people, or a federal government survey team?
Let’s not be lax with our privacy. This is of course, the land of personal property.
How do you know when you need to go to bed? How do you know you really need to eat? How do you know you are really who you say you are? How do you know you are paying enough taxes?
Federal Income Taxes. When ronald reagon was elected president, he had a team do a study. That study measured how much of the Federal Income Tax collected actually went to government services. In 1980 this panel revealed that 100% of the Federal Income Tax collected, was absorbed on the debt we owe the private group known as the Federal Reserve.
Government is not reason. And if you haven’t figured it out, they create ways to create their value, even if they have to make it up completely. Like American Community Survey or Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America or Department of Homeland Security.
The idea that local government, local schools, local housing, and other intricacies of local government could not exist or function without filling out a federal government questionnaire, is ignorant. The idea behind the federal government in its inception was to be very, very limited.
We had a survey in America, the majority wanted to end one of the Illegal wars. Turns out, the survey, or voting didn’t really matter. The government does what it wants regardless of party or majority.
The government is not reason. And as an American, defined by our ancestors, question the government, hold them accountable, because the founding fathers knew that government power, unchecked power, is inherent to corruption.
I dont spell check and the grammar is terrible, but the idea is expressed.
Wait, wasn’t the ACS the data source that I used to come up with mean income by education level statistics for Waynesboro that I once posted in these comments?
In my experience, the Census Bureau is a fairly well intentioned, if somewhat incompetent, agency. They are literally about the last of the government’s priorities, which explains why they just recently moved from a decrepit building that originally housed a World War II-era hospital. So, yeah, they could probably get someone to write a more artful letter, but that’s probably one of their lesser needs.
Oh, and the ACS replaced the long form of the Census, so they’ve just moved around when people are occasionally required to answer certain questions.
When ronald reagon was elected president, he had a team do a study. That study measured how much of the Federal Income Tax collected actually went to government services. In 1980 this panel revealed that 100% of the Federal Income Tax collected, was absorbed on the debt we owe the private group known as the Federal Reserve.
***
Huh? Perhaps you should actually look at the data that the Census Bureau provides, which completely contradicts this statements:
http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/cats/federal_govt_finances_employment/federal_budget–receipts_outlays_and_debt.html
To clarify my remarks on 100% of the Federal Income Tax being solely absorbed by the debt of the government, was specific to personal income tax.
This reagan panel was called the grace commission, headed by Peter Grace.
“With two-thirds of everyone’s personal income taxes wasted or not collected, 100 percent of what is collected is absorbed solely by interest on the Federal debt and by Federal Government contributions to transfer payments. In other words, all individual income tax revenues are gone before one nickel is spent on the services which taxpayers expect from their Government.”
http://www.uhuh.com/taxstuff/gracecom.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Grace_Commission
Geez, Citizen Graham, you sound like a whiny old Tea Bagger with your cargo shorts in a twist. The Census Bureau collects data to help the government make informed decisions about resource allocation, among other things. Unless you prefer ignorance as a foundation for policy decisions.
You might have spent some time researching what the ACS data are used for rather than complaining it took a whole half hour of your time. That is little enough to ask for the privelege of living in the greatest nation in the world.
I can’t think you looked into this much as you didn’t even know the penalty for refusing to fill out the form: $100 fine for refusing (and $500 fine for false answers).
Next time you get one, call me and I will fill it out for you.
The Constitution authorizes a count of the people in order to determine the number of congressman per state. That’s it.
The ACS goes way beyond that. It should be ignored.
And to all the sheeple that blindly get in the cattle car and do what you are told, without thinking, I suggest you look at history. The Rossevelt administration used the 1940′s census — you know all the “confidential” information — to round up Japanese Americans (and German Americans, and Italian Americans) and put them in internment camps.
History repeats. Wake up people.
Roosevelt.
The American Community Survey is a research tool to collect self-reported data, using human subjects in attempt to create useful information for other agencies. To force recipients of the survey through the use of threats of prosecution and fines is highly unethical and can actually compromise the scientific validity of the data set.
I am a scientist and regularly conduct research involving human subjects. I abide by the code of federal regulations for the protection of human subjects (CFR Title 45 Part 46).
Following the Second World War and the Tuskegee Syphilis Study, the Nuremburg code was created following horrific accounts regarding treatment to human subjects of research studies. This code was created as a guideline for the ethical and humane treatment of human subjects in research. A Document entitled the “Belmont report” was created in addition to the Nuremburg code in the 1970s to further expand on treatment of human subject in research. The Code of Federal Regulations, Title 45 Part 46: Protection of Human Subjects now covers treatment of humans in research and any work contracted under the US government must comply. This is a federal regulation, not a voluntary suggested practice.
Subpart A, section 46.101 (To what does this policy apply), paragraph A, 1 states: “Research that is conducted or supported by a federal department or agency, whether or not it is regulated as defined in §46.102(e), must comply with all sections of this policy.”
Subpart A, Section 46.116 (General requirements for informed consent) paragraph 8 states: “A statement that participation is voluntary, refusal to participate will involve no penalty or loss of benefits to which the subject is otherwise entitled, and the subject may discontinue participation at any time without penalty or loss of benefits to which the subject is otherwise entitled.”
The American Community Survey uses threats of prosecution and fines to coerce participation in this survey. It is a participant’s right under the context of humane research ethics to choose whether or not to participate. By using threats and fines, the ACS not only violates ethics in research, but also seems to clearly violate the federal regulations designed to prevent this sort of activity.
I am not sure how conduct of the ACS survey passed a review board to begin with. There is also a congressional Bill (H.R.3131) to get this overturned via a vote. This is a violation of a person’s right to choose not to participate in research. That is one of the fundamental reasons the Nuremburg code was created to begin with.
If you wish to view these documents, you can find them on the national institutes of health; dept of human subjects at http://ohsr.od.nih.gov/guidelines/index.html .
It is anyone’s right to refuse to partake in any subjective survey if they wish.
Thank you.
Uhg, got one of these in the mail last week. (Actually I got a post card as well as two envelopes of information on it). I wouldn’t mind it so much except that rather than getting the paper version of the form, I was given a number to go online and enter then fill it out through an online survey. I have high speed internet that I never have issues with but with the census website, each question took about 2 minutes to load. With about 47 questions (not including the a, b, c, d, etc. on some of them) that definitely adds up to over “38 minutes of my time”. I’d wait forever while at the bottom of my page it said “communicating with census.gov……”
Awful.
Got the first one on Dec. 1st. I thought it was some kind of a joke. I wouldn’t even give my priest all that info they want. Pitched it in the garbage. Got the 2nd one a week ago, again pitched it. Now, the nasty phone calls are starting. This is a f@*king JOKE! I already filled out the census for 2010 that’s all they get from me. They are violating SO many rights to privacy laws! I WILL NOT fill this thing out!
Also, to all you f@#king sheep that say “just fill it out”, we get goodies from the gubmint! Here’s a great big FU! to YOU! I suggest you read 1984 and objectively ask yourself how much of that book is real now? I also found out most of the OBAMA CRAZIES are behind this shit! ACORN and SEIU to name two.
I’m not going to have some PUNK fresh out of some shithole college telling me I have to tell them how much I make or what source of income I have! F@#king REGODAMNdiculous! Throw it in the garbage and resist this BS!