Google Groups no longer supports new Usenet posts or subscriptions. Historical content remains viewable.
Dismiss
House Votes To Cut Census Survey Done Since Thomas Jefferson..obviously
2 views
Skip to first unread message
Karolina Dean...Big money weave a mighty web
May 10, 2012, 8:41:37 PM5/10/12
to
The GOP now wants pre-1790s census surveys to go with their pre-1960s
health care system, pre-1930s finance laws, and pre-1900s campaigning
rules
The census just brings bad news that whites are losing their majority
status , which completely explains why republicans want to poison this
country before they fade away..
WASHINGTON –- The House voted Wednesday to eliminate the detailed
surveys of America that have been conducted by the Census Bureau since
the nation’s earliest days.
House Republicans, increasingly suspicious of the census generally,
advanced a measure to cut the American Community Survey. It passed 232
to 190.
The survey is not part of the constitutionally mandated population
count, but some version of it has been done by law as part of the
decennial survey since the time of Thomas Jefferson to assess the
needs of the nation. It’s generally considered a vital tool for
business.
Republicans, acknowledging its usefulness, attacked the survey as an
unconstitutional invasion of privacy, arguing that the government has
no business knowing how many flush toilets someone has, for instance.
“It would seem that these questions hardly fit the scope of what was
intended or required by the Constitution,” said Rep. Daniel Webster (R-
Fla.), author of the amendment.
“This survey is inappropriate for taxpayer dollars,” Webster added.
“It’s the definition of a breach of personal privacy. It’s the picture
of what's wrong in Washington, D.C. It's unconstitutional.”
The survey used to be done every 10 years, along with the census, when
1 out of 6 Americans were required to answer the so-called “long
form.” But the administration of President George W. Bush reformed the
process in 2005 to do an annual survey of 250,000 households, making
the survey more manageable, cheaper and more timely.
Democrats were perplexed by the move, which would deprive policymakers
and businesses of vast, vital troves of data that they use to make
decisions,
“The Republicans have earned a reputation as the ‘do-nothing party’
and now they want to also be the ‘know-nothing party,’ “ said Rep.
Carolyn Maloney after the vote. “This vote repeals the work done by
Presidents Clinton, Bush, and Obama and six Congresses to modernize
the census, and does so without even a hearing or full debate.”
Rep. Chaka Fattah (D-Pa.), who ran the floor debate for Democrats,
seemed especially vexed.
“We've been doing surveys in the long form since 1790 as a nation,"
Fattah said, referring to the time when Thomas Jefferson oversaw the
census. "It's critically important. The idea that we're going to leave
the greatest country in the world with less information about the
condition of communities and of our families -- and that we're going
to do that appropriately -- defies logic.”
It was one of two attacks Wednesday on the census. Earlier, the House
passed by voice vote a measure to bar the federal government from
enforcing penalties against people who refuse to fill out the longer
survey.
“I think it's important to have the information, but it's important
that people have freedom and liberty and we do not have an intrusive
federal government that would impose a fine on people if they didn't
let the information come out about whether they had a flush toilet,”
said Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa).
It is unlikely that the Senate would pass such a measure, but it also
could be attached to other legislation, as the House GOP has managed
before with measures the Senate does not like. Webster said his cut
would save $2.4 billion.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The GOP has two reasons to kill the American Community Survey:
1. It pleases the party's paranoid fringe.
2. The less we know about how Americans live, the freer their
politicians are to paint imaginary pictures of an idyllic America
where everybody is rich, there is no racism, there is no poverty,
there is no gender bias, children are all well-cared for, etc.
health care system, pre-1930s finance laws, and pre-1900s campaigning
rules
The census just brings bad news that whites are losing their majority
status , which completely explains why republicans want to poison this
country before they fade away..
WASHINGTON –- The House voted Wednesday to eliminate the detailed
surveys of America that have been conducted by the Census Bureau since
the nation’s earliest days.
House Republicans, increasingly suspicious of the census generally,
advanced a measure to cut the American Community Survey. It passed 232
to 190.
The survey is not part of the constitutionally mandated population
count, but some version of it has been done by law as part of the
decennial survey since the time of Thomas Jefferson to assess the
needs of the nation. It’s generally considered a vital tool for
business.
Republicans, acknowledging its usefulness, attacked the survey as an
unconstitutional invasion of privacy, arguing that the government has
no business knowing how many flush toilets someone has, for instance.
“It would seem that these questions hardly fit the scope of what was
intended or required by the Constitution,” said Rep. Daniel Webster (R-
Fla.), author of the amendment.
“This survey is inappropriate for taxpayer dollars,” Webster added.
“It’s the definition of a breach of personal privacy. It’s the picture
of what's wrong in Washington, D.C. It's unconstitutional.”
The survey used to be done every 10 years, along with the census, when
1 out of 6 Americans were required to answer the so-called “long
form.” But the administration of President George W. Bush reformed the
process in 2005 to do an annual survey of 250,000 households, making
the survey more manageable, cheaper and more timely.
Democrats were perplexed by the move, which would deprive policymakers
and businesses of vast, vital troves of data that they use to make
decisions,
“The Republicans have earned a reputation as the ‘do-nothing party’
and now they want to also be the ‘know-nothing party,’ “ said Rep.
Carolyn Maloney after the vote. “This vote repeals the work done by
Presidents Clinton, Bush, and Obama and six Congresses to modernize
the census, and does so without even a hearing or full debate.”
Rep. Chaka Fattah (D-Pa.), who ran the floor debate for Democrats,
seemed especially vexed.
“We've been doing surveys in the long form since 1790 as a nation,"
Fattah said, referring to the time when Thomas Jefferson oversaw the
census. "It's critically important. The idea that we're going to leave
the greatest country in the world with less information about the
condition of communities and of our families -- and that we're going
to do that appropriately -- defies logic.”
It was one of two attacks Wednesday on the census. Earlier, the House
passed by voice vote a measure to bar the federal government from
enforcing penalties against people who refuse to fill out the longer
survey.
“I think it's important to have the information, but it's important
that people have freedom and liberty and we do not have an intrusive
federal government that would impose a fine on people if they didn't
let the information come out about whether they had a flush toilet,”
said Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa).
It is unlikely that the Senate would pass such a measure, but it also
could be attached to other legislation, as the House GOP has managed
before with measures the Senate does not like. Webster said his cut
would save $2.4 billion.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The GOP has two reasons to kill the American Community Survey:
1. It pleases the party's paranoid fringe.
2. The less we know about how Americans live, the freer their
politicians are to paint imaginary pictures of an idyllic America
where everybody is rich, there is no racism, there is no poverty,
there is no gender bias, children are all well-cared for, etc.
0 new messages