2010 census

[acealive1]

Derringer? Under no circumstances should gov't employees be coming to where you live asking you anything. That's the Jehova's witnesses job! If you notice for most gov't functions you go to THEM not the other way around. witnesses were at my door last weekend right before my landlord. i hate when they come by cuz they never knock, they just wedge a book in my door frame ---------- Post added at 03:21 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:19 PM ---------- What about the ol'...

[darth los]

lol for starters, its a predominately black area.......and some really huge guy is driving a mini van....he's got a bald head and a leather vest on and he's driving REALLY slow looking at each house then a piece of paper........never saw him before......strange? YES Whoever he was keep looking. The truth is out there!

[SRP76]

"Why doesn't the government fund things properly? Why don't they know what's going on? Oh by the way, be sure to give them false information to go by". How much sense does that make?

[Terran]

"Why doesn't the government fund things properly? Why don't they know what's going on? Oh by the way, be sure to give them false information to go by". How much sense does that make? What doesn't make sense to me is that nearly all this information can already be found in our yearly Tax returns (I think all this information is in tax returns).

[SRP76]

What doesn't make sense to me is that nearly all this information can already be found in our yearly Tax returns (I think all this information is in tax returns). Most people that don't have much income don't file a tax return. Many of them work under the table. If they go uncounted, nobody's ever going to figure anything's broken, so it won't get fixed.

[AcesandEights]

Speak of the Devil! We just had the doorman call up to our office and tell us the 'census man' is here. No lie. PS--My pizza delivery guy dresses up better than the 'Census Man'. I was kind of thinking about asking him if he was holdin'. Getting stoned would be the best way to unwind whilst answering some census questions

[Terran]

Most people that don't have much income don't file a tax return. Many of them work under the table. If they go uncounted, nobody's ever going to figure anything's broken, so it won't get fixed. Pre-statement: I am no tax expert these are just my opinions and anecdotal examples. If they dont make much income that's the best reason to file a return. My younger brother got $2500 for his tax return and he made like 12,000 for the year. So since he made such little money he made Approx 21 % of his yearly wages just for filing his tax return. Under the table is a different story...but if its under the table and a low income there is strong incentive to declare the money unless you're an illegal citizen. So what I wonder is what % of people do not file a tax return and if they dont file a tax return is it likely that they would file a Census form? My opinion is it would be unlikely for a person who did not file a tax return to file their Census Form. So in that regards the Census form should provide nearly identical information for the government as the Tax returns do already. Considering that the census is a $6.5 billion dollar project I am unaware to the rationale behind continuing this program. On a side note... I found the legal penalties for Census related things. If you refuse to give out the information or you deliberately give inaccurate information, you can be in legal trouble. According to United States Code, Title 13 (Census), Chapter 7 (Offenses and Penalties), SubChapter II, if you're over 18 and refuse to answer all or part of the Census, you can be fined up to $100. If you give false answers, you're subject to a fine of up to $500. If you offer suggestions or information with the "intent to cause inaccurate enumeration of population," you are subject to a fine of up to $1,000, up to a year in prison, or both. Gah! on that last part...

[Publius]

What doesn't make sense to me is that nearly all this information can already be found in our yearly Tax returns (I think all this information is in tax returns). The government is constitutionally required to conduct an "actual enumeration" of the people every 10 years. It is not constitutionally required to collect income tax.

[acealive1]

What doesn't make sense to me is that nearly all this information can already be found in our yearly Tax returns (I think all this information is in tax returns). i file a tax return, hold a job, go for yearly check ups, i have a bank account as well. do they really not know me by now?

[wayzim]

A census taker once tried to test me. Has to be said - I ate his liver, with some Fava Beans and a nice Chianti. Still, this was about the least intrusive Census I'd ever taken. They didn't even ask about the basement full of illegals, or that stash of porn in my attic, or ... Wayne Z

[Terran]

The government is constitutionally required to conduct an "actual enumeration" of the people every 10 years. That is true Im just questioning the rationality of this constitutional requirement .... Constitutionally the government is required to conduct an "actual enumeration" of the people every 10 years. As opposed to an estimated enumeration..... (Seriously I'm not messing with you here Publius, Im just messing with this "actual constitutional rule". ) Thus far: WASHINGTON, March 24 -- U.S. Census officials Wednesday said only 16 percent of U.S. households have returned their Census forms. Despite a massive publicity campaign that includes a promise the forms take only 10 minutes to fill out, few of the 120 million households that received forms have returned them. So we have a population of about 309 million and only 120 million households have had their census forms sent to them...and out of that 120 million only 19.2 million have returned their census. This "actual enumeration" seems tedious and outdated... When they already have all this data from our tax forms. It is not constitutionally required to collect income tax. Granted... but it isnt like taxes are going away anytime soon....and I imagine the tax information is more accurate than questionnaires....Money is easier to track.... So since the federal government conducts Tax Returns which retrieve all the required population demographics this constitutionally required task has already been completed. The Census is just redundant and costly. This is what I imagine in a political cartoon sort of way: 12% of the population's Census forms are returned (since thats all that got returned to them) and this huge pile of forms goes straight into to a big paper shredder. Skip to the allocation of Congressional seats, electoral votes, and government program funding, where some official behind a computer looks up the information that has already been screened and put on record from the tax returns. The official then turns around and pockets $6.5 billion dollar. Oh an According to http://www.genealogybranches.com/censuscosts.html the census actually cost $14.5 Billion and therefore cost each tax paying american $46.93.... Damn I want my money back.

[clanglee]

I gotta ask: what vehicles are white people not supposed to be driving? ???

[Publius]

That is true Im just questioning the rationality of this constitutional requirement .... Well, it's pretty critical for congressional apportionment. As others have pointed out, not everyone is required to file a tax return, and about 15 million households in fact do not file a return, so we don't have the necessary data from tax forms. And even if we did, linking congressional apportionment to the income tax would limit our flexibility to consider alternatives to the income tax in the future, like a national sales tax or VAT.

[Danny]

??? as the voice of authority on crackers, being one myself, no, no we cannot drive that car. Conversely it seems this is the white people exclusive car

[Terran]

Well, it's pretty critical for congressional apportionment. As others have pointed out, not everyone is required to file a tax return, and about 15 million households in fact do not file a return, so we don't have the necessary data from tax forms. Yes but there are 309 million US citizens so that means we are lacking only 4% of the populations information from tax returns. It appears that there are going to be far more than 15 million not filling out their tax return. (Like I mentioned in my previous post thus far only 14% of people have returned their census forms). I looked up 2000 Census Response rate and they had a 67% Final Response Rate.http://www.census.gov/dmd/www/respon...0response.html So in comparison: Demographics from taxes: 94% complete Demographics from 2000 Census: 67% complete So: 1)The Census redundant to the information gained from taxes, and therefore 2)Wasteful in the money that is spent($14.5 Billion), 3)It is also much less accurate and complete than the information from taxes. (94% vs. 67%) And even if we did, linking congressional apportionment to the income tax would limit our flexibility to consider alternatives to the income tax in the future, like a national sales tax or VAT. Hmm....good point.... This would limit flexibility in implementing new options. I just have difficulties imagining us ever getting rid of the federal income tax. I find it more likely that we will keep the federal income tax and then in addition add a national sales tax or value added tax. Nonetheless though this is a good point, but to continue discussion in this particular avenue would take us into tax theory. We'd be sitting here debating whether some form of taxing is better than another....while all the while the government is happy with whichever one gives them the most money to toy around with.