Friday, April 9, 2010

Census...."possible DEBACLES"? SURPRISE!

The Census is concerned........having a little trouble there, are they?
Read THIS!! Here, in italics, are a few choice paragraphs from the link:

WASHINGTON – As the U.S. census nears its final stages, the government is preparing for possible debacles that could derail its $15 billion head count, from mass identity theft and lawsuits to homeowners who refuse to answer their doors..... "Considering the volume of data that the Bureau of Census gathers during the census, some loss of confidential data is bound to occur," one document bluntly states. Citing past missteps, such as the loss of work laptops by census employees in 2006, it details a rapid-response effort that includes notification of authorities, if appropriate, as well as free credit monitoring for potential identity theft victims.

One document says the "No. 1 concern" could be a refusal by immigrants to participate.

Placing a cap on costs if immigrants try to evade the count, the response plan notes that a census worker will attempt to visit a home six times at most — or fewer, if a resident makes clear he won't cooperate — before the worker questions neighbors to get the information. If that fails, the Census Bureau will statistically impute data based on characteristics of neighboring households.

HERE IS MY FAVORITE PARAGRAPH:
Another risk being monitored by the Census Bureau is the possibility of a conservative boycott following recent rhetoric, including one blogger's threat to pull out a shotgun to scare away census workers (Z: A BLOGGER? OH, THOSE DARNED CONSERVATIVE BLOGGERS WITH ALL THOSE SHOTGUNS!). The White House condemned the remarks Tuesday, and the bureau said it remains on the lookout for signs of a boycott or other trouble. Conservatives who refuse to participate may also be counted by way of neighbor questioning or statistical imputation.

Anybody heard of the STASI? (no, I do not think the 700,000 census workers will be like the Stasi but it sure does give you pause...or should) Here's more:

Currently, the mail participation rate for the 2010 census is 63 percent, and officials remain cautiously optimistic they will be able to match, if not top, the 2000 mail-back rate of 72 percent by the time the Census Bureau winds down its mail-in operation in late April. From May to July, census takers are sent to homes that do not mail back forms.

Have any of you received the postcards about making SURE you sent your form in? I got one announcing it's coming, then got the form, then got one asking if I got it...A friend got THREE asking if she'd got hers. Can you imagine how much that costs?

Well, as my form announcing its coming said.......we need that census for us to get our "Fair Share". FAIR SHARE..............imagine? Got to get that government money, folks! GeeeeeZ

Will they be knocking on YOUR DOOR?

z

22 comments:

elmers brother said...

sent in the first mailing, then got a warning saying this was my last chance. My guess is some schlub postal worker lost it the first time. I just threw the second one away. If they come to my door I'll just tell them to ask the postal service where it's at.

Chuck said...

Z, what has this administration touched and not screwed up.

Always On Watch said...

Have any of you received the postcards about making SURE you sent your form in? I got one announcing it's coming, then got the form, then got one asking if I got it...

Yep.

I filled out the census form right away and got the follow-up post card weeks later!

One document says the "No. 1 concern" could be a refusal by immigrants to participate.

Same for the 2000 census.

Z said...

Chuck, it's kind of scary, isn't it.

Elbro...let us know what happens!!

Always...there is no more objectivity when it comes to getting those illegals to vote for Democrats

Anonymous said...

I told you last time that mine was the short form...it was actually the long form. It came over Spring Break and I was honestly too busy to deal with it. It got thrown away.

oops.

Miss T.C. Shore said...

My dad says that he reported ten extra family members. He wants more representation from our very conservative district.

Miss T.C. Shore said...

I should add that I doubt he really did that. He's one to kid about that kind of thing.

FrogBurger said...

The debacle is the 650,000 employees hired at 17 bucks an hour.

Anonymous said...

I feel so slighted.
So far, no census letters, no forms have shown up here in my neighborhood.

Guess we don't count, among the bitter , clinging gun toting hillbillies.

We're too busy being backwards , some say.

WVDOTTR

Anonymous said...

I got three postcards, and the sort form. I sent it in, about a week later. Since the Census Bureau referred to April 1st in the past tense, and it was still March, I figured, why hurry? They don't even know what month it is!

Will they knock on my door? Maybe. I didn't answer every single question, but I did answer what the Constitution requires, which is how many are living at my residence and a bit more, but not everything.

Since counting bodies is the main objective, and required by the Constitution, a postcard with the following question would have sufficed: How many persons are living at this residence?

I venture to guess that the reponse would probably have been in the 90% range, maybe more.

If the government, as is said in the article, is questioning their ability to handle the payroll of 600,000 census workers, how would they meet the healthcare needs of 300,000,000 people? They won't!


Pris

Anonymous said...

I filled out the whole thing. It struck me as strange that they asked for race but not sex.

tio

Anonymous said...

tio, they did ask for sex...er..gender.

The census is the wrong place to ask for sex I think!

Sorry, I couldn't resist.

Pris

Z said...

I think they did, too

Anonymous said...

WVDOTTR, You are the second person I know who has received nothing from the government about the census so far. The other is over in Delaware.

I think I wrote this before, but so far this is the first time in the forty years I've been aware of this thing that no one has knocked on my door.

All I got was a simple form with TEN questions. I didn't find them intrusive or offensive, though I thought the ones on race are STUPID. I did get a post card announcing the arrival of the form, and a week after I got the form I received another post card urging me to fill out the form and send it back.

I waited till the last day before it was due to send it back. I refused to give them my phone number.

I wonder what else might happen? I don't expect any trouble, but who knows?

Let me repeat this is the FIRST TIME in four censuses that NO ONE HAS COME TO MY DOOR. If you want to know thee truth, they were far more intrusive in 1990.

~ FreeThinke

Mona said...

I filled out how many people lived in our home. Crossed out everything else and wrote "unconstitutional" and mailed it in. Their job is to count heads...period. If any census workers show up here my children have been told not to answer any questions and to ask them to leave.

norwegianwood said...

I got the first notice that it was coming--ticked me off--then I got the form, which states clearly, although on the reverse center section, that ONLY the portion with the form ID number is required by law to be filled out...that was like four questions..okay, filled those out, sent it in..then I got the stupid post card and about blew a gasket.PLUS the tv and radio ads? How the heck much is it costing Just for that? The census was NEVER intended for this bs...JUST to make sure we had our 'fair' representation in the congress, that's it! Boy has that turned into a JOKE.

Hey Z...it's been awhile since I been around. Sorry. I'm in school right now and a bit distracted. I am going to be in DC from April 14th-18th for the Fair Tax! I have appts with Sessions, Shelby and Austria! Are you going to be there with the tea partiers? I'd love to meet up! Same with anyone else here who might remember me. : )
Also...I need to talk with you about how to set up a blog...if you can help me with that.
Hope Easter and all went well. Hope you are getting along okay. ((hugs))

Pati

Anonymous said...

PATI,

It's FreeThinke from FPM.

We used to email all the time, then you DISAPPEARED.

Have missed you. Are you still living where you were living last time we exchanged emails?

I think you will remember who I am -- the guy with all the EYE troubles. Still have 'em, but am getting along. Amazing what you can learn to live with when you have to.

Anyway, would love to hear from you.

Hope all is well with you and yours?

~ FreeThinke

Z said...

Pati, this is positively SCARY. And you'll think WHAT GUFF but, JUST TODAY, I thought of you and wondered how you were doing. THIS EVENING, I did. How bizarre is that?
And, I was thinking of the Fair Tax because I watched a little of Huckabee and he's all for it.
He was trying to help people understand the diff. between VAT and Fair Tax, which I found a tad insulting as they're SO different, but maybe some people just don't follow this stuff like we do! Anyway, I hope it helped those who were struggling, but...

SO glad to hear you're doing well and going to school!

Today's the sixth anniversary of Mr. Z's death and it's been a VERY VERY hard day. Your subconscious remembers even when your conscious doesn't...it's the weirdest thing.

I never knew you could miss anybody this much. But, HIM? ya...I guess it makes sense. He was an AMAZING MAN.

norwegianwood said...

If the email I have for you is still good..check your email Free Thinker. : )

OF course, I remember you!

Pati

norwegianwood said...

Z...I wish my arms were longer or that I lived closer. NO...it would not compete with Mr.Z..that's for certain...but, it might still be able to provide more comfort than text on page. I wish you were going to be in DC. I would love to get to meet up with you..maybe next time I come out to the west coast? Scott might be retiring next summer and we'll be doing a trip west, perhaps to settle in WA with his father who has some health issues and is alone...but, that means leaving my kids who say they will not leave OH...:(

I think that kind of 'scary' is a 'good' kind of 'scary'...I LOVE that we were somehow 'on the same wave length'! How AMAZING God is.

On the FT..yeah..when I heard Beck MISREPRESENT it the other day, I wanted to reach through the tv and smack him in the head. AND...HE was out there talking about supporting a VAT for a few weeks and then became suddenly silent and then FOR the flat tax...so, if there are misconceptions, I would say he is not helping in that arena. Arg...I like some of what he has to say, and I wouldn't mind if he said he didn't like it because of x, y, or z and the x, y, and z were ACTUALLY accurate assessments of it. But you don't misrepresent it and then argue against the misrepresentation! That's disingenuous at the best and outright dishonest at the worst. anyway...sorry, this thread is supposed to be about the census.

is your email the same? I'll do that in future...

xxx
P

Anonymous said...

Hi Pati,
Long time no see. I've missed you, and wondered where you've been. Hope you drop by here more often, but it's easy for time to slide by when your plate is so full.

All the best to you and your endeavors. Please don't be a stranger.

Pris

norwegianwood said...

Pris...hello!
How are you? I have missed all of you guys here as well!

Are you going to DC for the tea or the Fair Tax? I keep trying to find more people, not just for the support of either, but for a chance to meet up in person. lol

I hope all is well with you and yours and I will definitely try harder to do a better job at staying in touch here!

xx
P