Soph the vet Posted January 5, 2010 Share Posted January 5, 2010 I've only read through the first four pages or so and already the questions seem rather intrusive. Why is it important for the federal government to know how many bathrooms we have or how many miles my dh commutes? Does anyone else have a problem with this? I am planning on sending in something to abide by the law concerning the Census but this seems over the top in so many ways. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TravelingChris Posted January 5, 2010 Share Posted January 5, 2010 It is intrusive but the information is aggragated and not linked specifically to you. It is the law that you fill it out and tell will come and bother you if you don't. The reason they ask these certain questions is for things like road planning, water planning, etc, etc. These questions are not for reapportionment. They have been authorized by Congress and there are penalties for non-compliance. Personally, I would fill it out because I wouldn't want the Census Department workers coming to visit me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlmiraGulch Posted January 5, 2010 Share Posted January 5, 2010 I certainly find these things, as a rule, to be rather intrusive. That said, I'll fill it out. I'm not sure about the bathroom question...could be some new measure of "wealth" or something for statistical purposes only. The commute question could be particularly important. That number is often used as a factor in determining allocation of federal funds for infrastructure enhancement purposes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lisa in Jax Posted January 5, 2010 Share Posted January 5, 2010 I'll fill out any/all except questions about income, b/c there isn't a "long form" census this year. 100 years from now, if there's some descendant of mine doing genealogy, the information will be important to their understanding of our lives. Skip the questions you don't want to answer, but please answer the basics, if only for your future great-great-grandchildren... :) Lisa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pippen Posted January 5, 2010 Share Posted January 5, 2010 It is intrusive but the information is aggragated and not linked specifically to you. It is the law that you fill it out and tell will come and bother you if you don't. The reason they ask these certain questions is for things like road planning, water planning, etc, etc. These questions are not for reapportionment. They have been authorized by Congress and there are penalties for non-compliance. Personally, I would fill it out because I wouldn't want the Census Department workers coming to visit me. I left some questions blank once. Soon after I returned it I got a telephone call insisting I answer the questions. Some of the questions were ridiculous (like identifying my ancestry when my father's family has been in the US since the late 1600's so any original ethnicity has been mixed many times over through the generations), but I had to answer anyways. I found it very intrusive, with many questions that I don't think were the government's business. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abreakfromlife Posted January 5, 2010 Share Posted January 5, 2010 The census is supposed to just be to determine the U.S. population. The gov't does not need all the other information. I haven't seen it yet, but I highly doubt I will fill all of it out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grace'smom Posted January 5, 2010 Share Posted January 5, 2010 I think it makes sense that they might want to know the number of bathrooms so that they can compile info on future water needs for the area... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abreakfromlife Posted January 5, 2010 Share Posted January 5, 2010 Then that would be a local city issue, not a federal government issue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TravelingChris Posted January 5, 2010 Share Posted January 5, 2010 Well you don't have to fill it out but the fine is between 100 and 5000 dollars so I would go ahead and fill it out. Take it up with your congressman if you don't like their laws. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soph the vet Posted January 5, 2010 Author Share Posted January 5, 2010 Then that would be a local city issue, not a federal government issue. Exactly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soph the vet Posted January 5, 2010 Author Share Posted January 5, 2010 Well you don't have to fill it out but the fine is between 100 and 5000 dollars so I would go ahead and fill it out. Take it up with your congressman if you don't like their laws. I'll add it to the list:lol:. I've read the Title 13 sections that they quote on the form and they give Congressional authority for the survey to be taken but I still think the language regarding it being mandatory for me to fill it out is very ambiguous. I called the Census Bureau and the gentleman I spoke with could not tell me which Federal law I would be breaking by refusing to answer the questions. I will definitely let them know how many people are in our dwelling but not much more than that. I guess I just wanted to know if I was the only rebel out there;), thanks for all your responses. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jane in NC Posted January 5, 2010 Share Posted January 5, 2010 Then that would be a local city issue, not a federal government issue. I beg to differ. Water issues often go beyond municipalities or even states. Consider this case before the US Supreme Court now. Or consider the water issue Georgia is having with Florida and Tennessee which involves the Army Corps of Engineers. Or consider the water sources for California agriculture. Water issues often go far beyond the local. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soph the vet Posted January 5, 2010 Author Share Posted January 5, 2010 I beg to differ. Water issues often go beyond municipalities or even states. Consider this case before the US Supreme Court now. Or consider the water issue Georgia is having with Florida and Tennessee which involves the Army Corps of Engineers. Or consider the water sources for California agriculture. Water issues often go far beyond the local. That's true. But for us in MN, it would be a local issue. We have 13,000 lakes and the states used as examples above may have local scarcity of water resources (like I know the largest lake in GA is man-made) and the water shortage for the San Joaquin valley has something to do with state environmental regs and the protection of smelt, right? So I don't think it is automatically a federal issue either, it can be, but it doesn't have to be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blossom'sGirl Posted January 5, 2010 Share Posted January 5, 2010 We got this last year and I really felt it was very intrusive. We actually got out of it because we have multiple families (grandparents) living on our property and we contacted the gov. to find which family was to fill out the form. We discovered that the house that they intended to send it to (on our property) is one that is no longer occupied. Apparently they have no way to input that information into their computer so we got freed. That even took 2 attempts before they quit bothering us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Diana in OR Posted January 5, 2010 Share Posted January 5, 2010 Then that would be a local city issue, not a federal government issue. Although local municipalities and water districts administer the water resources, the Fed. Govt. has *a lot* of control over water issues. There was a recent Clean Water Act that has had municipalities scrambling to update their water treatement facilities (and come up with the funds to do it). Also, one of the things the Census information does is give the Feds information that aids them in where/how to distribute funds at the local level. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sue in MN Posted January 5, 2010 Share Posted January 5, 2010 Here's a site you might find interesting. http://www.thepriceofliberty.org/greenslade.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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