2010 Census: Officials Worry Low Response Rate Is Form Of Anti-Government Protest

[CTLawGuy]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/03/29/2010-census-officials-wor_n_516847.html

""Contrary to historical trends," the Houston Chronicle reports, "some of the toughest challenges" facing the agency responsible for carrying out the 2010 Census are not "counting the traditionally undercounted groups such as African-Americans and Latinos. Instead, a new and growing threat to an accurate national head count is coming from anti-government conservatives who may not fill out their forms to protest against 'Big Brother' in Washington."

For months, right-wing activists and politicians have been criticizing the Census and urging people not to return their census forms. (See several examples below.) The anti-census rhetoric grew so heated that three Republican congressmen publicly chastised fellow Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) last year for declaring that she would not fill out her census form.

...

But evidence suggests that some conservatives are sympathetic to the message. The Chronicle reports:

As of Friday afternoon, only 27 percent of Texas households had filled in and returned their census forms -- well below the national average of 34 percent -- according to computer data from the U.S. Census Bureau. <...>


In Texas, some of the counties with the lowest census return rates are among the state's most Republican, including Briscoe County in the Panhandle, 8 percent; King County, near Lubbock, 5 percent; Culberson County, near El Paso, 11 percent; and Newton County, in deep East Texas, 18 percent.

...

The stakes are high: census data is used to allocate billions in federal funds, divvy up new congressional districts, and assign Electoral College votes that determine a state's influence in presidential elections. Citing the Chronicle story on Monday, NBC's First Read asked, "Could Republicans' anti-government sentiments end up costing them congressional seats after the Census?"" (Bolding mine)

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:rofl: Talk about something coming back to bite you in the ass.

[Uzybone]

1. Making themselves even more irrelevant for the future

[Diamonique]

2. It works for me!

[ClarkUSA]

3. Will Michelle Bachmann backpeddle now?

I hope not. :evilgrin:

[DrToast]

8. She already did when she found out her seat was at risk (nt)

[ClarkUSA]

15. When did she do that?

Or is that a joke?

[DrToast]

20. No joke, her seat could be phased out

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/01/hmm-why-has-bachmann-stopped-bashing-the-census.php

[ClarkUSA]

21. I guess the joke's on her, eh?

Just for fun, I'm going to call her DC office tomorrow and tell her I'm a proud constituent and my family of 8 and I are not going to fill in my census because of her. Heh.

[high density]

4. That's good

Let them lose some seats.

[Inchworm]

5. It asked whether I'd still be here April 1st

The jury is still out on that :P

:hi:

[Cha]

6. That's just what I was thinking when I read

this before I got to the bottom. If they don't fill out the forms then they won't be counted and they won't be represented in Congress.

The stupid lazy fucks can just sit around all day at a teabagger and lament what could have been.

[flpoljunkie]

7. Talk about unintended consequences!

:rofl:

[MadMaddie]

9. They will reap what the have sown....no census data

no money. They want to violate the Constitution.....go for it. No money for highways, prisons, schools etc.

[Thothmes]

18. More importantly, less representation in the House

of Representatives.

[MadMaddie]

19. Tru dat~

[cally]

10. I just hope Texas and the south lose seats due to this

I find it hilarious that Republicans have fought tooth and nail requiring the expensive process of having each household fill out the forms instead of taking a representative sample. It looks like their strategy is backfiring. They wanted to make sure that underrepresented groups wouldn't be counted and instead it's their own voters. :ROFL:

[Jennicut]

11. If they lose a seat in Texas, well that is one less Rethug in Congress!

[kestrel91316]

12. Hey, if freepers and teaklanners don't WANT Congressional representatives,

who the heck am I to tell them otherwise???

:rofl: :popcorn:

[Duchess]

13. Well if I understand correctly...

This just means census workers will just have to visit homes in Texas. They will still get counted it will just cost the federal government more money to get the census done. So - as stupid as this sounds then they might just get what they want.

I might be wrong. Please correct me if I am.

[Bitwit1234]

14. Since we know the scags who won't send back the census

we know the districts - republican of course - that cease to exist. And yes know bachmann can't get the people in her district to comply. If she wins this time, her gerrymandered district will disappear before the next cenus anyway.

[struggle4progress]

16. The Census will be considerably smarter and more responsible than

these cutesy bozos could ever be.

[ElboRuum]

17. Wow. If this is true...

"moran" just isn't going to cut it anymore. How about "inbesil"?

[dickthegrouch]

22. The date says "as of April 1st"

All the radio shows I've been hearing are saying "return by April 1st". Seems like a monumental screw-up to me. If everyone is functionally illiterate, what do they expect?

If they can't understand their own instructions, I dread to think how inaccurate the results will be.

[boppers]

24. No no no. We're expected to be psychic.

We're expected to return the forms *before* April 1st, while accurately predicting household residents on that future date.

[old mark]

23. Certainly, they believe the Obama government is using the census data to list

Republican households-or white christian households or what ever your paranoia is-to compile lists of those to take to re-education camps under the European Socialist Government that Obama really wants.

Bachmann said so, so it must be true. She actually drew a parallel withthe Japanese-American internment camps in WWII and the census form in 2010...and people believe her.


mark