I haven't read much about this here on Kos, but we just recently started
getting harrassed by the US Census Bureau (Dept. of Commerce) about filling out this horrible "questionnaire" called
"American Community Survey." First by mail, then by phone and after doing some digging online, apparently we'll start getting knocks on our door and people quizzing our neighbors for our cell and work phone numbers.
First we got this packet in the mail from the US Census Bureau. I was like, this is odd, I thought these got done every decade? I put it to the side and figured I'd deal with it when I had to.
Then we got a follow up postcard about it a few days later.
Then a few weeks later another packet was sent in the mail as a "reminder"
.... then the phone calls started late into the evening and I was like, these brown shirts are FOR REAL! I put them off saying that I didn't divulge private information to unsolicited phone callers I didn't know personally and the other times by saying it was rude to be calling so late.
So tonight, I decided to pull out the paperwork and read through it and start filling it out.
I almost threw up.
I did some online search about this "American Community Survey" and it made me so sick to my stomach! I read through all of the materials provided in the "questionnaire" about the legalities involved and it made me more ill.
First, you get threated with $5000 fine for not "participating." Second, they say that they are using this to "combine" information gathered from other sources (so why bother me?) and then it has a disclaimer that you could be held liable for providing conflicting information - I guess they want to trip you up on IRS filings? and Thirdly the questions are totally over the top -
work schedule, school schedule, cost of home, what business you work for, if you have a home business, if so what type, at WHAT location you worked at LAST WEEK....I swear, it specifically asks LAST WEEK...what is the REASON for people staying at your address...YES! REASON for people staying at your address!!!!
So are you totally freaked out?
So then while combing the web I find all kinds of blogs and websites set up with other outraged citizens (some even saying this was a Clinton creation!) who are peacefully resisting the brown shirts and interspersed are Census Bureau employees commenting that this information is needed for companies who would like to add locations in your area and where to open new schools - a) quit trying to do it in Iraq and try the inner cities and b) my heart gushes for Wal-Mart, sorry charlie. And then I ran across a post that some of these government ACS projects are SPONSORED by outfits like the National Realtors Association.
So IMHO it's just a big scam to control every single one of us and "figure" us out so that we are all just a bunch of lab mice that the government can force feed or use as cannon fodder when desired.
My particular correspondence tugged at the Katrina heartstrings. I'm sorry, the US Census Bureau does not need to know where I worked at last week or the reason why residents at the address stay here in order to "measure the changing needs of this community" due to Katrina. All you need to do is turn on the 5 o'clock news or pick up a copy of the Times Picayune to know that New Orleans has been screwed and we are in DIRE need of any resource at all that Bush/Cheney can pry away from their corporate mafia friends.
I also searched the Dailykos community and the only thing I found was a blogger who was upset that the Census Bureau funding was possibly getting slashed and threaten the continuation of the ACS brown shirt mafia stalking American citizens.
I found out that these ACS harassments are done in waves and not at the same time in the same place. It's random samplings so that there isn't a hornets nest of outrage across the country at one time. It's done like this on purpose to diffuse an uprising of americans demanding the protection of their civil liberties. So I may be the only person on my block right now having to fend off these government psycho's gone wild and my neighbors will gladly give up my whereabouts and contact information to that sweet lady posing as a realtor - YES, there are comments on boards about census agents posing as realtors.
I also learned that the Census Bureau has not carried out any legal action/fines against citizens refusing the comply with this "questionnaire"...thank God.
I also found that, surprisingly, Bob Barr inquired into the legality of the ACS existence and tactics when he was congressman. I also found that the ONLY congressman to be raising hell about this ACS crap is Republican Congressman Ron Paul of Texas - who is actually a libertarian and quite vocal on his website about not putting up with this kind of government bullshit. Ron Paul's district is the 14th district which is around Corpus Christi along the southern Texas coast.
I also found out that basically, the idea of this crazy ACS is to REPLACE the decennial (every 10 years) Census Bureau survey to these monthly ACS deals.
This is straight from a press release by Congressman Adam Putnam (FL-12) who chairs the Subcommittee on Census
"Representatives with the public and private sectors unanimously supported replacing the long form Census, conducted once every ten years, with an annual American Community Survey to determine quality of life statistics that are used by a variety of governmental and commercial entities."
To Congressman Putnam's credit - he addressed concerns about privacy issues. He claims the goal is to eliminate redundant surveys and streamline everything with just the ACS. However, it's scary that the Subcommittee and Congress is all gungho about funding the ACS because commercial entities think this ganging up on private citizens is swell...
KIDS - the Constitution ONLY allows for the Government to quiz you on the number of people in your household every ten years for the SOLE purpose of designated congressional representation. THAT'S IT. We do not need to let them know anything about our personal habits, attributes and lifestyles - AND MUCH LESS to be harrassed via phone, mail, federal express and "personal visits".
These personal visits are what get me...if the government has so much damn time and money to waste on having someone knock on my door repeatedly to find out WHY I live here, then maybe they can make themselves useful and at least take with them the trash that the City of New Orleans can only afford to pick up once a week (and we are only allowed 2 bags per house).
If you aren't outraged, I'm probably outraged enough for all of you.
Below is my letter back to the Census Bureau with notes on who I sent copies to:
Charles Louis Kincannon
Director
US Census Bureau, US Department of Commerce
Washington, DC 20233
Dear Mr. Kincannon:
This household is in receipt of your so called "American Community Survey."
We are returning this "questionnaire" and including only the information you are authorized to collect, and this household is required to provide, per the requirements of Article I, Section 2, Clause 3 of the United States Constitution, that is, the number of persons in our household, for the purposes of proper apportionment of our US Congressional representation.
All of the other personal and private questions in the survey shall remain unanswered.
We will continue to refuse to answer these additional questions as a matter of principle, and we request that no additional phone calls or visits to this address be made by your agency or any other federal government agency attempting to collect information in violation of the US Constitution.
We respectfully decline to indulge your interest in the age, income, race, daily habits, personal schedule and private information regarding the private lives and private property of the members of this household. While we understand this agency's assertion that this information is needed for some reason deemed important by somebody, and that the information requested will be kept strictly confidential, we consider this questionnaire extremely obtrusive and unconstitutional and request that you do not misdirect further efforts by phone, person, facsimile or correspondence to gather this private information about the members of this household from anybody at this address or any other source.
In addition to submitting this written request that the privacy of this household be respected, we have also conveyed this request by phone to Mr. James Bradley at the 800 number associated with this "Community Survey."
Be advised that no matter how intensive your efforts become, nor what kind of fine, penalty, prosecution or imprisonment you may wish to threaten, we, as free American citizens, will not allow any agency of this government to demand, under penalty of law, that we disclose private and personal information about the members of my household.
We are directing copies of this letter and your "questionnaire" to our local government representatives, civic organizations and local media listed below, because it is clear that the directives compelling your agency to undertake this "survey" are not only beyond the bounds of the constitution, but this exercise to harass private citizens at their residences by mail, phone and personal visits are a gross violation of federal resources.
There are two adults living at this residence. Beyond that, please cease and desist all further efforts to gather personal and private information about the members of this household, it will not be provided.
Respectfully,
Private Citizens residing at **, New Orleans 701**
cc: Councilwoman Jacquelyn Brechtel Clarkson (504-658-1037)
State Representative Jeffrey Arnold (504-393-5809)
State Senator Senator Francis C. Heitmeier (225-342-8336)
Senator Mary Landrieu (202-224-9735)
Senator David Vitter (202-228-5061)
Mayor C. Ray Nagin (504-565-6588)
Times Picayune, Bill Walsh (202-296-9537)
Gambit Weekly, Clancy DuBos (504-830-3459)
Steven Shapiro, Esq. (212-549-2651)
Subcommittee on Federalism and the Census, US Congress (202-225-4960)
So what's even crazier is that while googling to write this diary, I ran across this link on CSU-Berkeley's site...it looks like a call center script, where one of the refusal responses is actually "called congressman"
http://csa.berkeley.edu:7502/...
So folks, it's a fire drill in here on Kos every ten seconds to generate outrage of every stunt that the Bush regime tries to pull. You know the drill. This is a participatory democracy, so if you are outraged, you know what to do and who to contact and let your voice be heard...and if you don't want to have your personal lives manipulated and catalogued by the government...then it's up to you how you protect it.