Centrist Pundits

Let me state that part of me would love to see Michelle Bachmann run for the governor of Minnesota, if only because it would be amusing to see what craziness could spew from her crazyhole by the time it was over and done with.  Of course, I don’t live in Minnesota, which means I wouldn’t be punished directly by being forced to live there if she somehow happened to win.  I honestly believe most politicians, good or bad, even if they are corrupt, aren’t actually crazy, but there’s a few that I believe otherwise.  I’m not a medical doctor, but sometimes, things just strike you as odd.

But none of that is here or there.  Sometimes, you just have to correct something.  I think Bachmann’s recent statements on the census have been widely played, and widely ridiculed, but I’m not sure that many people have just pointed out, precisely, where she’s wrong.  She stated that the census asks lots of private and personal questions, like income and commute time, and that she’s only going to fill out the constitutionally mandated question of how many people live in her home.  After all, she indicated, the census was used to round up Japanese-Americans in World War 2.  She also encouraged people to visit the census website and see if they are comfortable with the questions asked.

So here it is:  http://2010.census.gov/2010census/pdf/2010_Questionnaire_Info_Copy.pdf

That’s the questionnaire that you and I and everyone are going to get.  It’s a bit long, I admit, but that’s because it asks the same basic 7 questions of up to 12 people, plus a couple more about the house hold.  Those questions:

How many people live in your home most of the time?

How many are there on April 1^st, 2010 who don’t live there most of the time?

House or apartment?

Phone number?

And then, for each person in the home, 7 questions: name, gender, date of birth, race, Hispanic or not, do you sometimes live somewhere else, and are you related to the others in your home.

Nothing about income.  Nothing about commute time.  I don’t like giving my phone number out, but its needed for clarification.  I don’t consider any of that particularly personal, I consider it used for identification.  And hey, even if I were a conspiracy nut, I’d be fairly sure the government had all that info from birth, filed with the social security administration.

Further, the constitution merely says the census will be done according to law passed by Congress.  It definitely does not say Bachmann has a right to only give how many people live in her home.  And while I won’t guarantee that the government won’t come in the middle of the night for Bachmann, I will guarantee that she falls in to a class that is unlikely to be rounded up en masse any time soon, privileged white folks.  No, if the government comes for her, it will be because she’s proved a threat to herself or others by saying dumbass things.

There’s lots of legitimate debate to be had about how the census is done, whether sampling is to be used, whether there is archaic language about it in the constitution or the law, whether using race to create Congressional districts is wise, and so on.  But whether or not to even fill it out isn’t one of them.  I’m very specifically not calling Bachmann crazy, but I am saying that’s the kind of thing that, when said, sounds crazy.

JC National Politics, Personalities Bachmann, census, privacy

CNN is reporting that Senator Gregg is removing his name from consideration for Secretary of Commerce.

I wonder if Obama will now name a Democrat, and drop his plans to bring the Census under the control of the White House?

If he does, then we’ll know that Obama was always trying to play politics with the Census, and that’s not a good start for him.

I think that the President would do well to name another Republican to show it’s not politics involved… but I am not holding my breath.

Greg National Politics, Political Parties census, commerce, gregg

It seems that President Obama may have decided to take the Census Bureau out of the Department of Commerce and make it part of the White House. If so, I think we can point to today being the first complete blunder of his administration.

The speculation is that this is due to concerns among Congressional Democrats about Obama’s pick of Judd Gregg, a Republican, to head up Commerce — and some fear that could allow him to manipulate the results.

Because he’s got a #2 pencil and time to mess with a hundred million forms.

Anyway, if these stories are true, Obama has managed to violate the constitution less than a month into office. This might be a new record. Let’s take a moment to talk about the census, shall we?

The census is required by Article I, Section 2 of the Constitution. The specific language states:

The actual Enumeration shall be made within three Years after the first Meeting of the Congress of the United States, and within every subsequent Term of ten Years, in such Manner as they shall by Law direct.

OK, well, it’s pretty clear here that Congress gets to decide how the Census is run. Let’s see what they’ve said on the matter… like in 13 USC 2:

The Bureau is continued as an agency within, and under the jurisdiction of, the Department of Commerce.

It seems to me that only the US Congress can move the Census out of the Department of Commerce — and they haven’t done that. I fervently hope that President Obama isn’t doing an end-run around the Consitution to place the control of the Census un the hands of Rahm Emanuel.

Greg National Politics census, obama