Some of you may recall my response to the Census Bureau
Funny thing is, Census workers haven't come around to find out what I really have to say. But they sure don't have a problem with badgering large homeschool families who've already filled out the Census, making them answer the questions all over again.
Here's an email conversation Mrs. Snarky Basterd came by today (names removed for privacy):
Next census[As I've mentioned before....
I won't bother spending an hour filling out the paperwork - they came anyway and had to fill out everything all over again for 11 people. What a waste of my time and government money.
EMAIL WRITER #1
RE: Next census
They called me after I filled the whole thing out and sent it back immediately. They called me up and hassled me *unbelievably* about it - asking not only all of the questions again but about 20 questions PER PERSON on our Census [like "for any part of the year did this person live in a retirement home?" yes/no "for any part of the year did this person live in a federal prison?" yes/no and on and on over and over for each kid. And then "What is your relationship to this person? Spouse, biological parent, adoptive parent, etc etc etc?] FOR EACH child after I already told her I was a single mother living alone with my 6 biological children. She told me it was punishable by law and illegal for me not to answer each and every question ad nauseum, which I believe is a lie.
Anyway, just saying I'm right there with you on hating the Census. bleh.
EMAIL WRITER #2
After seeing my own Census package, I took out the worn, dog-eared copy of the Constitution I've been carrying around in my jacket pocket for the past 10 years and, turning to the first page, under Article 1, Section 2, read the entire amount of the information I am "REQUIRED BY LAW," according to the Founders, to provide to the federal government:
Representatives and direct Taxes shall be apportioned among the several States which may be included within this Union, according to their respective Numbers ...In other words, you are required to tell the federal government how many people live in your house but ... not their names, not their race, not the kind of home you live in, not when you moved there, not "the actual sales of all agricultural products from this property," not what kind of fuel heats your home, not how many vehicles you own, not how much you spent on water or heat during the past 12 months, not how much your mortgage payment is, not how well you speak English, not what kind of health insurance you have, not if you are deaf or can't dress yourself or if you piss in an outhouse because you don't have running plumbing.
Not. One. Word. Of. It.
The email exchange continues...]
RE: Next census[The Census workers probably wanted to find out how many family members they could get to sign up for welfare: "40 million individuals in the U.S. now receive food stamps, the highest figure in American history. The cost: a startling $73 billion a year. Fans of the welfare state and Democrats -- but I repeat myself -- claim that the economy is to blame. While that's no doubt a factor, the uncomfortable truth is that the Obama administration seems bound and determined to get as many households as possible addicted to food stamps."]
My worker was nice enough - she said she'd take it home and fill out all the rest of the family and all the rest of the blocks - but yes, she said they'd keep coming until it was filled out. I'm sorry they threatened you - I simply don't believe they have a right to all that info - whether biological or adopted or whatever or ethnic background - I don't see the Founding Fathers caring what race people are - at least in regards to threatening them. She will probably spend about 30 more minutes filling mine out.
EMAIL WRITER #1
RE: Next census[That's what happens in a country where private pay shrinks and government jobs balloon and the average American becomes an indentured servant to bureaucracy. Maybe if they'd done like me, sending the Census back with only one question completed -- the number of people who live at my address -- they could have saved themselves all this trouble.]
They came here too EMAIL WRITER #1 - good thing (depending how you look at it) - is that my husband never did fill ours out! They ended up getting their info anyways.
EMAIL WRITER #3
RE: Next census
She said everyone she talked to had said they sent theirs in - I heard from a number of people who have big families that they came to their homes anyway since they had so many kids.
EMAIL WRITER #1
And then you have this situation where the Census hasn't even found a family, even though they have two separate addresses:
RE: Next census
I'm sorry, but I find it offensive that they make a distinction between being an adoptive parent or biological parent to a child. What difference does that make when they are all your children! I wonder if they are adopted if they ask if you adopted domestically or internationally. I guess I would probably get thrown in jail because I would tell them it makes no difference to me, so if they want to know, they can look it up!
Because we are renting our house out in ___, we weren't sure which census to fill out. We never received one here because it probably got forwarded to the homeowner. I am not sure if they appeared at our house in ___. Anyway, they haven't tracked us down yet, so next time you hear from me, it might be from a jail cell! LOL
EMAIL WRITER #4
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