Obama’s politicized, profligate U.S. census
My syndicated column today responds to Karl Rove’s latest Census PSA and spreads the word about what census workers have been e-mailing me about their politicized, profligate jobs.
On a related note: D.C. Leader Calls on Illegal Immigrants to Fill Out Census for Taxpayer-Funded Resources.
Stoking the “I want mine” culture of entitlement on your dime.
No, this is not what the Founders intended.
***
True Confessions from America’s Census Workers
by Michelle Malkin
Creators Syndicate
Copyright 2010
President Obama’s politicized, profligate U.S. census drive is so desperate for positive press that it has now recruited former Bush senior adviser Karl Rove to do public service announcements. Rove pleads on video: “Please answer the 10 easy questions. They’re almost the same ones Madison helped write for the first census back in 1790.” Message: If you don’t join the census bandwagon, James Madison will have lost!
Sorry, Mr. Rove. Playing the Founding Fathers card isn’t going to quell conservative criticism of how the Obama administration has exploited the census boondoggle for both economic and ideological gain.
For the record, I have no beef with the constitutional mandate. I complied by filling out my census form and sending it back — with “American” in the blank for race/ethnicity to register my opposition to government racial classifications. Despite apocalyptic suggestions by census officials and some Republican politicians that conservatives are recklessly boycotting the decennial head count, analysis by both the right-leaning Daily Caller and left-leaning Plum Line websites shows that return rates from conservative counties are in line with national averages.
So, what makes the Obama census campaign different from other census programs? First, its naked, left-wing special interest pandering. The White House is championing a “Queer the Census” movement by pro-gay marriage groups, for example, and the Commerce Department is working with open-borders leaders who want to use the census as leverage to stop all immigration raids.
The electoral stakes are high. Some $400 billion in federal funding and, most importantly, the apportionment of congressional seats are up for grabs. Instead of straightforward enumeration of the American population, Obama and the left’s identity politics-mongers are turning the $1 billion, taxpayer-subsidized census public relations drive into a government preferences lobbying bonanza.
More galling: the White House manipulation of census worker employment to goose the jobless rate. Last week, the government touted employment figures bolstered by the hiring of temporary workers for Census 2010. The Census Bureau anticipates it may add nearly 750,000 workers to its payroll by May. Liberal economist Heidi Shierholz exulted in The Hill: “This is the best-timed census you could ever dream of.” And Team Obama plans to milk it for all it’s worth.
Over the past several weeks, I’ve received e-mails from census workers across the country describing the directive from their managers to slow down, stall, waste time and stretch out their work unnecessarily. As a counter-public service announcement, I’m reprinting some of their letters:
– “…I have been working with the census for two weeks, and every day I shake my head at the blatant inefficiency and deliberate misuse of taxpayer money. Specifically, we have been doing enumeration for those who do not have a home, the homeless in shelters, soup kitchens and in targeted non-sheltered outdoor locations, such as parks, subway stations, etc. I personally have been sent to check on shelters that were already determined to be day programs during the preceding round of quality control, yet they pay me the mileage and hourly wage to go back and make sure that they are still only day programs. I walked through parks and parking lots looking for homeless people to enumerate, not even by talking to them, but just by observing their race, sex and approximate age. …
“…The way the process has been set up by government bureaucracy is so backward and prevents a person who is industrious and efficient from being able to work freely… This is the first job where I am encouraged to be slow and inefficient.”
– “Last summer I participated in the ‘address canvassing’ (AC) project. What this entailed was walking around a neighborhood, literally door to door, with a little handheld computer. My job was not to enter addresses so that these people could receive their form, but to make sure that the addresses that the first wave of people put into the system and appeared on the computer were actually there… Mostly, it was me getting paid $15.25/hour plus mileage to take my dog for a walk and push a few buttons.
“In an average suburban neighborhood where the houses are somewhat close to each other, it was no problem to do about 35 to 40 addresses per hour once you learned how to quickly enter data into the computer. The census said that I should be doing about 12 to 15 per hour. My direct bosses told me that I should NOT be doing 35 to 40, because it was making them and other people look bad. So instead of walking at a snail’s pace, I just did my 35 to 40/hour and doubled my time when I submitted my hours. Again, sorry for the tax dollar grab, but I was told not to be so darned efficient or else I’d be cut!”
– “I had the great pleasure of working for the address canvassing last spring. I was hired in early April for a job that was to be completed by the first week of July. I have a military background and a background in human resources, and the whole process left me with blood squirting from my eyes… I worked in the field for four days so that I would know what to do. The remainder of my time was spent sitting in a McDonald’s to have a daily progress meeting with each of the enumerators. I was paid from the time I left my house to the time I got home … plus mileage. I was told to pad the time or mileage to cover my McDonald’s food, since I was camping in a booth all day. For all that, I was paid $11.75 an hour. …We had a really good crew and were done by the second week of May… Philadelphia was going nuts because our region was getting done so fast, but there was nothing we could do to slow it down another two months.
“… I never saw such a mismanaged outfit in all my life. I just shook my head in total disbelief. Our work could have been done with half the people. We did have those that quit right after training, to the tune of $800 spent on nothing. I earned approximately $3,000. I will say, to be quite honest, it was the easiest money I ever made. On the exit interview, I was asked if I wanted to be called back for further work. I wrote ‘NO’ in big letters. I didn’t want to take any further part in what I saw to be a racket.”
What would Madison think now?
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You certainly have a unique way with words, Michelle. Thanks for covering this story.
Tell you what I did – answered number of occupants in house and their ages…all American. If they want more info than that, they can ask the IRS. It’s a people count, not a health examination.
Hey!! I saw one of those McDonald’s meetings this past Monday! One of the folks carried a satchel that said US Census on it. I wondered if they were being paid or compensated for time there. So now I know. I may start having regular McDonald’s breakfasts just to walk up to them and ask a few questions.
Mr. Madison would ask Karl Rove to shut up and get a job. Be it the census or any other government program this bunch of thugs is going to play it to their dishonest advantage. The deliberate misuse of taxpayer money is a given as we have been told IT IS NOT OUR MONEY (Congress Critter Joe Knollenberg)
But money is a side issue-Power is the issue, total and complete power.
From The Hill article:
Who would like to bet they find a way to keep them on the payroll until after the midterms so they can claim to have created jobs?
“The White House is championing a “Queer the Census” movement by pro-gay marriage groups . . . ”
Huh?
The provided link did not say the White House was involved in, or supported, queering the census. The link was for a petition to include LGBT questions in the census.
Is that the correct link? Is there another link that actually says the White House is championing this issue?
Because that’s how the Millionth Council decided the situation should be approached at their last biennial meeting.
Those places serve food?
yes; right next to the link that shows the racial slurs being shouted at the DC vote for ‘healthcare’…
I opened my Census Form, answered question 1 and returned it. They have the enumeration they need as per the U.S. Constitution.
Anything else they want, I will take the Fifth. Have a nice day.
Have you never heard of processed American cheese food?
As always seems to be the case with THIS spineless Republican party of polymorphic lifeforms, they are now afraid that their campaign of trashing the census is backfiring and have hired Rove to reverse course.
It was reported a couple of days ago that only about 52% of registered Republicans (about 18-19% of registered voters) are returning their census questionnaires. About 57% of Democrats (about 30%) are returning theirs.
Although little more than half of all questionnaires are being returned and the Dems are returning theirs at a slightly higher rate than Reps, the disparity is meaningless. The important point is that both parties combined account for about half of registered voters and that illegals are being specifically corralled to return theirs.
It’s the corruption, you spineless clueless dopes, and you guys are a big part of the problem.
No incumbents after November 2010!
JD–yes, I like my processed american cheese food w/a side of extra hydrolyzed vegetable protein.
“…and the pursuit of happiness.”
This crooked administration causes citizens to question everything involved with govenment. And unfortunately, correct far too often. Obambi & crew have to go, along with most representatives.
The questions were no big deal. My area wont get much fed $ anyway, buy I want to keep my congressional district intact.
I answered all the questions on the census form and returned it same day I received it. I answered honestly. Why? Because I didn’t find any of the 10 questions to be confidential or out of line. And, if they are putting statistics together for percentage of races in this country, if you don’t put down your “white” race, you will end up as a minority. Now, having said that, what could be wrong with being a minority? Would Affirmative Action then benefit us? Sure…when pigs fly. But being reduced to minority status could have incredible “unintended” negative consequences…even psychologically, giving the Black Panthers, etc. even more feeling of power. Seriously, this isn’t paranoia. I am concerned about this.
Get ready for the Obamandering. It will probably get down to individual houses in order to kludge together Dem-majority districts everywhere.
Dubya’s gift just keep on coming.
“We just got a job. We’re working for the census.” “You mean Will Hays?”
- Moe and Curly (NO CENSUS, NO FEELING, 1940)
“Good morning, sir. I’m the census taker. Are you married or happy?”
- Moe (NO CENSUS, NO FEELING, 1940)
“What was your family decomposed of?” “Well, I’ll tell you. There was a litter of three, and I was the one they kept.”
- Moe and Curly (NO CENSUS, NO FEELING, 1940)
Once the White House gets the data it will not matter what you, me or the Man in the Moon answered.
Your data will go the way in the Memory Hole just like the the raw climate data once it’s “refined” by the people who published the IPCC Report on Global Warming. The raw data will disappear and all we will have is what comes from the people who have already predetermined the result.
Iran ridicules Obama’s “cowboy” nuclear strategy
A predator such a Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad the Odd can smell weakness a mile away-in this case several thousands of miles. The lions are circling. Chum Bucket diplomacy does not inspire confidence does it?
“I will not send American boys to war but just in case register for the Selective Service-there is an election coming.”
Good expose … Keep the truth out there Michelle.
#23
oops-wrong thread.
You are probably right. And that is very sad. As a genealogist, I have used census data for finding my ancestors and it has proven very valuable. I do realize that the census even back then was probably not terrible accurate. But it did lead to other discoveries and gave clues. The census this year will probably be totally bogus and tilted to favor anything the progressives want. I think the main thing that will be tweaked is the count for congressional seating purposes. Sigh. I want these corrupt a-holes gone!! They have no right to do this to our country and they must pay for their actions. Life in prison comes to mind.
Why anyone keeps going to Karl Rove for anything is beyond my understanding.
Happy, I love the old census records and use them for genealogy too. Legal immigration was high from most of the years when the census required more information. Did the government use the information for dishonest purposes back then?
The 1850s census started asking more, including information of family members, origin of birth, etc. I appreciate when I find clues to my family but feel that providing that information in the 1800s isn’t comparable to 2010.
Never in our history has our government been so corrupt and seeking to remove liberties. I can’t agree with providing the rope to hang myself.
I gave them number in my household and we are American. I’m guessing they already know that.
Just Google “Queer the Census” for more info.
For your viewing pleasure:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yt52G5xbWhQ
I only put in the number of occupants. The rest is irrelevant to the headcount required by the census mandate.
I liken Karl Rove doing the ad for the Census to the ad with the couch-sitting Newt and Queen Pelousy.
It degrades the integrity of Karl, Newt, et al, while making a mockery of “reaching across the aisle” a la John Mccain (AZ-weak). All the elites sit back and laugh at the stupidity and gullibility of the republican party.
If if he had any integrity is would. His whole life is a zero sum game.
Fine, I can stand corrected, but it still degrades what little integrity was there – they all look like buffoons now. Reflects badly as guilt by association.
No babiesgrandma I was neither correcting or disagreeing. My dislike of Big Mouth Karl Rove forces me to insult the jerk every chance I have. A group of us went to Rove with our Representative JD Hayworth to state our disagreement with Amnesty.
Karl Rove was not endearing to say the least. Sorry for any confusion. Please accept my apology.
AZ: not a problem at all. I know there are those who have total disdain for most of the Booosh administration. I enjoy listening to some of the talking heads, but I am clear-headed enough to see through what is wrong with each and every one of them.
What I have learned throughout the years, having helped to put together parties for the “rich and famous” (including politicians) in this area, is that they all put on an act. Most believe their own b.s., thus the problem.
No correction on your part is necessary.
Uh-huh. Shierholz is excited that temporary low-paying jobs have goosed the unemployment rate – meanwhile the Chinese have taken over our economy.
I’m guessing these are the biodegradable clamshells the greaseburgers come in…
BTW – why don’t they buy up Jiffy Lube and use the old french fry vegetable oil in cars? Drive in for a burger, and by the time you finish the 128 ounce soda, your “green” car is good to go.
I’m just teasing…of course I know what a McDonald’s does.
I have been known to stop there for a coffee on the way to the airport; especially now that they have better coffee…I refuse to pay for Starbucks or whichever place is de rigueur amongst the poseurs these days.
MM said and provided the link addressing the WH ‘championing’ of queering the census. Are you suggesting that MM is part of the ‘Millionth Council’? That she attends these biennial meetings?
and that darn cat just happened to knock over my coffee as I was filling it out…lol
OK, provide the link. Oh, maybe you were being sarcastic. Were you?
Are you suggesting that there is no link that shows racial slurs being shouted at the DC vote for healthcare, and that there is no link that shows the White House championing the queering of the census? Are you calling MM a liar, or that she provided the incorrect link?
The CB employee who GPSed my area still got the address wrong. During the 2000 count my town sued the gov because of a huge under count. I can’t wait to see how the gov plans to control health care. It will cost lots more and people will get lots less, if any at all. Paying people to waste time while we pick up the tab makes me fume.
I’ve reported previously that I worked as an Enumerator last spring. In our case, we were trained for a week and worked 30-40 hours a week for two weeks, not the six weeks we signed up for. We were then laid off.
I have to say we NEVER were told to work slowly, or to pad our times. We were actually pushed to work more per week than we were originally asked to do. Our supervisors seemed like “straight arrows”, demanding accuracy in our surveys and having QC people do random checks to confirm our results. They too were surprised and dismayed that the project was terminated early, as they too were out of a job.
I figure in our case the subcontractors handling the program in Mass. were happy to over-estimate the time needed to complete the survey, then pocket the extra money not spent on labor. But that’s just speculation.
I was asked back for this phase of the Census, but declined because I couldn’t see myself asking people to fill out the race questions, since I put “American” on mine. I could easily imagine people asking me what race Obama put down, given that he’s only half-black, and how he could justify his answer.
,
Why yes, that IS the suggestion, and if you can provide a video containing those slurs, Andrew Breitbart will donate $100K to the United Negro College Fund.
Go for it! Be a lib hero!!
Thank you for the link.
My take away is that people are told to fill out the form in the way they want to, and the link you provided is far more supportive of the notion that the White House is championing queering the census than the one provided.
The link you provided is akin to MM’s suggestion that you say ‘American’ when responding to the census. Both are simply suggestions. You can either do so, or not do so. It is and remains your option.
Though it would be great if there was a link that explicitly stated the White House’s position on the subject as was suggested in the blurb. I went to the White House’s website and found nothing explicitly stating that they are championing queering the census.
zyzzyg,
This may be the connection for which you are looking… from a link on the FAQ pages, the “Queer The Census” people :
“There are Census Bureau staff all around the country called “Partnership Specialists” whose sole job is to reach out to LGBT folks and encourage them to complete their Census!”
With a link: http://ourfamiliescount.org/census-bureau/
Which says “U.S. Census Bureau Partnership Specialists are working with LGBT Communities across the country. Contact a local or national Partnership Specialist today for Census materials, assistance organizing events and the latest news about the 2010 Census.”
Granted, I don’t know how much of that is “White House” championing…
You know, my census form didn’t ask my orientation either! And it didn’t ask me if I was really tan and buff! This is discrimination against tan and buff macho dudes!
And you’re a victim how?
Mine didn’t ask me about lethargic fat white boy with sexy sparrow knees, and I didn’t feel slighted in the least.
Who appoints the Secretary of Commerece?
HINT: Same guy who appoints the Attorney General. You know, the guy who will not release names and stonewalls why the NBPP got released, and wants to prosecute terrorists in civilian courts.
Cabinet officers do not do a #2 in the restroom without prior approval from the boss?
blah blah blah
if you like me check box
fold & send back
blah blah blah
I haven’t seen the Rove ads, but I know I can’t stand the one they run on the radio here in Dayton…
It’s about a city with 1,000 people, and three buses, and as their population goes, they cannot know how many people are riding the buses which are getting overcrowded because the idiot who runs the busing company is clueless without the census to tell him (or her) that the purchase of more buses would be a good idea.
And while I find the commercial to be moronic on one hand, on the other I find it quite telling, since the busing company is obviously run by the federal government.
Of course, they follow that with the “fair share” hogwash that appeals to the “have-nots”.
Is this number for reals, or did you leave out a couple of zeros?
Shoot, in my city I can find that many lying around in the park after their methadone shot.
the reason I ask, and I do have a point here, is that I live in a very small, rural town of 4000. There are no buses. Lots of John Deere tractors & combines and a lot of corn hats.
Hey man, I was just giving a ridiculous answer that had nothing to do with the point of the article.
You walk your dog past my house each evening….
Wow. How revealing is this? So if there are 3 buses running, and 2 are full for half the time, and 1 is full all the time, but 1 is empty from 10am – 3pm, what time is it in Spain?
Sounds like my granddaughter’s math homework lately.
Every day brings a new insult, lie and betrayal. Tom Coburn’s article stunned me. If “they don’t know what they don’t know”, it’s their job to listen and learn. Nobody cares if he thinks they are nice people – they’re not. Rove boosted the new jobs numbers – why? Greenspan told Congress they were to blame for housing crises – as if Frank and Dodd cared. Last, but not least, filling out the census assures us we will have to survive on pain pills. (It took great restraint not to say what I really think.)
Flyoverman, actually, there are equal numbers of Farmalls & International Harvesters and Allis Chalmers, but I think you get my point.
And if I knew where you lived, we’d stop in for tea.
Thank you for the link.
However, it is not the White House or a Governemnt agency saying they are championing the queering of the census. It is a private organization saying so.
A bit of a tangent from the question I asked (not unusual for you) but each President gets to appoint their own cabinet members. Question asked and answered. See how easy it is.
A hint was not necessary. I answered your question, albeit an extreme departure from the topic at hand.
I disagree. Question asked and answered. See how easy it is.
I apologize for respecting and taking you seriously. I will avoid doing so in the future.
How’s your shrubs holding up? I hear tell that she don’t pick up after that mangy mutt.
So what you’re telling me is that you’re a government bureaucrat virgin.
Good thinking, ‘cakes. I would expect nothing less from someone who rolls down the road in a V-8 caddie. Starbucks is the most overrated product on the planet; complete panther p!$$. Besides, every cup purchased supports prog a-holes in Seattle. Just because I was born there doesn’t mean I can’t hate the place it has become.
Something stinks is small town Arizona. The census forms are not reaching neighborhoods that are white and/or seniors; but are flooding mixed neighborhoods. A staff census worker is now investigating why!
The leftist/commie/socialist/progressive movement would not exist if it was not possible to find ways to differentiate people into various groups for the purpose of setting them against each other.
Therefore I believe that their fear of the Tea Party movement is primal because they see all of their ‘hard work’ falling apart, people coming from ALL of the very groups that they have been so busy Balkanizing and lining up for slaughter, now assembling IN SOLIDARITY behind a common cause based upon mutual love for the Constitution, the belief in the principles that founded our country.
Yes Mr./Ms. Commie/Socialist/Progressive, be afraid, BE VERY AFRAID, we’re all uniting against YOU! We welcome all genders, all races, all sexual preferences, all nationalities and all income levels into our movement just as we do into our country, our melting pot. And the more you squirm about it, the more you attempt to inject the race card, accuse us of being a bunch of violent/homophobic/xenophobic/bigoted Neanderthals, dismiss us as being ‘fringe’, etc., the more we know – who to ignore.
And BTW I think it’s just adorably hilarious that while so many of us recognize the rock solid reason to refuse to tell the federal government our race/ethnicity, there are a few homosexuals out there feeling left out because nobody ‘cared’ enough to ask about them on the census. All together….ahhhhhh.
Is a government site good enough fer ya?
Member-VRWC: it’s not that I don’t have or make money…but you know? I like to decide to spend it on what I want, not what someone else decides for me. It’s just coffee–I refuse to cooperate with any agenda.
pas op, John Deaux… you’re no longer respected.
LOL
John Deaux: A girl phoned me the other day and said… Come on over, there’s nobody home. I went over. Nobody was home.
An excellant link and it should have been provided to support the assetion that the government is championing queering the census.
You will agree that an on line petition by a private organization does not mean the Government supports the queering of the census. Don’t you?
And yes. a government site is good enough for me. When an assertion is made it should be backed up with facts. Do you sgree?