After reading Article 1, Section 2 of the United States Constitution that requires the taking of a national census for the purpose of determining the number of delegates each state can send to the House of Representatives, I read it again.
Then I decided to reread the entire text of the United States Constitution. I could find nothing that requires or allows the federal government to use the census for determining allocation of funds for highways, education or health care. Nor could I find any clause or section that allowed the federal government to know whether I have a flush toilet in my house, a disability, the size of my mortgage or my ethnic background.
So when the official agent of the federal government came to my house and demanded that I fill out the census form, I told him "no" and then asked him to leave.
I guess I am in trouble.
According to Title 13, Section 221 of the United States Code, citizens must fully comply with the census or face a $100 fine. Not being a person who likes to have outstanding fines unpaid, I decided to call the U.S. Census Bureau to see if I could pay the fine ahead of time.
After going through the usual "press 1 for ... press 3 for ... press 9 for," I got to talk to a live faceless government bureaucrat who politely told me he didn't know where I could send my $100 fine and apparently nobody else at the U.S. Census Bureau could tell me where to send my money.
It would be nice if the IRS had this problem! What the hell, at least I tried!
Unlike many of my conservative colleagues in the Nevada Republican Party, I do not subscribe to any of the conspiracy theories that have infected our ranks. I find them simplistic and intellectually bankrupt. One can only hope that the "true believers" in these absurd theories will seek the help they need and then stay on the medication.
I do not believe that the census is a part of the "New World Order" or that "The Official U.S. Census Bureau black helicopters" will be landing in my front yard.
While my refusal to fill out the census form is based on my strong personal feelings about privacy and confidentiality, it also challenges the government's lack of credibility.
Recently in the Nevada Appeal, there has been a series of letters in which the legality and morality of the Japanese-American internment camps during World War II have been questioned. I see no end to this debate, but this point should be made. During the 1940 census, American citizens of Japanese ancestry filled out their census forms and answered the questions that pertained to race.
True to form, the U.S. Census Bureau guaranteed that their answers would remain secret. Then came the "day of infamy" when Pearl Harbor was bombed by Imperial Japanese airplanes. Starting in 1942, the U.S. government started rounding up citizens of Japanese ancestry.
How did they know where to find them? The Census Bureau gave them the information. Today, there is no law that prohibits them from doing this again.
In addition, this same government is unable to keep FBI files confidential as anybody who has angered the Clinton administration can attest to. The same government that has routinely (under both Democrat and Republican administrations) used IRS files to harass common citizens and political enemies of the government. The same government that cannot keep our nuclear secrets away from the Chinese. The government is going to protect my confidentiality?
According to the official information that I received, "official census counts are used to distribute government funds to communities and states for highways, schools, health facilities and many other programs you and your neighbors need."
Need?
Encouragement to become even more dependent on government programs is something I do not think is healthy for my country or me. This type of encouragement sounds too much like the drug pusher trying to scare up new clientele in the school yard.
Your promises of confidentiality and more government programs don't sound like a good deal to me, Mr. Pusher. I guess I will pay the fine.