TRI In The News
Heads-up on the American Community Survey!
7/6/2011
TRI IN THE NEWS: HEADS-UP ON THE AMERICAN COMMUNITY SURVEY!
From HULIQ
Original article available here.
Every ten years we wait for our little census forms to come in the mail so we can help the government count heads. Article I of the U.S. Constitution mandates such an enumeration for the sole purpose of determining the number of representatives within a given geographical area and the possible redrawing of Congressional Districts. According to the Constitution, we must have one representative for no more than every 30,000 people. Most people understand the reason for the census and most comply.
However, back in 2002, someone in Congress had the idea to conduct the American Community Survey (ACS), an annual census costing hundreds of millions of dollars. The survey consists of 16 pages of instructions and 28 pages of questions. According to the Honorable Bob Barr, Congress has the legal authority to conduct this survey, and it is mandatory to answer the questions or face some very expensive penalties. However, many have their reservations about its constitutionality.
According to John Whitehead, Constitutional attorney and founder and president of the Rutherford Institute, this survey asks a person's name, place of residence, employer, income, physical and emotional health, family status, number of people who live in your home, their relationship to you, marital status, race, physical, mental, and emotional problems, how many bedrooms and bathrooms you have in your house, what fuel you use to heat your home, how much you pay for electricity, what type of mortgage you have and what your monthly payments are, your property taxes, how many sick days you took last year, how many vehicles you own, if you have trouble getting up the stairs, what time you leave for work in the morning, and other personal questions. You must also give information on your friends and relatives regarding their employment, educational level, languages they speak, and other personal data.
I want to know why the government needs to know all this. What use will they make of it if not to monitor all aspects of our lives? Will they cross check your information with your tax return? Do they intend to take us still further toward a surveillance state that would make the old Soviet Union pale in comparison?
The Founders never intended the census for any purpose other than representation. They never intended such detailed data collection. I can only guess that the feds intended to use the data to further curtail liberties. Though Congress passed this vile legislation, I can't see how they can justify the use of our money to infringe upon our freedoms. And I don't see how anyone can consider it Constitutional, as it invades our privacy, a curtailment of our 4th Amendment Rights. One might also argue it violates our 5th Amendment Rights—freedom from self-incrimination as well as private property rights—and the right to equal treatment under the law guaranteed by the 14th Amendment. So far it has gone on its merry way without a challenge as no one has yet brought a test case to the Supreme Court for the Constitutionality of ACS.
Americans need to say, "Enough!" They need to protect their God-given rights and not meekly allow government to constantly chip away at them. We need to write letters, make phone calls, and fill the e-mail boxes of our representatives to remind them that we elected them to protect our rights, not erode them.
