By Daniel Clements May 20, 2009
In 2010 the United States will go through a process that is laid out in our Constitution called the census. The United States has been performing a census since 1790. The purpose of the census was to do a head count of the American people for purposes of determining congressional districts for representation of the people at the federal level.
The US Constitution in article 1 section 2 clause 3 states ‘the actual enumeration shall be made within three years after the worst meeting of the Congress of the United States and within every subsequent term of 10 years in such manner as they shall by Law direct. The number of representatives shall not exceed one for every 30,000 but each State shall have at least one Representative;’
The original intent of the U.S. Census was to do a head count for the purposes of representation of the people. This seems to me to be a very simple straightforward task that is to be undertaken by our federal government. It has since been morphed into something quite different.
The U.S. Census that will be taken in 2010 will be a very long form with a lot of questions pertaining to personal information that the government does not need in order to take a head count of the American people. What is the purpose of the U.S. Census? According to the government website, the census is a count of everyone living in the United States every 10 years. The census is mandated by the U.S. Constitution. The next census is in 2010 your participation in this census is required by law. It takes less than 10 minutes to complete. Federal law protects the personal information you shared during the census. Census data are used to distribute congressional seats to states, to make decisions about what community services to provide, and distribute $300 billion in federal funds to local, state and tribal governments each year. You can go to this website http://2010.census.gov/2010census/ and read for yourself about what the U.S. Census has become.
My question to the U.S. Census Bureau is, where in the world did you ever get the idea that you needed to collect data other than the person is alive and kicking, and a US citizen? This is just one more example of how our federal government has become overreaching. In my humble opinion this is no more or no less than the federal government trying to manipulate and plan what goes on in the lives of the citizens of the United States. The federal government has no Constitutional authority to collect any information in the census outside of the name, address and citizenship status of We the People. I have looked at my pocket Constitution and can find no amendment to the Constitution that would authorize the federal government to gather the information it wants during the census.
Seeing how this is not the proper role of the federal government, the collecting of personal information during the Constitutional census, we need to ask the question why is the federal government requiring this information to be collected? So they can be good nannies and distribute tax dollars that have been collected. This money they distribute is used to buy votes. I don't care if the government assures me that my personal information will be protected, my question is who's going to protect me and my personal information from the federal government who should not have it in the first place?
This is just one more example of how the federal government has overstepped its Constitutional authority when it comes to governing We the People! An enumeration of the people should be just that an enumeration, not a domestic intelligence gathering exercise. Because in the final analysis that is what the U.S. Census has become!
If the American people don't wake up to the fact, that their federal government is operating outside the constraints of the Constitution, the American people will wake up one day in a country they no longer recognize or voted for!
Dan Clements is a member of the Constitution Party and the host of BACK TO BASIC a Christian/political internet talk show. You can listen to Dan live from 10am-12 noon EST. M-F at www.blogtalkradio.com/dan-clements and www.constitutionalwarrior.com
Copyright © 2009 by constitutionalwarrior.com. Permission to reprint in whole or in part is granted, provided full credit is given.
