I had an guest column printed in a central Texas paper a few weeks ago. Then last week I was interviewed for a piece in the Fort Worth Star Telegram. The article is up today. Steeve :) spelled my name wrong, but my comment was right, and that is the important part. I had lots more I contributed that didn't make the cut for the article, so I'll share it with you here.
Click on the word English below if you'd like to read the intrusive questions for yourself.
Read carefully so you don't miss the questions like whether you can bathe or dress yourself, what time you leave your house for work, how many sick days you took, how many bedrooms you have, whether or not your toilets flush, how you heat your home, and all the private details of your finances. Oh, and there are special questions that trans-racial families like us won't want to miss, so be sure and check out the race questions. You won't want to miss a single offensive inquiry!
For some background on our American Community Survey experience, click here to read a little bit about how the Census Bureau harassed our family.
The American Community Survey, conducted by the Census Bureau, asks for information that is none of my government's business. Census workers harassed me for months trying to get this information from me. That is absolutely unacceptable. Americans who are "lucky" like me and get tapped for this lengthy survey should stand strong against this abuse of power.
Some argue that our government needs all this information about me and my family for noble community projects. The Census Bureau claims it uses the data that is mined from the American Community Survey so the federal government can "help communities determine where to locate services and allocate resources" at the LOCAL level. But fellow Americans, the planning for LOCAL projects should be done by LOCAL government, not the federal government.
Others argue that the American Community Survey is constitutional, simply because congress authorized it. But if you read the constitution you will find that Article One, Section Two of the U.S. Constitution authorizes the enumeration of the population. The census was to be conducted every ten years. The census was meant to count the people, to help us keep accurate representation in the House of Representative. The census was not intended to be an ongoing, multi-multi-million-dollar data mining project that threatens to fine Americans who don't want to answer intrusive, private, personal questions about our families.
It is true that our own representatives in congress approved the funding of hundreds of millions of dollars needed for the Census Bureau to conduct its intrusive American Community Survey. So our hard-earned tax dollars are paying for this harassment and intrusion into our private lives. But just because congress funded it doesn't make it right, and it doesn't make it constitutional. Information is power, friends. And the fact that our own representatives approved this Washington power grab of information gives us just one more reason to vote them out!
It is wrong for my government to harass and interrogate me on my own property in order to get my private information. It is wrong for my government to threaten me into answering questions that are private and personal.
So, I did not answer the intrusive questions in the American Community Survey. I prayed over my decision and did not make that decision lightly. But, I love my country! As Americans, we have to take a stand for liberty, we have to stand up for what is right.
Freedom is worth taking a stand.
If I want my children and grandchildren
to know American freedom tomorrow,
I have to stand up for liberty today.
"Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty."
Wendell Phillips
Wendell Phillips
