First of all, I apologize for my inactivity over the past week.
What is the purpose of the U.S. Census? Evidently the government thinks that it is important, because they spent hundreds of taxpayer dollars on a Super Bowl census commercial (of course, it could be that they just threw the money out the window with as little regard for taxpayer money as usual). What is the purpose? Here are some parts of the message off the census form:
We need your help to count everyone in the United States by providing basic information about all the people living in this house or apartment.
...
Your answers are important. Census results are used to decide the number of representatives each state has in the U.S. Congress. The amount of government money your neighborhood receives also depends on these answers. That money is used for services for children and the elderly, roads, and many other local needs.
Oh, joy. The government needs the information so it knows how much money to dole out to our neighborhood? Gosh, here I was thinking that it was the city government's job, and that of the state government. I thought the federal government wasn't supposed to take more money than it needed to, because of the Constitution.
SO. My Dad is refusing to fill in the census form, because he thinks that a) he doesn't want the government doing that and b) because he thinks that the U.S. would be better off without Massachusetts representatives.
I understand and agree with the first part. The second, not so much, because of what happened with Scott Brown and the Senate race. He passes this off as a fluke and says there's no reason to assume that Massachusetts representatives would be any good. Excuse me, Dad? You and all the other Republicans (including me) were thrilled to hail Brown as a change of Massachusetts's, and indeed, America's, political movement and opinion. Now, when it's convenient, you pass Brown's election off as a fluke? I don't think so. I remember your ridicule of Coakley and the Democratic Party's statement that the election was a fluke.
It's great to be independent enough to stand up for what one believes in with an act of civil disobedience, but this strikes me as kind of pointless and illogical...
What is the purpose of the U.S. Census? Evidently the government thinks that it is important, because they spent hundreds of taxpayer dollars on a Super Bowl census commercial (of course, it could be that they just threw the money out the window with as little regard for taxpayer money as usual). What is the purpose? Here are some parts of the message off the census form:
We need your help to count everyone in the United States by providing basic information about all the people living in this house or apartment.
...
Your answers are important. Census results are used to decide the number of representatives each state has in the U.S. Congress. The amount of government money your neighborhood receives also depends on these answers. That money is used for services for children and the elderly, roads, and many other local needs.
Oh, joy. The government needs the information so it knows how much money to dole out to our neighborhood? Gosh, here I was thinking that it was the city government's job, and that of the state government. I thought the federal government wasn't supposed to take more money than it needed to, because of the Constitution.
SO. My Dad is refusing to fill in the census form, because he thinks that a) he doesn't want the government doing that and b) because he thinks that the U.S. would be better off without Massachusetts representatives.
I understand and agree with the first part. The second, not so much, because of what happened with Scott Brown and the Senate race. He passes this off as a fluke and says there's no reason to assume that Massachusetts representatives would be any good. Excuse me, Dad? You and all the other Republicans (including me) were thrilled to hail Brown as a change of Massachusetts's, and indeed, America's, political movement and opinion. Now, when it's convenient, you pass Brown's election off as a fluke? I don't think so. I remember your ridicule of Coakley and the Democratic Party's statement that the election was a fluke.
It's great to be independent enough to stand up for what one believes in with an act of civil disobedience, but this strikes me as kind of pointless and illogical...
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