LewRockwell.com

The Census Gestapo!
By Gary D. Barnett

Just when I thought the census invasions were over, at least until the actual count next spring, the census Gestapo, or "Complete Count Committees" (CCC) are forming all around this nation-state. Once again, the long arm of government is using state and local political types to form neighbor watching and neighbor invading "community" committees. One should not take this lightly, as this is a massive government-organized army out to invade the privacy of virtually everyone. The normal culprits will be involved in this idiocy, including government agencies, education, business, faith-based organizations, nosy community "leaders," local do-gooders, and of course the government-controlled media.

As I said in the past in my article, "In Preparation for the 2010 Census,"the 2010 census count in my opinion will be the most aggressive ever. Not only has government become much more tyrannical in the past ten years, but towns, cities, counties and states are starving for more tax revenue due to this government-caused economic debacle. Although this census is being touted by the U.S. Census Bureau as a short-form only census, only 10 questions, don’t be fooled by this deceitful ruse. In the past, one out of every six households received the long form or "The American Community Survey" which is 52 pages long and very intrusive. It is simply used as a personal information gathering and monitoring tool for government. This practice has been scrapped in its present form, but now instead of being sent every ten years, will be mailed out to many every single year. What this means is that those sent the long form each year will now be under more pressure than ever to complete and send it in. Instead of the possibility of receiving one of these long forms every ten years, you could receive one in any given year. Since the state aggression is ratcheting up for these more intrusive invasions, some of us will have to defend ourselves from the Department of Commerce on a regular basis. This is absurd!

According to the CCC guide, [see here] "Determining congressional seats and federal funding is just a hint of the many important uses of census data." This must be news to those of us who can actually read and understand the constitution. The census was to be taken (an enumeration or simple head count) to establish the apportionment of representatives and direct taxes among the several states; nothing more. As I’ve mentioned in the past, no change in national representation has occurred in almost 100 years, and the apportionment of tax dollars has become nothing more than a tax redistribution scheme to enrich the elite few and to expand the socialist welfare state. In other words, a complete bastardization of the census process has taken place, and now it is nothing more than a scam!

But now, with Complete Count Committees in place, things have not only gotten worse, but much worse. First let’s look at some of the examples given for the many uses of the census. This comes under the very dubious heading: "Census data are widely and wisely used." Nothing could be further from the truth. Here are some of the uses:

* Title 1 grants to educational agencies
* Head Start programs
* Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) (food grants)
* Public transportation
* Road rehabilitation and construction
* Programs for the elderly
* Emergency food and shelter
* Empowerment zones (What in the world is this?)
* The data help the private sector as well as state and federal governments determine where jobs and job programs are needed
* Census data help potential homeowners research property values, median income, and other demographic information about a particular community.
* Corporations use population data for market research to determine locations for commercial enterprises, such as food stores, pharmacies, and other essential services.

This of course is a short list. At the end of the guide, another 50 reasons are listed. And you thought the census was used to determine representative and direct tax apportionment only. No, quite the opposite is the case.

As should be obvious, local and state governments have been co-opted to help advance the Census Bureau’s reach and scope. Since the states and local communities depend so heavily on federal largess, this by design, and the census is the mechanism used to decide who gets what, they have become willing accomplices. In a local newspaper article recently, the statement was made that "$1,000.00 a year per person comes to communities based on census figures. Missing 10 people in a census can cost a community $100,000.00 over 10 years." Scare tactic? I would say so. No wonder the state and local governments are so heavily involved.

The Complete Count Committee is something I haven’t talked about in the past, but it is a very important aspect of the census count, and is based upon a co-opting or conscription of sorts of many state and local governments and communities. The CAC guide claims that the Census Bureau can’t do the census alone, and requires the assistance of individuals, groups and organizations across the nation. The CCC "is a voluntary committee established by tribal, state and local governments, and/or community leaders, to increase awareness about the census and motivate residents in the community to respond." While this language may seem benign to some, it is in fact descriptive of even a more intrusive venture.

These committees are run in a top down manner not that much unlike a military structure. I would call it the "chain-of-command" for census counts. The U.S. government via the Department of Commerce is the head, and then the governor of each state takes charge of his domain. He then is to appoint individuals as members to serve on the committee, creating in essence, a state Complete Count Committee. This committee will normally be chaired by an individual selected by the governor. "The operation of the Complete Count Committee flows from the highest elected official or community leader to the chairperson, the committee members, and/or to the community at large." This is based on a sub-committee structure, from highest to lowest, and sub-committees should include government, education, faith-based, media, community-based organizations, business, andrecruiting. This is no innocent community project, but a planned government/private (fascist) partnership ready to assault the rest of us.

These committees are to use every possible method at their disposal to force compliance. They are to identifytargets for aggressive outreach and set up strategic partnerships with counties, schools, state agencies, and community organizations. They will also set up non-response follow-up. They are to exhaust every avenue possible to promote the census count, including but not limited to stuffing all public utility and property tax bills with census propaganda. Banners, brochures, posters, parades, and newsletters are just a few other things mentioned to advance the count in the CCC guide; all paid for by tax dollars, of course.

In addition to the use of all public and community-based organizations, and municipalities, the census Nazis also are using the public (government) school system to help in this coercive effort. In the process, the state is indoctrinating kids attending these rotten institutions from "prekindergarten through twelfth grade, as well as postsecondary education institutions. (Ages 3 and up in other words) "Census in Schools" is also taking place in 2010, with an emphasis on kindergarten through eighth grade. The importance of this in-school census is to "educate all of the K-12 students about the importance of the 2010 census." No one should be surprised by this, but what an obvious totalitarian approach. Just how long will it be until the "Census in Schools" program is teaching kids to turn in parents who don’t cooperate with census takers? The "Hitler Youth" of socialist Germany comes immediately to mind! What an outrage!

The bottom line is this: The 2010 Census will be the most aggressive and the most intrusive we have seen. Threats of fines for non-compliance will be more evident this time around. Neighbors and friends will be encouraged by government to put pressure on any who refuse to go along with this invasion of privacy and destruction of rights. Neighbors will also become informants. There will be a "Nonresponse Follow-up" team, as I mentioned earlier, set up for those unwilling to give up their private information to these goons. "A field operation designed to obtain a completed interview from households where a questionnaire was not returned" will send "enumerators" to these households to obtain completed interviews. If attempts to contact the residents of a household are unsuccessful, an "enumerator" will obtain as much information as is possible from a neighbor, a building manager, or another reliable source. In other words, the government will use whatever method possible to get private information about you, your family, your personal finance, your cultural or ethnic background and any other information it wants.

What will it take before most get fed up with this oppressive and heavy-handed government? When will more stand against this despotic beast? I don’t know about the rest of you, but I have had enough!