April Fools Joke from the U.S. Census Bureau
Apr 6th, 2008 by Matt
Unlike most April fools jokes that bring a smile to your face, this joke is bound to make you angry. I’m speaking of a “joke” that is going to happen on April 1st 2010. It’s the U.S. Census or enumeration. Taking a census is nothing new, it’s been going on since 1790. Only the next one which happens on April Fools’ Day in 2010 is going to be very different than previous ones. Which brings me to why I’m calling it a joke. Until recently we’ve been able to take a census of the country with relatively little costs associated. This time, because of incompetent federal politicians this census is going to cost a whopping $14 billion! To illustrate how fool-ish that figure is, let me graph it for you.
Along with the historical Census costs I’ve also overlaid the population to prove that the rising costs are NOT correlated with the rising population.
You might ask why the explosive rise in costs this time… I’ll save you from all the ugly and irrelevant details, and summarize it for you. Back in 2006 the government had the wise idea of using technology to aid in the census (sounds familiar doesn’t it?… electronic voting machines). The government awarded a $600 million contract to Harris Corp to build 500,000 hand-held computers to collect the data. This week the Census Bureau announced that the the hand-held computers are “unacceptable” and failed because of “A lack of effective communication“. They are scrapping the entire program and reverting back to a paper based system. Don’t bother asking for a refund from Harris corp. Due to these reasons and “other” factors the cost has just risen to $14 billion!
Did you ever have an April Fools Joke pulled on you that went overboard, and wasn’t funny? Did you retaliate? What should we do to retaliate against the federal government for this joke gone bad? Leave your suggestions below in a comment. Then, call your congressman and tell them you are not going to enjoy the joke.
Census 101
Why do we take a census? Because the constitution tells us to in Article I Section 2 of the United States Constitution states “…[An] Enumeration shall be made within three Years after the first Meeting of the Congress of the United States, and within every subsequent Term of ten Years, in such Manner as they shall by Law direct.” It also states that this must be done to calculate the apportionment of representatives to U.S. Congress. States are allocated Congress seats based on their population.
What happens if you refuse to answer the census? If you refuse to answer the census you could be fined up to $100. If you give false information it’s $500.
Why do they do it on April Fools Day? They might have several reasons 
, but the main one being that it says so in Title 13 Section 141 of the U.S. Code.
Leave a comment about what you think of this “joke”.
UPDATE 4/10/09: Census Bureau was just bailed out with one billion dollars.
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Is your data corrected for inflation? If the data is in “then current dollars” it will be very misleading.
No my data has not been adjusted for inflation. I felt like the only way to be as accurate as possible was to NOT adjust the raw data. Even if you did account for inflation in this graph it wouldn’t drastically change the fact that the costs for taking a census are disproportionately going up at an alarming rate, and far out-pacing the rate of inflation.
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I’m guessing the “other factors” causing the increase are a secret fund, drawing off the census budget, that will put a solid gold bidet in the homes of each senator and congressman.
About 25% of the population do refuse to answer the questions.
The Census Bureau has a “Refusal Procedure”. To date no one has actually been fined or imprisoned.
The census also counts (and sends forms to) prison inmates, illegal aliens, and abandon buildings.
Your site displays incorrectly in Firefox, but content excellent! Thanks for your wise words.
The Census Bureau has not abandoned the hand held computer for collecting Census data. It is currently in use. I know because I am using it.
I think this author needs better information. I am using the hand held computer also and it works very well.
Thanks for the feedback from the “field”. Come back and let us know your thoughts on the handhelds after you’ve used them?
From several sources it sounded like the Census Bureau was completely scraping the handhelds. If you read the press release that I linked to in the post, you will find that it was scraped for a portion of the project and is still being used to a smaller degree.
“the Census Bureau will conduct a paper-based NRFU process, rather than using the handheld computers, which will now be used exclusively for the Address Canvassing (AdCan) effort.”
Video about the hand-held device
http://www.kcsg.com/news/local/43074027.html?video=YHI&t=a
To date no one has been fined or prosocuted for refusing to answer the questions. I refused all three “sensless workers” each time they came to my house. The maximum visits they are allowed to make are 6. Without giving my name I told them to put the address of my home on their Refusal List. After 3 letters (ignored), two Loooooonnng forms (ignored) and two face-to-face refusals with two different census workers and a face-to-face refusal with a “Supervisor” whoa, bringing out the big guns for intimidation. LOL. I finally learned that I could tell them to put me on the refusal list. The supervisor then said, “Alright, what is your name so I can put you on the list?” To which I replied, “You don’t need my name, just put this address on the list.”Her parting shot to me? “The Census Bureau takes refusals very seriously.” To which I replied, “And I take invasion of my privacy very seriously.” Never heard from them again.
http://www.CensusThis.wordpress.com
You are required by the CONSTITUTION to answer the census questionnaire. If you have a contract for a cell phone, a car loan, a mortgage or utility payments then you give more information than the census requests. Invasion of your privacy? I think NOT.
“If you have a contract for a cell phone, a car loan, a mortgage or utility payments then you give more information than the census requests. Invasion of your privacy? I think NOT.”
Do you know the differences between the concepts of liberty and tyranny?
“You are required by the CONSTITUTION to answer the census questionnaire.”
Not true. Go ahead, read the Constitution. Please quote where it states the citizen is required to do anything relating to the census. You must be confusing the requirement placed on Congress for enumeration, because no such requirement is placed on the citizens in that document.
The American Community Survey, which is a supplement to the census is way overboard in the amount of info they are trying to collect. Goes way beyond any “cell phone, car loan, mortgage or utility” info I have ever provided.
You’ve made a very well-written article.
If it’s fine with you, I would like to ask permission to use your article as it fits to my obstruction. I will be happy to negotiate to pay you or hire you for this.
With Regards from Republic Polytechnic
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