I fly this one at home and on the web! It's on my profile page and is used as the symbol to 'ping' the CWII list.
Not a bad pic either, if I do say so myself.
Posted on 01/29/2009 11:29:23 AM PST by mark gordon
MY REFUSAL TO COMPLY!
January 29, 2009
I received the American Community Survey about a month ago. This compulsory 28 page document published and administered by the U.S. Census Bureau clearly demonstrates the need to ask the question " Who is out-of-control in our government?". Perhaps, more importantly, "Who is in control, outside of our government?" I decided, almost immediately, not to comply. A little investigation confirmed my suspicion. Namely, there are countless others of you out there who share a common concern about this interrogative survey as well as the motives of our government. I say " our government" because I still keep close to my heart the memory of a government and an America I supported while serving in the Vietnam war. A time when the enemy was perceived as a threat against our great nation and not from within. I received a second ACS just last week with a letter that hinted vague threats. This appears to follow the pattern described by most of you who have already experienced the ordeal. My course of action is best described by the following conviction.
It is the duty of every U.S. Citizen to practice civil disobedience when the government exceeds its authority.
The U.S. Constitution in Article 1, Section 2, Clause 3 states; "The actual 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." This gives the government authority to conduct a census every ten years by enumeration. Any demand placed upon a U.S. Citizen beyond that provision is unconstitutional. A paper history of the U.S. Census records throughout the life of our nation plainly exhibits the simple process of enumeration as the only method permitted to obtain a "head count" and only at an interval of ten years. The ACS far exceeds the intent of the U.S. Constitution for the purpose of congressional redistricting and allocation. The questions are extremely intrusive into our private lives and a blatant attempt to extract vital personal information that cannot be obtained by any other means. Also, it is my view that this campaign endorsed by our legislative body, in part or whole, is being used as a test ground to determine how far the American people will bend and stay pliable under the control of a central government. Summarizing my intent;
1) I will not comply with the demands of a government that has exceeded its authority. 2) I will not pay any fine. 3) I am, bold words but spoken true to my nature, willing to be imprisoned but not subjugated.
In doing so, I will practice civil disobedience for the first time in my life. Given the safeguards written into the U.S. Constitution by our founding fathers and the love of country they entrusted with us, I can do no other.
Mark Gordon markbgordon@yahoo.com
PostScript - I would be more than pleased to provide a PDF copy of the American Community Survey to anyone who is unfamiliar with its contents and intent.
All the ones who refuse to answer (and I wouldn’t either), probably contribute to the “skewed results” that the Census is getting from only those immigrants and low-income people and illegals answering it — instead.
So, they are getting their answers — which actually show, instead, that you and me don’t exist in this society... :-)
>> But it would also significantly reduce one’s representation in Congress.
You have a point. Let me rephrase that:
If everyone that didn’t vote for Obama were to list themselves as some imaginary race — say, “Blaque” — it would rock their world.
I will not answer any question on race, income, lifestyle or religion
That’s about all that’s left after “Name”.
Mark, Mark...
Do what I did. I put almost completely false information after being threatened for the 3rd time that I hadn’t returned it.
I also filled it in almost illegibly. If they could read it, more power to them.
___________________________________________________
If I get one.....I’ll give it to my 6-yr-old with a giant, brown crayon. :D
>>It occurs to me that if everyone that didn’t vote for Obama were to refuse to comply with the next US Census, it would rock their world.
>>But it would also significantly reduce one’s representation in Congress.
Oh, like we are represented now?
Unreadable answers, huh? I like that idea. I’ll pretend I’m one of those idiot voters in Minnesota who screwed up their ballots by voting more than once, crossing out names of the candidate, and drawing arrows.
A few years back a census worker showed up over my refusal to fill in the long form. I explained that I regarded the info as being none of their business, good day. As I let go of the door to allow it to close, she made a move to grab the door to continue the conversation. She then caught the look in my eye, and probably realized that I would treat any such attempt as a home invasion and would respond accordingly.
http://www.census.gov/acs/www/Downloads/SQuest09.pdf
Some sample questions.
LAST MONTH, what was the cost of electricity for this house,
apartment, or mobile home?
About how much do you think this house and lot, apartment, or mobile home (and lot, if owned) would sell for if it were for sale?
What is the monthly condominium fee? For renters, answer only if you pay the condominium fee in addition to
your rent; otherwise, mark the”None” box
Does the regular monthly mortgage payment include payments for fire, hazard, or flood insurance on THIS property
How many minutes did it usually take this person to get from home to work LAST WEEK
How did this person usually get to work LAST WEEK? If this person usually used more than one method of transportation during the trip, mark (X)the box of the one used for most of the distance.
What time did this person usually leave hometo go to work LAST WEEK?
Hour Minute a.m. p.m
ACTIVITY. Describe clearly this person’s chief job activity or business last week. If this person had more than one job, describe the one at which this person worked the most hours. If this person had no job or business last week, give
information for his/her last job or business.
“She” used a pencil, barely pressed upon the page...her poor hands were so shakey...
Tell me, what significance is there to the TIME someone leaves for work?
Federal highway spending.
Yeah, right.
I fly this one at home and on the web! It's on my profile page and is used as the symbol to 'ping' the CWII list.
Not a bad pic either, if I do say so myself.
It's really not that hard to understand. Do you need it explained?
Have you read the entire survey?
The questions are redundant and useless as far as highway spending is concerned. Do they know the Route Taken? No. So, do you need government intrusiveness explained to you?
I received one of these surveys a few years ago, and refused to fill it out, despite the threatening manner in which the cover letter was written. I held onto it for a while, and because I refused to respond to their artificial deadline, they sent me a letter, offering to send someone ‘round to help with the survey if necessary. And then a second letter arrived, and if memory serves me, a third. All such correspondence went unread.
Then they tried to call me a few times and left the names and numbers of people who were willing to help me with the survey. Once they either left a message (or perhaps it was in one of the letters, I’ve forgotten) they informed me that they could pay a visit to either myself or even my neighbors. No such visit occurred.
So I’d say that you can safely ignore it.
As an aside, my survey included a number of questions about how many people in the household are disabled, and with which types of disabilities, how far I drive to work, whether I have home-health assistance, etc. It was utterly ridiculous. I was perfectly willing to answer some generic questions about how many people live in my household, but what they sent was unbelievably intrusive.
You really like answering non-stop questions, dontcha? =;^)
Op doesn’t like talking to us ;)
My ten year old daughter told them off the third time they came all on her own. One of my proudest moments as a father. She’s 19 now and still hell on statists!
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