“Don’t get mad, my friend. Get even.”
Wow, Rock! This guy sounds like a typical stupid liberal.
Never heard of the NSA spying? Did he sleep through Snowden et al? Bet you he isn’t even aware of the IRS denying non-profit status to any group to the right of Ted Kennedy, nor knew anything about Lois Lerner and her missing hard drive, thinks Obama is just swell, and thinks Republicans are too right-wing nowadays. Oh yeah, and probably thinks Sarah Palin is stupid.
Then again, all of THAT could be a result of driveby media bias, too. Bring this up again on the Sunday thread...
Oh, and I think you did a GREAT job replying to him and standing firm. If you need a hunert bucks, Larri, I got it raght here for ya!
I would have thought census activity wasn’t expected for another five years.
We only answered two or three of our questions this past census and we never had a follow up letter or visit.
From what I’ve read, they have nothing to back gathering more than the most basic “number of residents” questions. If they kept showing up, I’d smile and say, “sue me.” There no authority for personal questions by any census worker and you’ll find no one ever gets fined.
Public Servant’s Questionnaire
Basically, it ties them up in bureaucratic knots by making them comply with the laws that protect US. They usually get frustrated to the point they just leave, but the added bonus is you have ALL their info in the event they become total jerks.
You handled it well.
I had a series of increasingly intrusive contacts with the Census Bureau, beginning in Dec 2013. Finally I emailed my state Representative about it, as he’s a member of Oath Keepers and extremely conservative. I was subsequently contacted by his office, and told that they would be following up on what I had told them. I never heard from them after this, but I never heard from the Census Bureau again either. Here’s what I sent my Representative:
Dear Representative XXXX,
My name is XXXXXX. I am one of your constituents, living in XXXXXXX.
I am writing to you to express my concern regarding recent contacts I have had from the US Census Bureau, and to ask your opinion and advice in this matter.
In December 2013 I received a letter from DHHS, advising me that I had been selected to participate in a survey for the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS). The letter advised me that a Census Bureau interviewer would be coming to my home to ask me some questions that would require approximately one hour of my time. The letter further advised me that my participation was voluntary. There was a phone number on the letter that I could call for more information. I verified online that this is a legitimate survey and that the letter I received is legitimate.
I called the number on the letter and advised the person I spoke with (Marie) that I understood my survey participation was voluntary. I advised her that I declined to participate in the survey and asked that no one come to my home. She said that wasn’t a problem, and while I was still on the phone with her, she found my address in her survey database, found the name and email address of the field supervisor connected to my area, and forwarded a written message that I declined to be surveyed.
About 4 weeks later I found an envelope from the US Census Bureau taped to the front door of my home. On the front of the envelope was the handwritten message “Sorry I missed you. Please call.” Inside the envelope was a brochure titled “How the National Health Interview Survey Keeps Your Information Strictly Confidential.” Also in the envelope was a business card with the field representative’s name and the phone number for the Los Angeles Regional Office of the US Census Bureau. (XXXXXX 800-XXX-XXXX)
I called the phone number on the card and spoke with the gentleman who answered the phone. I reiterated that I had already called this number a month earlier to notify the Census Bureau that I declined to participate in this survey and to not have anyone come to my home. This gentleman said he understood, and that he would transfer me directly to the phone mail box of the field supervisor and that I should leave this message on that voice mail. He said that, in the event I was disconnected during the transfer, that I could call the field supervisor at his direct line – (XXXXX 818-XXX-XXXX). I was transferred without issue, and the recorded greeting on the voice mail box was from the expected person, XXXX XXXX. I left my message about declining to participate in the survey, not to have anyone else come to my home, along with my name and telephone number should he have any questions.
This past Thursday night (Feb 13th) at 6:30 PM my doorbell rang. As I went to the door to answer it, I saw a flashlight shining through the frosted glass of my front door. When I turned on the porch light, the flashlight was turned off. I opened the door, and said “Hello” to a middle-aged lady who was standing on my doorstep. As I stood in my doorway, she introduced herself as XXXX XXXX from the US Census Bureau here to administer the National Health Interview Survey. I replied quietly but firmly that “Yes, I received a letter from them in December. I called and told them I’m not participating, and not to send anyone to my home. An interviewer left a note on my door about 2 weeks ago saying she was sorry she missed me when she came to administer the survey. I called again and said again that I don’t want to participate and not to send anyone to my home.” The lady on my doorstep said “Good, I’m at the right house. I thought it was your neighbor’s house first, but their driveway was icy, and then I thought I might be at the wrong house.” She then asked, “Can I come in?” and started forward as though she simply assumed I would say yes, and that I would move aside for her to enter my home. I said in a quiet but firm voice, “No.” She stopped her forward motion and then began a nervous-sounding, fast-paced patter that almost seemed as though she was talking to herself. It went something like this: “Oh, you got the letter in December and called them and told them you didn’t want to be interviewed. Then someone came to your house and you called them again. I told her that’s not right. You were perfectly polite, and that’s not right. I’m sorry your dog is upset…” (Indeed, my little dog, blocked in the next room was barking his head off the whole time she was here). I said, “Yes, he gets agitated when someone he doesn’t know is at the front door…” I intended that as her cue to leave, but she just kept standing there talking to herself, paraphrasing “I don’t even have your name or phone number in your case file and your neighbor’s driveway is icy and I was afraid to drive up it…” All the while my little dog continued with his loud barking and she showed no indication of leaving. Finally I interrupted her mid-sentence and said “I have been polite, but I’m running out of patience. Can I have your business card so I can call them again and tell them not to send anyone to my house.” She said “Oh, don’t do that!” She proceeded to take a business card and write some phone numbers on the back of it which she said were her field supervisor’s numbers. She handed me the card and then kept talking, showing no indication that she was leaving. Finally I said, “I have to go now” and began to close the door. At that point she stopped talking and walked away. (Her business card says XXXX XXXX – US Census Bureau – 800-XXX-XXXX)
One hour later, at 7:30 PM, my phone rang. I didn’t recognize the number on caller ID and let the answering machine pick it up. It was this same lady. She identified herself again and said, “I should have talked to your neighbor, but their driveway was icy and I was afraid to drive up it. I was wondering if you could tell me if they’re living there, or do they just live there in the summer? Do you have their phone number so I can call them? I know sometimes neighbors give their phone numbers in case of emergencies, like a fire or something. Can you give me their phone number? I would very much appreciate it if you would call me.” Not only was that a very intrusive request for information about my neighbor, but this same woman had just told me an hour earlier on my front doorstep that she didn’t have MY phone number in her case file, and now here she was calling me.
Of course, I didn’t call her back. I did check the phone numbers she had written on the back of her business card an hour earlier, the numbers she said were for her field supervisor. The name she wrote is XXXX XXXX, phone number XXX-XXX-XXXX. I googled that phone number and it is for “XXXXX Consulting”, a management consulting company located in XXXXXXXXXX.
At this point, I have not called anyone about these latest intrusions by the Census Bureau. I’m almost fearful of doing so. Where is the departmental oversight if the one you call to make repeated complaints to is the same department responsible for the repeated intrusions? With the first intrusion, I chalked it up to bureaucratic incompetence, but now it’s taken on a slightly more sinister air, at least to me. If I continue complaining to them, am I going to suddenly find myself being audited by the IRS? Visited by the FBI?
Representative XXXX, I am an lady who lives alone. I have only myself to rely on for my personal safety and the protection of my civil rights. These intrusions have begun to frighten me. Knowing that you are an advocate of limited government, for controlling government overreach, and for safeguarding our Constitutional right to be secure in our persons and property, I thought to ask you for your opinion and your advice. What do you make of all of this? Who, if anyone, should I call to complain about this and to be assured that it will not happen anymore?
Thank you very much for taking the time to read this; I know it was lengthy and detailed. I look forward to your reply.
Best Regards,
XXXX
“Don’t get mad, my friend. Get even.”
I had multiple phone calls from the census, and had one of them show up in front of my house. I argued with the woman that I wasn't going to accommodate her additional questioning.
I told her to leave and walked back into my house.
The whole thing made me pretty angry, and when I was in Boston one day, I saw flyers all over the place for census jobs. I went online to the website and took a screen capture:
Seeing that REALLY made me angry. These worthless no-loads typical of a liberal constituency gluttonously feeding at a government trough with MY damned hard earned tax dollars, doing a piece of crap job as part of the Democratic Party, and being paid $22 an hour!!!
A couple of weeks went by and I received a call from a lady census worker wanting further information.She reminded me it was my legal responsibility to answer all the questions on the census form. I told her that as far as I was concerned I provided all the necessary information the government needed to know and would not be providing any further information.
She then asked me about the NYOB that I had entered on the racial portion of the questionnaire and wanted to know what it stood for. I told her, "You don't know what NYOB stands for?", it's an acronym of a Native American Tribe, called none of your business."
At that point I wished her a good day and ended the phone conversation.
I instructed my wife (former) that if a census worker were to come out to the house (rural central California) that she was not to answer their questions or allow them on the property.
Well it so happens that a couple of weeks went by and one particular day I came back home from a day of quail hunting to find a strange sedan parked in the drive way. Mind you I was completely outfitted with shotgun and sidearm, camouflage, etc... I entered the house and approached the kitchen area where I found my wife and the census lady talking. My wife attempted to introduce us as the census worker handed me her business card. I politely reminded her about our conversation on the telephone and then asked her to leave, at which point she quickly exited the premises. I never heard another word about it.
Tell him to f*ck off, close the door, and call the police if he doesn’t leave - he can be arrested for criminal trespass.
in order to keep the information up to date... the census collects data and publishes it every ten years... but monies reflecting the numbers can be spent anytime...
i had an enthusiastic woman bring the long form to my door. i told her 3 live here and the ages and genders.
she started asking more questions and i informed her, that it wasn’t necessary. she gave me the spiel about our community needs the money the census information can create and started filling the form out for me...
i asked her to leave. and said i would call the sheriff... she left. i did not receive a fine.
but then again, obama was elected. darn. i guess i was fined afterall.
I live in Maine, too, and that ahole had better not darken my door.
I have had a similar two-part conversation (Glock version) with a persistent magazine salesman. Haven't had a magazine salesman at the door since.
A couple years back I threw two different copies of the Un-American Community Survey/Rectal Exam in the woodstove. Decent fire starters, I guess.
Got a visit from a census employee. Met her in the front yard and told her I had answered all of the constitutionally-permissible questions on the census form, and that that was all she was getting. Wouldn’t even give her my name. Frankly, she seemed quite taken aback, and went into a spiel about how me answering their five hundred or whatever highly personal questions would help our community get all kinds of federal money. Told her what I thought of that socialist, statist idea, in no uncertain terms, and finally she went away, never to return.
When he said who he was, I would probably have said prove it. When he said I had to answer, I would have said prove it. When he said its all about the money, I would have said prove it, and so forth.
After all, I am from Missouri and was raised to be a skeptic.
http://www.carolinajournal.com/exclusives/display_exclusive.html?id=6238
How Much Information Do You Have to Give the Census?
Failure to complete form means follow-up visits, potential fines
Mar. 24th, 2010
RALEIGH — When Rockingham County resident Eric Smith found the 2010 U.S. Census waiting for him in the mailbox, he immediately went in the house and filled it out.
However, this North Carolinian — one of more than 4 million in the state to receive the government form — answered only one of the 10 questions on the form before returning it.
“I’m gladly doing my part, but I am a strict constitutionalist,” he said. “The only question I filled out is how many people live in my household. That’s the only one I’m constitutionally required to answer. The other questions invade my privacy. They don’t need to know the names of my family members, our date of birth, our gender or race. None of the rest is any of their business. That’s how I feel.”
He’s not alone.
U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., refused to fill out her own form because she felt the U.S. Census has been used to earmark minority groups for special reasons, including information that led to the Japanese internment during World War II.
Several conservative and Hispanic advocacy groups have urged members to refuse to complete their forms, or have called for an all-out boycott of the count, citing privacy and confidentiality issues as a reason to object. Some groups have started a campaign urging residents to answer “American” in the line indicating race.
Such concerns aren’t new. But individuals who try to duck the census — or willfully provide inaccurate information — are in legal jeopardy. It is mandatory for every U.S. citizen to complete the 2010 U.S. Census, said Census Bureau spokeswoman B.J. Welborn.
“Every household is required to answer all 10 questions, according to Title 13 of the U.S. Code,” she said. “Those who turn in incomplete forms will either get a follow up by a U.S. census taker or a phone call.”
Fines for returning incomplete forms
Hans von Spakovsky, senior legal fellow at the Heritage Foundation in Washington, D.C., agrees that every question must be answered. “The case law says you can be fined $100 per question for not giving an answer,” he said. “No citizen has successfully defended a case in which they claimed that particular questions were too intrusive and beyond the authority of Congress to authorize.”
Individuals do not, however, have to allow a census taker into their homes, he said.
Although von Spakovsky said there is an “obsession with race” on the 2010 U.S Census Form, he said the United States Code states that government officials cannot make available to the public any data that be used to identify specific individuals. “The data can only be used for statistical purposes,” he said.
Sunshine Hillygus, associate professor of political science at Duke University and co-author of The Hard Count: The Political and Social Challenges of Census Mobilization, said these concerns have surrounded the U.S. Census, from the first taken in 1790 until the present.
“Some people think the census has no right to ask for additional information,” she said. “They feel it is too intrusive.”
Hillygus said some people may be afraid to complete the form, such as illegal immigrants, those who haven’t paid their taxes, or those who have committed crimes. Still, she said the U.S. Census Bureau maintains a level of confidentiality that is higher than any other branch or form of government.
She said the worst thing a person can do is completely boycott the census.
“Endorsing a boycott of the census is illegal and I think one of the unfortunate things is people feel they have the right not to fill out the census form,” Hillygus said. “It’s irresponsible to call on people to not fill out the census because it’s in nobody’s best interest to not have an accurate census count. I think that you see supporters on both sides of the aisle that have expressed the need to get an accurate count. Everyone needs to fill it out for quality control and to get the most accurate population count possible in this country.”
Census spokeswoman Welborn said the questionnaire must be filled out correctly and then mailed back in the pre-addressed, postage-paid envelope provided. In addition to the $100 fine for noncompliance, there’s a $500 fine for willfully providing false information, although the law is rarely enforced.
“The form cannot be filled out online,” she said. “You need to fill out the form by the mid-April deadline, but the sooner you get it in, the better. We urge people to fill it out and send it back immediately; otherwise a census taker will come to your home.”
Residents can verify census takers’ ID
She said it is important to note that census takers will not start making their door-to-door rounds or phone calls until the beginning of May. Each census taker will have an official I.D. badge from the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Department of Commerce. Welborn said residents can verify a census taker’s identification by calling the local office of the Census Bureau.
Gov. Beverly Purdue’s Census Liaison Bob Coats said the 2010 U.S. Census is vital to the balance of power in Washington, D.C., as it determines how much of the $470 billion in federal spending is parceled out to states for services.
“The census helps the government plan for roads, community hospitals, and job training and community development grants,” he said. “That’s important for North Carolina because we continue to grow rapidly and the census is a foundation for funding formulas. The impact will be felt for the next 10 years.”
Welborn warned that all U.S. residents should be on the lookout for phishing scams during the census year. “We do not ask for financial information in the 2010 Census,” she said. “It should be a tip-off that it is a scam if a person asks for your Social Security or [bank] account numbers. We never ask for these things and you should never give them out.”
The Census Is Getting Personal
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RsDhkPym01k
This woman contacted first by showing up at my door and telling me she was with the Census Bureau.
I told her she was a bit late that the Census was taken in 2010 and I/we answered the questions that we chose to answer and if she was here to get us to fill in the blanks that were left, it wasn't going to happen.
Personal note: I've spent many years doing my own and others' genealogy, so I do value many questions on the Census and eternally grateful that my ancestors saw the wisdom in sharing their family history or I wouldn't know anything about them and myself. That having been said, much of what the Census under Obama has clearly been run not with future genealogists or family historians in mind but rather sinister intentions that are beyond the pale.
Now, back to my experience with the Census taker, she said that "a few people had been selected to ask further questions relating to how they arrived at their income" (some of ours is obtained by stocks and bond dividends and would be reflected in our IRS annual tax filing, this was before the recent unlawful dealings with the IRS but I was already aware if IRS being misused and colluding with certain liberal members of congress to get even with opponents), I was polite but firm with her that there would be nothing further forthcoming and she was wasting her time.
She never became threatening nor intimidating as described here but neither did she give up. She not only came back a few more times to, "see if I had changed my mind," then later called numerous times with the same questions.
I have to give her credit, whatever she was being paid, it couldn't have been enough to make that many call backs.
Alex Jones Breaks Down Census Workers Using GPS
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yivI_0U1kI8
I’ve answered every census since 1960 with 2 homosapians and None of your fxxxing business across the rest of the form in red ink.
When they came to the door I told them to get off my property or I would have them arrested for tresspassing and slammed the door.
Their threat of arrest is nothing but BS, they have never followed it up yet.
Just read through the whole thread.
How come fun stuff like this never happens to me?
:-(