Date: Tue, 21 Mar 2000 12:12:16 -0700
From: apfanning@psn.net ("Alan Fanning")
Subject: [lpaz-discuss] The Federalist on the Census
To: lpaz-discuss@onelist.com ("lpaz-discuss")
Reply-To: lpaz-discuss@onelist.com
From: "Alan Fanning" <apfanning@psn.net>
Not just libertarians think the census forms go over the line at being
nosy. Maybe if everyone just answered the one Constitutional question,
no one would end up being fined for leaving the rest blank.
--Alan
People dream of making the virtuous powerful, so they can depend upon
them. Since they cannot do that, people choose to make the powerful
virtuous, glorifying in becoming victimized by them.
- Thomas Szasz
<snip>
NON-CENSUS!
"Will you get your share?" asks a TV campaign prompting viewers to
complete their census forms. That little enticement for "entitlement"
is reinforced by this note at the top of each form: "Complete the
Census and help your community get what it needs -- today and in the
future." Translation: send the IRS 20-40 percent of your earnings, and
if you fill out your census form, your state and local government may
get back 5-10 percent. What a deal!
Perhaps there is no more succinct example of how radically the current
central government has departed from that envisioned by our Founders
in the Constitution and its defining exposition, The Federalist
Papers. Many of our readers have asked us how our Editorial Board is
handling the invasive and unconstitutional questions in the current
census form.
As stipulated in Article I, Section 2, paragraph 3 (and later, in
Section 2 of the 1868 Fourteenth Amendment), the purpose of the
enumeration every 10 years is to revise the allocation of seats in the
U.S. House of Representatives among the states. In other words, the
Constitution provides that a count be made of all the people in each
state -- and nothing more.
Ironically -- as the current census purports to also be related to the
apportionment of government largess -- in opposition is Article I,
Section 9, paragraph 4, which stipulates that any direct tax must be
levied equally per capita "in Proportion to the Census (as opposed to
in proportion to one's personal income) herein before directed to be
taken." Thus, any budget deficits resulting from insufficient
revenues from "Taxes, Duties, Imposts, and Excises," as ordered in
Article I, Section 1, paragraph 1, are to be paid by each state's
residents in proportion to that state's fraction of the census.
Of course, such a notion as per capita taxation was craftily set aside
by the 16th Amendment, and now the census is being used as an
instrument to determine how to dispense government largess to
"special" (read Democrat) constituencies.
As if the "short form" was not sufficiently intrusive, 1 out of 6
American households is subjected to the "long form" requiring answers
to more than 53 personal questions -- 52 more than the Constitution
requires. And 1 out of 100 households receives an even more detailed
questionnaire, "The American
Community Survey." That form requires answers on "physical, mental, or
emotional conditions lasting 6 months or more." (But, don't worry,
you can trust Bill and Al, the "File-gate" masterminds, to protect
your secrets.)
As for how members of The Federalist Editorial Board answered their
census forms, we note that U.S. Code, Title 13, Section 221 states
citizens must fully comply with the census or face a $100 fine. So,
most of us answered the one question required by the Constitution --
the number of people in our household. A few of us also elected to
respond to the question about race -- under the "other" category for
each occupant, we noted: "human."
<snip>
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women, political analysts and policy experts who possess impeccable
professional and academic credentials. We are -- first and foremost --
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truths set forth in our nation's Founding documents through our
Judeo-Christian heritage. We are not an instrument of any political
party. You will note that The Federalist's opinion and feature
sections are published without attribution, consistent with our
objective of humilitas. Questions or comments about The Federalist may
be directed to the Executive Editor, Mark Alexander.
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