June 28, 2009
BIASED ACORN TO HELP CONDUCT NATIONAL CENSUS
Within President Barack Obama’s first week in office, the Congressional Quarterly -- and Fox News – both reported he would give the Census Bureau director a direct line to the White House so the director can “work closely” with the senior staff.
Heretofore, the non-political decennial census -- established by the United States Constitution -- has been conducted by the Commerce Department to allocate funds for expediting inter-state business.
Republicans swooned into double-fits when Obama’s chief of staff was named: Rahm Emanuel, former Congressman and chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.
The Census Bureau is working with several organizations to help recruit 1.4 million workers to conduct the 2010 census next February. One of the soliciting groups is ACORN (Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now.)
The Bureau currently employs help from more than 250 “national partners.” These include TARGET and the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.)
Approximately 1.4 million workers will be needed to go door-to-door and count an expected 306 million people in the United States.
WHY ACORN?
The Wall Street Journal reports that Rep. Patrick McHenry of North Carolina, ranking Republican on the panel that oversees the Census Bureau, is demanding that the bureau explain how the partnership with ACORN fits its stated mission of selecting partners that will not “distract from the Census Bureau’s mission.”
Other conservatives also would like to see the Census Bureau sever its ties to ACORN.
Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) said in an interview that he plans to introduce a bill requiring mail carriers to count the population as a way of keeping ACORN out of the process.
Census Bureau officials said ACORN is one of 40,000 participants in its partners program. Others include Target Corp., Goodwill Industries and Telemundo, the Spanish-language TV network.
Click here for Census Bureau Partner website
STATISTICAL SAMPLING
President Obama proposes that Dr. Robert Groves -- an expert in statistical sampling -- head the Census Bureau. This alarms Republicans who contend the U.S. Constitution bars sampling for the count. The Obama administration, and Groves, assures that sampling will not be used.
Commerce Secretary Gary Locke and Maine Republican Sen. Susan Collins have called for Groves immediate confirmation.
For an interesting comparison with the last census, click here to view the column of February 20, 2000: “More Than Score Card Needed In This Unusual Election.”
By Lindsey Wilger Williams, retired newspaper publisher and syndicated columnist
