The reason people don't like this is because the law requiring people to answer all of the questions is, very likely, unconstitutional. Not that they haven't been usurping the Constitution on a regular basis already, but enough is enough. If we sheepishly let them chip away again at this part of the Constitution, that along with the legal requirement for lawful residence being that you have to purchase a government-backed product in health insurance, then the Constitution's days are numbered.
There are basically four types of questions on the Census. The first is explicitly Constitutional, the number of people living there. This first type of question is obviously legitimate, speaking directly to the point of the census as required by the Constitution.
The second type is about whether those people sometimes live elsewhere. While not necessarily explicitly Constitutional, is arguably legitimate, as it can aid in preventing double-counting.
The third type is individual identification: name, phone number. This personal identifying information is arguably legitimate as well, for the same basic reason: helping to get an accurate count. Naming each person can aid in listing all the people properly, and the phone number might be used for clarification, if necessary. It's a little troubling that they want this personally identifiable information, but as has been noted, it's not like they don't have that information already, so it's really not a problem.
It's the fourth type that is problematic, the demographic information which the federal government states is solely for the purposes of tailoring government programs instead of enumeration. The constitutional purpose of the census is not served with these questions: sex, age, date of birth, race, ethnicity, relationship, housing tenure, home ownership, etc. The answers to these questions have no bearing on tax distribution for schools, school and legislature districts, or in selecting the proper number of House Representatives. Even presenting it as a feel-good thing for people to get their fair share of government programs, it is nonetheless purely for political purposes.
An interesting, and telling thing about the Census is just how ubiquitous the government and government-sponsored Web sites show up at the top of Google searches dealing with the Census. These are not showing up at the top of the search results because they are the most popular sites, I guarantee you. They all espouse either the feel-geed reasons for completely filling out the Census, or they prominently list the penalties for not doing so in a "do this, or else!" manner. The search results are so blatantly orchestrated that it's laughable if it weren't so troubling.
There are basically four types of questions on the Census. The first is explicitly Constitutional, the number of people living there. This first type of question is obviously legitimate, speaking directly to the point of the census as required by the Constitution.
The second type is about whether those people sometimes live elsewhere. While not necessarily explicitly Constitutional, is arguably legitimate, as it can aid in preventing double-counting.
The third type is individual identification: name, phone number. This personal identifying information is arguably legitimate as well, for the same basic reason: helping to get an accurate count. Naming each person can aid in listing all the people properly, and the phone number might be used for clarification, if necessary. It's a little troubling that they want this personally identifiable information, but as has been noted, it's not like they don't have that information already, so it's really not a problem.
It's the fourth type that is problematic, the demographic information which the federal government states is solely for the purposes of tailoring government programs instead of enumeration. The constitutional purpose of the census is not served with these questions: sex, age, date of birth, race, ethnicity, relationship, housing tenure, home ownership, etc. The answers to these questions have no bearing on tax distribution for schools, school and legislature districts, or in selecting the proper number of House Representatives. Even presenting it as a feel-good thing for people to get their fair share of government programs, it is nonetheless purely for political purposes.
An interesting, and telling thing about the Census is just how ubiquitous the government and government-sponsored Web sites show up at the top of Google searches dealing with the Census. These are not showing up at the top of the search results because they are the most popular sites, I guarantee you. They all espouse either the feel-geed reasons for completely filling out the Census, or they prominently list the penalties for not doing so in a "do this, or else!" manner. The search results are so blatantly orchestrated that it's laughable if it weren't so troubling.
