by Bob Greenslade
Note, this letter was sent to the Census bureau on 03-19-10. Â To date, no response has been received.
Dear Census Bureau:
This is in response to your 2010 Census form. Since the answers to some of your questions exceed the space provided, all the answers are attached to the form in a separate document.
A review of Article I, Section 2, Clause 3 of the Constitution for the United States shows me that:
- An enumeration of the population is the only power granted to Congress by this Clause.
- Apportioning direct taxes and representatives among the several States is the sole purpose of the power granted to Congress by this Clause.
- Congress’s authority to make laws concerning the Census is contained in this Clause and restricted to prescribing the “manner†for conducting the “actual enumeration.â€
Since the Census Bureau, not Congress, is responsible for drafting the content of the 2010 Census form questions for this provision of the Constitution, it is proper to answer some of the questions accordingly.
Signed as a resident of the street address listed on your form.
The 10 Census Questions and My Answers
Question 1—How many people were living or staying in this house, apartment, or mobile home on April 1, 2010?
Answer—
Gave them the number because they are constitutionally entitled to take an enumeration.
Question 2— Were there any additional people staying here April 1, 2010 that you did not include in Question 1?
Answer—
Answered this question because it is connected to the enumeration in question 1.
Question 3—Is this house, apartment, or mobile home: owned with mortgage, owned without mortgage, rented, occupied without rent?
Answer—
To the best of my knowledge, this question is improper and a general information request because ascertaining housing status is not necessary and proper for putting the enumeration contained in Article I, Section 2, Clause 3 into effect.
However, if your agency can show how ascertaining housing status is necessary and proper for putting the enumeration contained in Article I, Section 2, Clause 3 into effect, this residence will be happy to change this answer.
Since your agency drafted the content of this question, please include the factual basis for your determination that the information requested in this question was necessary and proper for putting the enumeration contained in Article I, Section 2, Clause 3 into effect.
Question 4—What is your telephone number?
Answer—
To the best of my knowledge, this question is improper and a general information request because ascertaining a telephone number is not necessary and proper for putting the enumeration contained in Article I, Section 2, Clause 3 into effect.
However, if your agency can show how ascertaining a telephone number is necessary and proper for putting the enumeration contained in Article I, Section 2, Clause 3 into effect, this residence will be happy to change this answer.
Since your agency drafted the content of this question, please include the factual basis for your determination that the information requested in this question was necessary and proper for putting the enumeration contained in Article I, Section 2, Clause 3 into effect.
Question 5—Please provide information for each person living here. Start with a person here who owns or rents this house, apartment, or mobile home. If the owner or renter lives somewhere else, start with any adult living here. This will be Person 1. What is Person 1’s name?
Answer—
To the best of my knowledge, this question is improper and a general information request because ascertaining someone’s name is not necessary and proper for putting the enumeration contained in Article I, Section 2, Clause 3 into effect.
However, if your agency can show how ascertaining someone’s name is necessary and proper for putting the enumeration contained in Article I, Section 2, Clause 3 into effect, this residence will be happy to change this answer.
Since your agency drafted the content of this question, please include the factual basis for your determination that the information requested in this question was necessary and proper for putting the enumeration contained in Article I, Section 2, Clause 3 into effect.
Question 6—What is Person 1’s sex?
Answer—
To the best of my knowledge, this question is improper and a general information request because ascertaining someone’s sex is not necessary and proper for putting the enumeration contained in Article I, Section 2, Clause 3 into effect.
However, if your agency can show how ascertaining someone’s sex is necessary and proper for putting the enumeration contained in Article I, Section 2, Clause 3 into effect, this residence will be happy to change this answer.
Since your agency drafted the content of this question, please include the factual basis for your determination that the information requested in this question was necessary and proper for putting the enumeration contained in Article I, Section 2, Clause 3 into effect.
Question 7—What is Person 1’s age and Date of Birth?
Answer—
To the best of my knowledge, this question is improper and a general information request because ascertaining someone’s date of birth is not necessary and proper for putting the enumeration contained in Article I, Section 2, Clause 3 into effect.
However, if your agency can show how ascertaining someone’s date of birth is necessary and proper for putting the enumeration contained in Article I, Section 2, Clause 3 into effect, this residence will be happy to change this answer.
Since your agency drafted the content of this question, please include the factual basis for your determination that the information requested in this question was necessary and proper for putting the enumeration contained in Article I, Section 2, Clause 3 into effect.
Question 8—Is Person 1 of Hispanic, Latino or Spanish origin?
Answer—
To the best of my knowledge, this question is improper and a general information request because ascertaining if someone is of Hispanic, Latino or Spanish origin is not necessary and proper for putting the enumeration contained in Article I, Section 2, Clause 3 into effect.
However, if your agency can show how ascertaining if someone is of Hispanic, Latino or Spanish origin is necessary and proper for putting the enumeration contained in Article I, Section 2, Clause 3 into effect, this residence will be happy to change this answer.
Since your agency drafted the content of this question, please include the factual basis for your determination that the information requested in this question was necessary and proper for putting the enumeration contained in Article I, Section 2, Clause 3 into effect.
John Taylor of Caroline, Tyranny Unmasked
Answer—
To the best of my knowledge, this question is improper and a general information request because ascertaining someone’s race is not necessary and proper for putting the enumeration contained in Article I, Section 2, Clause 3 into effect.
However, if your agency can show how ascertaining someone’s race is necessary and proper for putting the enumeration contained in Article I, Section 2, Clause 3 into effect, this residence will be happy to change this answer.
Since your agency drafted the content of this question, please include the factual basis for your determination that the information requested in this question was necessary and proper for putting the enumeration contained in Article I, Section 2, Clause 3 into effect.
Question 10—Does Person 1 sometimes live or stay somewhere else?
Answer—
The individuals listed in answer number 1 are citizens of the Republic of California and permanently reside at the address listed on this form.
The Basis for My Reply and Answers (not included in the response)
The provision for the Census is found in Article I, Section 2, Clause 3 of the Constitution for the United States. A breakdown of this Clause shows:
- An enumeration of the population is the only constitutional power granted to Congress by this Clause.
- Apportioning direct taxes and representatives among the several States is the sole purpose of the power granted to Congress by this Clause.
- Congress’s authority to make laws concerning the Census is contained in this Clause and restricted to prescribing the “manner†for conducting the “actual enumeration.â€
- The penalty provision, according to statements by the Census Bureau, is found in United States Code, Title 13, Section 221. A breakdown of Section 221 (a) shows that in order for a penalty to apply:
- You must be over eighteen years of age and refuse or willfully neglect to answer, to the best of your knowledge, any of the Census form questions.
- According to Section 221, there cannot be a penalty of any kind if you answer to the best of your knowledge.
- The Oxford English Dictionary gives a broad definition of the word “knowledge†and states it can have a wide range of meanings and applications:
“(i) expertise, and skills acquired by a person through experience or education; the theoretical or practical understanding of a subject; (ii) what is known in a particular field or in total; facts and information; or (iii) awareness or familiarity gained by experience of a fact or situation.â€
- Section 1 of Title 13, which provides the definitions for terms used in that Title, does not contain a special definition of the word “knowledge.†Thus, the common definition of the word must apply.
- If someone asked me to answer, to the best of my knowledge, whether the sun rises in the north or the south, what would be the proper response? Since, based on personal knowledge, I know the sun rises in the east, it would be improper to answer the question as posed. The correct response would be to object to the question as being improper and state why.
- Based on my research, the federal government is claiming Article I, Section 8, Clause 18, commonly known as the “Necessary and Proper Clause,†grants them the constitutional authority to make the additional information requests under the guise of the Census.
Because of the above, I incorporated the words “necessary and proper†and the words “into effect†into some of my answers.
Bob Greenslade [send him email] has been writing for www.thepriceofliberty.org since 2003.
You did more than I did. I answered question 1 with the number of people residing at my address then wrote to the side of that the “X adults” and “X children.” I sent it off with only that information. Like you, I haven’t hear anything either.
I simply answered the first two questions, number of people, and did anyone else live at this address, that's it, for all other questions I answered fifth amendment, and to top it off I inserted a 5×11 copy of the Gadsden flag, to shake things up. Its time for a civil and continuous uprising against this fascist government.
You all must be very proud of yourselves. Paranoid much?
Kudos to you Bob. Slap them in the face with their own rules. I love it.
I'm filling mine out the same way.
I tore mine up and threw it in the trash where it belongs.
I put mine in my shredder but that only creates more problems as now I have someone knocking on my door daily and leaving notes. They claim they need 10 minutes of my time to get the answers. Can you believe it, teh government is paying someone big bucks to actually go door to door and ask personal questions?
I discovered through answering their race questions as accurately as possible, I have a very diverse household consisting of a wonderful combination of Anglo-Saxon, Scottish, Nordic, Teutonic, and Texan ethnicity.
Great answers, but of course the people transcribing them probably could care less, have no idea what you are talking about and probably just said "whatever – next .. is it 5:00 yet?"
Of course I have no idea who to contact about it though.
Mine is in the trash and that is where it will stay. from my past experience I will fill out the 2nd one with only the number of people living here….that is all nothing more nothing less. FU*K OBAMA and his commies in the federal government
I have been thinking I would answer all the questions, I am proud to have 100 Sons of Liberty living here with me, I also have 25 Kenya expatriots living in my basement. They have there wives and children with them and I will have to try to get an exact count and ages with birthdays. They say they are so proud to have one of their own as president of this great nation, where they get free food stamps and medical care, they may never leave. Of course I will have to get all their cell phone numbers too, but hey thats just being patriotic, I will do my duty.
I like that answer, if answers is what they want, give them more then they bargain for.
Thought you might like some more information so I ask that
you look up Public Law 62-5, you may find that just as interesting
as what you have already stated in your post.
Did you get beat up in school a lot?
Well, unlike most of you, I not only filled out my census form and mailed it back promptly, but I was seriously disappointed in the lack of interesting questions to answer. As a genealogists, one of my favorite things to do is pull all the little scraps of information from a series of census forms about a person and be able to "create" an understanding of the person's life. All anyone will be able to do 100 years from now is to verify that I was alive. Not much there to help them 'get to know' the person that I am!! How disappointing is that??
I guess I just do not see a conspiracy under every bush (no pun intended….)
No one stops you from handing all your information to them. In fact, go ahead and send in your life story if you want but other people feel they have a right to decide not to do such a thing. That is what this is about. No one has suggested that death camps are going to be instituted but the issue is the government breaking the law and requiring us to fill out information that we don't want to give out. What if the government asked a question "how many times a week to you self-pleasure yourself?" Would you send that off with so much enthusiasm knowing that a hundred years from now someone will be able to construct what your sex life is like by that answer?
Also, would you have answered so dutifully if the people asking those question were not wearing a govt. uniform. Imagine if it was your neighbor. WOuld you answer your neigbor's questions or would you tell him to go to hell?
Damn it, I wish I had read this before sending in mine. I would have copied and pasted (with the author's permission, of course) these answers. Brilliant job, Bob!
Like Beverly, I too dabble in genealogy research, and I have noticed that even in the 1790 U.S. census, the listings include the name of the “Head of Household,” and a breakdown by number of the number of males and females by various age groups (under 8, over 16, etc.), and the 1810 census asked for the names and ages, gender, marital status, occupation, and relationship to “Head of Household.” Even in some of the censuses prior to 1860, in addition to the questions asked in the 1810 census, the residents were asked how long they had been married, what their net worth was, where they worked, where their parents were born, and what language was spoken in the home.
While I agree with you that anything over a strict enumeration is not authorized by the Constitution, it is noteworthy that even in the first official U.S. census in 1790, more information was asked than just an enumeration, so this demand for much more information than simply the number of bodies in a residence is not a recent occurrance, although the so-called “long form” which asks for the number of bathrooms, running water, etc. is getting quite far-fetched.
So I have been trying to remember the two census, but I do not. Perhaps someone can answer this question: were they questionaires which were mailed out or were they actually conducted by people going door to door?
When I received my form I too was displeased that it wanted not only MY information, but that of my children as well. I did not complete and return it either because frankly, I don't care who wants to know what about me in a hundred years. The people I think need to know about me will be my decendants and I will leave them my legacy. I will not rely upon our government to provide them information about me.
Dave, I will not argue your points about census data taken 200+ years ago. They did ask for names and much other information back in the day. Proper representation could only be calculated based upon census data.
BUT they weren't as connected as we are today. People back then liked their government a whole lot more than we do today. Think about a few short years earlier they'd just thrown off what they saw as the tyranny of their over-taxing British government. Today our government knows more about us than we know. Today we've come full circle to a point where our government is much more taxing than that of King George III.
Personally, I don't trust any of them, and really wish the rest of the country would get off their 'poor me' whining butts and put some nobodys off the street in the Washington offices. But our society has become an entitlement society proven by the campaign slogan "Yes, we can".
Thank you all for listening to this kook and not mailing in your census. Now the census bureau will have to send out people to you homes which will cost me and every tax payer money. You folks are probably same ones who bitch about government spending.
Don:
You are clueless, sir. You are free to be so, but to disparage those who value their privacy & Liberty, shame on you. Bone up on your history lessons. In the 20th century, more citizens were murdered by their own governements – some 150-200 million, more than in every 'nation vs. nation' war combined.
Think: Isn't is your own government that is closes to you, if it goes totalitarian, that can hurt you the most ? Islamic terrorist threats are pale in comparison.
Now I suppose if you look to government as your personal Savior – really an Anti-Christ (as in 'in place of Christ – a faux substitute), then your comments make perfect sense.
Idolatrous governments always try to gain unauthorized information about their worshippers – a paen to the Omniscience of the real God, Jehovah & his Son Jesus Christ.
The difference is this: God sacrficed His son, to save others from death & hell. The State will sacrifice it's slaves (like you ?) to save itself – the opposite Principle of Christianity !
Strong evidence that the 'almighty State' is run by Satan, and he deceives those who submit to him.
As the Scripture prophecies say, when a nation is under judgement….'God will send them a strong delusion….so that they will believe the lie….."
Go ahead, fill out that form with pride……….
Texas Minuteman
III – We Are Everywhere
Your justification based on Christianity is stale and lacks backing by any actual fact, be that scripture or any ACTUAL facts. If you take Jesus' message apropos his ideology and teachings would fall much closer to those of the "commie bastard" spectrum.
You seem like a constitutional trueist, and that is a very sad sad thing. The constitution was written over two hundred years ago -oh how the times have changed. The English language itself has shifted so much from when the constitution was written than it should be considered null and void given it has never been revamped or modernized.
You are a joke; quit hiding behind Jesus and conservative neo-Nazism so you can curb your subconscious racism/xenophobia/bigotry for at least a day.
We will mail it in when it is correct. The form they have sent us is not correct and needs to be redone.
Don: it is people like you who just sit around and do NOTHING and complain about those of us that care about government interference. GET EDUCATED and open up your eyes. Apparently you are the kook that sits around and watches TV all day and still not know what is happening with our economy, or care about immigration,etc. Its lazy asses like you that are not worth the trouble of fighting for. As for costing you tax payer money–(when they have to send out people to collect that info) –why aren't you complaining about obama's healthcare; which is going to cost you much more.!!! Maybe you should think about becoming a politician—-send you don't mind government spending—especially if you are the one screwing the American people. By the way, YOU ARE GOING TO PAY FOR THESE INDIVIDUALS WHO ARE HAVING TO GO DOOR TO DOOR TO COLLECT THESE CENSUS, SINCE ILLEGAL ALIENS -who don't speak English- ARE REQUIRED TO ANSWER those Census. SO —what do you have to say now?? Dummy!!
I completed mine as follows (I received the short form):
1–I provided the number of human beings (not pets if any) residing.
2–I responded whether or not there was anyone not counted in #1.
Those two questions, IMHO, pertain to the Constitutional requirements for the Census.
Every other question (including name and phone number) I responded "WILL NOT PROVIDE" (except for #9, the one on race, where I answered "HUMAN").
Any Census worker who shows up will be pointed to the "No Soliciting" sign on the door, if they do not leave, I will call the local police and inform them I have a solicitor who will not leave.
Bravo to you sir, love your approach.
You are surely part of 'We The People' !
Are you busy on April 15th or April 19th ? There are 2nd Amendment TEA Parties in many states & capitols, and near DC (in nearby VA where guns may be carried).
See you there,
Texas Minuteman
III – We Are Everywhere
More info:
http://www.RestoreTheConstitution.Wordpress.com "near DC in Virginia" Armed on Patriots Day April 19th, 2010
http://www.SecondAmendmentMarch.com 'check for one near you'
http://www.SipseyStreetIrregulars.Blogspot.com Updates daily on the movement
We simply answered the number of people residing in the house. That's all the Constitution requires.
On the other questions, we marked the unConstitutionality of the questions.
We did not answer any of the 'race' questions, because they are biased towards only certain races or national ancestry. We should all be simply AMERICAN, and if not, those who aren't should go home!
I too, only answered the number of people living in my home. I left the other blank because it is not my responsibility to inform them that they are asking questions outside the scope of their authority. If they want to prosecute me I have no problem filing a Title 42 1983 lawsuit against the Census Bureau… of course I doubt they'll bother to follow up since I work odd hours and will disappear up to either my parents or grandparents ranch or to my boyriends grandparents property for days/weeks at a time… come to think of it I really wonder why I bother owning my own home at times…
Beer coaster!
Prior to mailing our census form we received a notice in the mail that the form was coming. Later a person actually delivered the form to our door. A few days after that, a lady came to the door to ask us some questions about the census. She was able to ask one question before I sent her on her way. The one question was, "What is the physical address of this house?" I told her, "The address is on the sign at the end of the driveway." She said, "No, you have to tell me." I said, "No, you can read the sign." That ended that conversation. A few days later, I received another notice in the mail about the census. So, before mailing the census on April 1, we had 4 communications from the Commerce Dept about the census! Seems to me the government could save some money and cut down on all of these communications. Oh! And, I only answered question #1. Did you know in order to get people to work in Aspen, they had to put them up in $200/night hotel rooms there? Now, a $200/night hotel room in Aspen is probably a Super 8, but still . . . . .
census should be there to check out weather the country is developing or not. Many things are calculated by census. Nation's economical status can also be checked by census. So it is necessary to take part in census.
I just had a census worker do a followup. I gave her the information on Question 1 (there are two people), then when she asked about age, gender, and race, I told her that I did not have to provide that information under the Constitution. She politely said "thank you" and walked off without incident.
What kind of a crazy, messed up world do you live in where there's some insidious purpose behind the freaking census? Yes, you're entitled to answer the way you did (there's no law against being a jackass), and likewise, they are entitled to ask those questions (provided they don't force you to respond, as apparently they did not), even if they are not explicitly given the power to demand the answers to them.
Why precisely do you object to the government knowing this information? How are they supposed to provide services if they don't have a reasonably good idea of the demographic they are serving? Honestly, the more the government knows about its citizens the better. Privacy, not patriotism, is the last refuge of scoundrels