Musings from Brian J. Noggle: The Hundred Dollar Opt-Out

The Hundred Dollar Opt-Out

Of course, we know about this, but I see fit to remind everyone that the United States Census Bureau, designed to enumerate people in the various states and districts, has expanded its mission to collect a wealth of information, including:

Which best describes this building?
About when was this building first built?
When did Person 1 (listed in the List of Residents on page 2) move into this house, apartment, or mobile home?
How many acres is this house or mobile home on?
In the past 12 months, what were the actual sales of all agricultural products from this property?
Is there a business (such as a store or barber shop) or a medical office on this property?
How many rooms are in this house, apartment, or mobile home?
How many bedrooms are in this house, apartment, or mobile home; that is, how many bedrooms would you list if this house, apartment, or mobile home were on the market for sale or rent?
Does this house, apartment, or mobile home have complete plumbing facilities; that is (1) hot and cold piped water, (2) a flush toilet, and (3) a bathtub or shower?
Does this house, apartment, or mobile home have complete kitchen facilities; that is, (1) a sink with piped water, (2) a stove or range, and (3) a refrigerator?
Is there telephone service available in this house, apartment, or mobile home from which you can both make and receive calls.
How many automobiles, vans, and trucks of one-ton capacity or less are kept at home for use by members of this household?
Which fuel is used most for heating this house, apartment, or mobile home?
Last month, what was the cost of electricity for this house, apartment, or mobile home?
At any time during the past 12 months, did anyone in this household receive Food Stamps?
In this house, apartment, or mobile home part of a condominium?
Is this house, apartment, or mobile home–Owned by you or someone in this household with a mortgage or loan? Owned by you or someone in this household free and clear (without a mortgage or loan)? Rented for cash rent? Occupied without payment of cash rent?
What is the monthly rent for this house, apartment, or mobile home?
What is the value of this property; that is, how much do you think this house and lot, apartment, or mobile home and lot, would sell for if it were for sale?
What are the annual real estate taxes on this property?
What is the annual payment for fire, hazard, and flood insurance on this property?
Do you or any member of this household have a mortgage, deed of trust, contract to purchase, or similar debt on this property?
Do you or any member of this household have a second mortgage or a home equity loan on this property?
What are the total annual costs for personal property taxes, site rent, registration fees, and license fees on this mobile home and its site?
Do you or any member of this household live or stay at this address year round?
What is the person's sex?
What is this person's age and what is this person's date of birth?
How is this person related to Person 1?
What is this person's marital status?
Is this person Spanish/Hispanic/Latino?
What is this person's race?
Where was this person born?
Is this person a citizen of the United States?
When did this person come to live in the United States?
At any time in the last 3 months, has this person attended regular school or college?
What is the highest degree or level of school this person has completed?
What is this person's ancestry or ethnic origin?
Does this person speak a language other than English at home?
Did this person live in this house or apartment 1 year ago?
Does this person have any of the following long-lasting conditions?
Because of a physical, mental, or emotional condition lasting 6 months or more, does this person have any difficulty in doing any of the following activities?
Because of a physical, mental, or emotional condition lasting 6 months or more, does this person have any difficulty in doing any of the following activities?
Has this person given birth to any children in the past 12 months?
Does this person have any of his/her own grandchildren under the age of 18 living in this house or apartment?
Has this person ever served on active duty in the U.S. Armed Forces, military Reserves, or National Guard?
When did this person serve on active duty in the U.S. Armed Forces?
In total, how many years of active-duty military service has this person had?
Last week, did this person do any work for either pay or profit?
Last week, was this person on layoff from a job?
Has this person been looking for work during the last 4 weeks?
Last week, could this person have started a job if offered one, or returned to work if recalled?
When did the person last work, even for a few days?
At what location did this person work last week?
How did this person usually get to work last week?
How many people, including this person usually rode to work in the car, truck, or van last week?
What time did this person usually leave home to go to work last week?
How many minutes did it usually take this person to get from home to work last week?
During the past 12 months, how many weeks did this person work?
During the past 12 months, in the weeks worked, how many hours did this person usually work each week?
Was this person–Mark (X) in one box.
For whom did this person work?
What kind of business or industry was this?
Is this mainly–Mark (X) in one box.
What kind of work was this person doing?
What were this person's most important activities or duties?
Income in the past 12 months.
What was this person's total income during the past 12 months?

You see, this has not so much to do with counting citizens to determine how to reapportion congressional representation; no, it's intrusive nature is designed to provide data on whom the government could serve with more wealth-redistribution programs. And don't worry, the Census Bureau assures you that it won't use your information for anything other than the aggregation of population trends. Until such time as it changes its rules, of course.

One cannot find irony in a wasteful, intrusive federal program designed to provide statistics to support and encourage further wasteful, intrusive federal programs; it's the profligate consistency that is the hobgoblin of bureacratic minds.

If you're concerned about your privacy, don't worry. You don't have to fill it out if you get one. Title 13 Section 221 explains the opt-out procedure:

(a) Whoever, being over eighteen years of age, refuses or willfully neglects, when requested by the Secretary, or by any other authorized officer or employee of the Department of Commerce or bureau or agency thereof acting under the instructions of the Secretary or authorized officer, to answer, to the best of his knowledge, any of the questions on any schedule submitted to him in connection with any census or survey provided for by subchapters I, II, IV, and V of chapter 5 of this title, applying to himself or to the family to which he belongs or is related, or to the farm or farms of which he or his family is the occupant, shall be fined not more than $100.

There you have it. Describe your plumbing, in detail, on demand or face the criminal sanction, ~~comrade~~ citizen.

(Added to the Outside the Beltway Traffic Jam.)

- posted by Brian J. @ 1:25 PM