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Dead Constitution
See other Dead Constitution Articles

Title: Letter from the Census Bureau
Source: [None]
URL Source: [None]
Published: Mar 12, 2010
Author: me
Post Date: 2010-03-12 20:05:00 by F.A. Hayek Fan
Keywords: None
Views: 649
Comments: 53

So when I got home tonight I found a letter waiting for me from the Census Bureau, telling me that I should fill out all of the information on the census form so that my town can get it's "fair share" of governmental goodies.

I don't know about anyone else, but the only thing I am filling out on that form is how many people live in my home. When they send a live person to my home, then I am going to ask them if they have a warrant. When they tell me they do not need one then I will plead the 5th and shut the door on their faces. I am ready to take this as far as I can take it in the court system.

Post Comment   Private Reply   Ignore Thread  

#1. To: F.A. Hayek Fan (#0)

Good for you F.A. Hayek Fan.

I too am only declaring the number of people in the household and no more. I heard an ad on the radio today asking people to fill out the form completely or it will cost the goobermint $57 to send a person to our homes to collect data...no mention on what authority these goobermint workers have to collect this personal data. Of course, that mantra about funds for your town was loud and clear.

"The conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organized habits and opinions of the masses is an important element in democratic society. Those who manipulate this unseen mechanism of society constitute an invisible government which is the true ruling power of our country. ... We are governed, our minds are molded, our tastes formed, our ideas suggested, largely by men we have never heard of." Edward Bernays, Father of Public Relations

abraxas  posted on  2010-03-12   20:12:54 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  

So when I got home tonight I found a letter waiting for me from the Census Bureau, telling me that I should fill out all of the information on the census form so that my town can get it's "fair share" of governmental goodies.

If I got one of those letters and the spirit moved me to reply to it I would tell them something along the lines of "The purpose of the census is to determine the number of people in a given district so that each district will be sure to have its own rat b@$tard congressman/congresswoman. It is not for the purpose of divvying up any shares of government goodies, fair or otherwise. I will tell you the number of people who live here and that is adequate information for the purpose of the census and all the information you will get from me."

Liberty is not a means to a higher political end. It is itself the highest political end.
Lord Acton

James Deffenbach  posted on  2010-03-12   20:19:38 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  

I too am only declaring the number of people in the household and no more. I heard an ad on the radio today asking people to fill out the form completely or it will cost the goobermint $57 to send a person to our homes to collect data.

If that is true, and if it was true ten years ago, they wasted that 57 bucks they spent on that guy who came to my door.

Liberty is not a means to a higher political end. It is itself the highest political end.
Lord Acton

James Deffenbach  posted on  2010-03-12   20:20:55 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  

I have no doubt that you will be getting one sooner or later. From my understanding, they are sending them out to everyone.

"The Central Intelligence Agency owns everyone of any significance in the major media." ~ William Colby, Director, CIA 1973–1976

Nothing in the State, everything outside the State, everything against the State - Jan Lester, Escape From Leviathan

"When plunder becomes a way of life for a group of men living together in society, they create for themselves in the course of time a legal system that authorizes it and a moral code that justifies it." - Frederic Bastiat

Good order results spontaneously when things are let alone. - Zhuangzi

F.A. Hayek Fan  posted on  2010-03-12   20:24:35 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  

If that is true, and if it was true ten years ago, they wasted that 57 bucks they spent on that guy who came to my door.

The goobermint wastes money better than any other entity ever has......or ever will. : )

I found the whole cost of sending a person plea comical. How much do they spend tracking down the homeless?

"The conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organized habits and opinions of the masses is an important element in democratic society. Those who manipulate this unseen mechanism of society constitute an invisible government which is the true ruling power of our country. ... We are governed, our minds are molded, our tastes formed, our ideas suggested, largely by men we have never heard of." Edward Bernays, Father of Public Relations

abraxas  posted on  2010-03-12   20:24:35 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  

I think I'm gonna use applicable questions from the 1790 questionnaire. Name of head of household, # of free white males > 16, # of free white males < 16, # of free white females.

Although I appreciate the extra info they added starting in 1850 from a genealogical perspective, pretty much everything beyond 1800 was probably a bit more than the governing document prescribed.

Samuel Gray  posted on  2010-03-12   20:31:25 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  

I agree. My plan is the same. Inform them of how many live here and past that, they can buzz off.

titorite  posted on  2010-03-12   20:36:29 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  

The Public Servant's Questionnaire - use it

Public Law 93-579 states in part: "The purpose of this Act is to provide certain safeguards for an individual against invasion of personal privacy requiring Federal agencies... to permit an individual to determine what records pertaining to him are collected, maintained, used or disseminated by such agencies...."

The following questions are based upon that act and are necessary for this individual to make a reasonable determination concerning divulgence of information to this agency.

1. Name of public servant: _________________________________________________________________

2. Residence address: ____________________________________________________________________

City ___________________________________ State _________ Zip __________

3. Name of department of government, bureau, or agency by which public servant is employed: ____________________________________________________

Supervisor's name: _____________________

4. Office mailing address:_________ ___________________________________

City ____________________________________ State _________ Zip __________

5. Will public servant uphold the Constitution of the United States of America? Yes ______ No ______

6. Did public servant furnish proof of identity? Yes ______ No ______

7. What was the nature of proof? ID No. _____________________ Badge No. _____________________ Driver's License No. _____________________

8. Will public servant furnish a copy of the law or regulation which authorizes this investigation? Yes ______ No ______

9. Will the public servant read aloud that portion of the law authorizing the questions he will ask? Yes ______ No ______

10. Are the citizen's answers voluntary? ______ Or Mandatory? ______

11. Are the questions to be asked based upon a specific law or regulation? ______

or are they being used as a discovery process? ______

12. What other uses may be made of this information? _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ 13. What other agencies may have access to this information? _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ 14. What will be the effect upon me if I should choose to not answer any part of these questions? _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ 15. Name of person in government requesting that this investigation be made? __________________________________________

16. Is this investigation "general?" ______ or is it "special?" ______

Note: By "general" is meant any kind of blanket investigation in which a number of persons are involved because of geography, type of business, sex, religion, race, schooling, income, etc. By "special" is meant any investigation of an individual nature in which others are not involved.

17. Have you consulted, questioned, interviewed, or received information from any third party relative to this investigation? Yes ______ No ______

18. If yes, the identity of all such third parties? _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ 19. Do you reasonably anticipate either a civil or criminal action to be initiated or pursued based upon any of the information which you seek? Yes ______ No ______

20. Is there a file of records, information, or correspondence relating to me being maintained by this agency? Yes ______ No ______

21. Is this agency using any information pertaining to me which was supplied by another agency or government source? Yes______ No ______ If yes, which agencies and/or sources? _________________________________________________________________ 22. Will the public servant guarantee that the information in these files will not be used by any other department other than the one by whom he is employed? Yes ______ No ______

AFFIRMATION BY PUBLIC SERVANT

I, __________________________________________________, swear (or affirm) that the answers I have given to the foregoing questions are complete and correct in every particular.

______________________________________________________ Date: ____/____/____ (Must be signed & dated in ink. This signature should be witnessed by two people, if possible. Citizen may administer an oath if he or she so desires.)

Witness ______________________________________________________ Date: ____/____/____

Witness ______________________________________________________ Date: ____/____/____

Lod  posted on  2010-03-12   20:55:45 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  

Haven't got my letyter yet, just the letter telling me to expect a letter. On the bright side, those letters probably created 75,000 jobs in Baltimore. Isn't Keynseian math fun?

“we were respected as the most disinterested and charitable nation in the world.” - Robert A. Taft

Dakmar  posted on  2010-03-12   21:00:21 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  

Ron Paul introduced a bill back in 2000 to prevent invasion of privacy by government servants on Americans.

Census Privacy Act (HR 4085)

http://lists101.his.com/pipermai...m/2000-August/002450.html

purplerose  posted on  2010-03-12   21:26:23 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  

Here is more info on Ron Paul's Census Privacy Act Bill.

www.house.gov/paul/legis/106/cospon.htm

www.house.gov/paul/legis/106/hr4085.htm

purplerose  posted on  2010-03-12   21:42:02 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  

deleted

The relationship between morality and liberty is a directly proportional one.

Eric Stratton  posted on  2010-03-12   21:44:50 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  

a few weeks back my oldest son got a jury duty notice with it came a questionnaire WRT demographics saying the information was required by a state statute. I looked up the claimed law and all it said was the court was required to include the questionnaire but there was no requirement in the code for one to fill out the questionnaire. I told him to just ignore the questionnaire, which he did to my knowledge the court never pursued the issue.

I got the same letter as you, funny how they skip over just where the funds they claim yours or my community needs a fair share of come from in the first place. hopefully I get one of those long winded census forms, I can write N/A with the best of them.

IRTorqued  posted on  2010-03-12   21:48:54 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  

I never volunteer to respond to junk mail unless it has been personally served on me by legal process.

purplerose  posted on  2010-03-12   22:37:02 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  

My rule of thumb is, if full postage is not paid, shred it without opening.

Lod  posted on  2010-03-12   22:41:12 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  

the closest thing the courts of Texas know about law is how to violate due process.

IRTorqued  posted on  2010-03-13   0:02:20 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  

Here's some info concerning that Public law:

www.supremelaw.org/ref/pl93-579/pl93-579.htm

Disclosure of social security number. Act Dec. 31, 1974,

P.L. 93-579, Section 7, 88 Stat. 1909, provided:

"(a)(1) It shall be unlawful for any Federal, State or

local government agency to deny to any individual any right,

benefit, or privilege provided by law because of such

individual's refusal to disclose his social security account

number.

"(2) the provisions of paragraph (1) of this subsection

shall not apply with respect to --

"(A) any disclosure which is required by Federal

statute, or

"(B) the disclosure of a social security number to any

Federal, State, or local agency maintaining a

system of records in existence and operating

before January 1, 1975, if such disclosure was

required under statute or regulation adopted prior

to such date to verify the identity of an

individual.

"(b) Any Federal, State, or local government agency which

requests an individual to disclose his social security

account number shall inform that individual whether that

disclosure is mandatory or voluntary, by what statutory or

other authority such number is solicited, and what uses will

be made of it."

Comments by Paul Mitchell follow:

Congress deliberately failed to codify this statute in Title 5 of

the United States Code. You will find it embedded at the end of

the historical notes within the Privacy Act. When a government

employee was sued for violating this Act, he asserted ignorance

of the law as his defense. The court upheld this defense, thus

creating an important exception to the general rule that

ignorance of the law is no excuse. My reading of this decision

is that the court was giving silent judicial notice to the fact

that Congress actually "hid" the law; thus, the court's holding

did not really overturn the maxim (ignorance is not excuse); it

merely recognized that fraud vitiates everything, even the most

solemn promises. I have taken this statute and reduced it down

to the size of a standard credit card. Then, I laminated it in

plastic and saved it in my wallet. Later, I gave it away to an

attendee of one of Lynne Meredith's seminars; the attendee was

mostly incredulous that such a law even existed. It is very easy

to make another one. I prefer to take a photocopy right out of

the law books, and to laminate that photocopy. Try it! It is

always very powerful to witness these laws yourself, at the local

county law library. Take this email message down to the

reference librarian, and see if s/he can locate it for you. The

Privacy Act can be found in the reference volume which lists

statutes by name. Good luck!

Paul Andrew Mitchell

November 1996 A.D.

All Rights Reserved

Return to Table of Contents for

Public Law 93-579

purplerose  posted on  2010-03-13   0:11:00 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  

hehehehehe

christine  posted on  2010-03-13   0:18:05 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  

Oh that's everywhere. In 2000 I had a visit from the Census Bureau asking questions like

1. How many exits are in this house?

2. What are your work hours?

3. Where do you work at?

None of these questions had anything to do with taking population polls. My roommate was stupid enough to not ask for id or the name of the agency and their employee badge numbers.

I suddenly made my way to the door and told them to immediately leave because their questions were highly invasive and had nothing to do with counting the household population. I walked them to their car politely and firmly and waited for them to leave. They did leave and I never saw them set foot on the premises again.

I will comply with the census on three questions

my name,

address

number of people living in household and their ages

And that is all.

Anything more than that, I will ask them to supply me a warrant or they must leave.

purplerose  posted on  2010-03-13   0:21:01 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  

I don't understand why you won't come clean with the facts and figures to an 18 dollar/hour off the street employee of the US government. You seem to have an obvious distrust for government. Maybe you can detail why you are so distrustful and make a set of bullet items so we understand your point of view.

If you don't come clean, its 5000 bucks or the slammer for ya.

"Government exists to protect us from each other. Where government has gone beyond its limits is in deciding to protect us from ourselves." -- Ronald Reagan, circa 1977

buckeroo  posted on  2010-03-13   0:22:28 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  

In reference to Lod's post #8, in order for public servants to avoid being sued, they must also be willing to provide answers to citizens concerning the census questions that they want the citizens to volunteer. No federal agent has the right to force citizens to volunteer information. If the information needed is mandatory, and requires more than a simple population poll, then a warrant needs to be shown along with proper badge identification.

http://nonais.org/techdocs/PublicServantQuestionnaire.pdf

Authorities for Questions:

1,2,3,4 In order to be sure you know exactly who you are giving the information to. Residence and business addresses are needed in case you need to serve process in a civil or criminal action upon this individual.

5 All public servants have taken a sworn oath to uphold and defend the constitution.

6,7 This is standard procedure by government agents and officers. See Internal Revenue Manual, MT- 9900-26, Section 242.133.

8,9,10 Title 5 USC 552a, paragraph (e) (3) (A)

11 Title 5 USC 552a, paragraph (d) (5), (e) (1)

12,13 Title 5 USC 552a, paragraph (e) (3) (B), (e) (3) (C)

14 Title 5 USC 552a, paragraph (e) (3) (D)

15 Public Law 93-579 (b) (1)

16 Title 5 USC 552a, paragraph (e) (3) (A)

17,18 Title 5 USC 552a, paragraph (e) (2)

19 Title 5 USC 552a, paragraph (d) (5)

20,21 Public Law 93-579 (b) (1)

22 Title 5 USC 552a, paragraph (d) (1)

23 Title 5 USC 552a, paragraph (e) (10)

purplerose  posted on  2010-03-13   0:38:11 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  

.... in order for public servants to avoid being sued, they must also be willing to provide answers to citizens concerning the census questions that they want the citizens to volunteer.

Oh PSHAW! Since when are contemporary government employees the same as "public servants?" Back in the 1700s?

"Government exists to protect us from each other. Where government has gone beyond its limits is in deciding to protect us from ourselves." -- Ronald Reagan, circa 1977

buckeroo  posted on  2010-03-13   0:41:32 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  

..an obvious distrust for government.

Do you trust a government that lies to it's citizens?

TwentyTwelve  posted on  2010-03-13   0:41:39 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  

Do you trust a government that lies to it's [sic] citizens?

I think your question is far more apropos when suggested this way:

Do you trust a government that is fearful of its own citizenry.

Yes, I do.

"Government exists to protect us from each other. Where government has gone beyond its limits is in deciding to protect us from ourselves." -- Ronald Reagan, circa 1977

buckeroo  posted on  2010-03-13   0:48:16 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  

Government employees are public servants in that they all must take an oath to uphold the state and federal constitutions. All of them take this oath.

purplerose  posted on  2010-03-13   0:50:27 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  

Government employees are public servants in that they all must take an oath to uphold the state and federal constitutions.

Oh golly, gee whiz ... they take an oath at the water cooler to talk about their benefits and future retirement for seven hours a day. Of course they are entitled to an hour lunch break. And ten thousand days off for anything under the Sun: for one month's vacation, jury duty assignment, professional training, dental treatment, doctor's visit, tummy aches and a little stubby toe on the way to work.

Tough life, 'eh?

"Government exists to protect us from each other. Where government has gone beyond its limits is in deciding to protect us from ourselves." -- Ronald Reagan, circa 1977

buckeroo  posted on  2010-03-13   0:57:17 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  

Yep, it's a tough life. True, citizens should comply with the basis of the questions that are appropriate to population census. They do have that obligation.

But if government servants want to make it easier for themselves, they will also comply with the law. Otherwise, they will be served legal process in their little cubicles and sued in their personal capacities. They are not immune from liability.

purplerose  posted on  2010-03-13   1:02:49 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  

True, citizens should comply with the basis of the questions that are appropriate to population census. They do have that obligation.

That is to say: there are only _____ people here.

But if government servants want to make it easier for themselves, they will also comply with the law.

No they won't. They are continuously ridiculed in these chit-chat political forums. Why? Government does nothing in America anymore. And government employees know the same and exhibit the same retardation of so-called "service."

Otherwise, they will be served legal process in their little cubicles and sued in their personal capacities. They are not immune from liability.

Who really gives a damn about that perspective? The US government will extract ten thousand more lawyers to fight and defend for that little government employee than ten thousand bona-fide US citizens.

"Government exists to protect us from each other. Where government has gone beyond its limits is in deciding to protect us from ourselves." -- Ronald Reagan, circa 1977

buckeroo  posted on  2010-03-13   1:17:48 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  

"Who really gives a damn about that perspective?..."

The government servants will when they are personally served in their offices. It has been done many times. I have successfully served these people lawsuits by use of the sheriff, U.S. Marshal service, or by a qualified process server who handles cross state line legal process. Whether they are state or federal servants, they will be sued!

Citizens are expected to uphold the laws.

And that equally applies to public servants.

purplerose  posted on  2010-03-13   1:25:08 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  

Citizens are expected to uphold the laws. And that equally applies to public servants.

Wait a minute. Lets parse your POM-POM waving enthusiasm:

Citizens are expected to uphold the laws.

But you neglected that the People pay for the fiasco of the same laws that lock-jaw this nation.

And that equally applies to public servants.

There are no public servants. There are none. All there are ... government employees looking for guaranteed personal benefits.

"Government exists to protect us from each other. Where government has gone beyond its limits is in deciding to protect us from ourselves." -- Ronald Reagan, circa 1977

buckeroo  posted on  2010-03-13   1:34:05 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  

Most had no choice in being a "citizen" of the US of A. I had no such choice. Given the choice I would be a citizen of no nation. Sometimes I get mad at God for letting evil people rule Earth. Hard to understand.

God is always good!

RickyJ  posted on  2010-03-13   1:41:20 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  

There are no public servants. There are none. All there are ... government employees looking for guaranteed personal benefits.

If there were no public servants there would be no oaths to be administered either and we would have no government in place. Government employees are public servants. As public servants they swear an oath to uphold the constitution(s) and laws.

purplerose  posted on  2010-03-13   2:01:36 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  

I would like to have been born a citizen of Hawaii. Or any place warm.

wudidiz  posted on  2010-03-13   2:04:31 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  

Government employees are public servants. As public servants they swear an oath to uphold the constitution(s) and laws.

And what do they really do to benefit America? I mean beyond their recent little stubby toes on the way to the office....

"Government exists to protect us from each other. Where government has gone beyond its limits is in deciding to protect us from ourselves." -- Ronald Reagan, circa 1977

buckeroo  posted on  2010-03-13   2:15:37 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  

Government employees are public servants in that they all must take an oath to uphold the state and federal constitutions. All of them take this oath.

all are supposed to have their oath of office on file, many do not have said oath on file or at best the one on file is expired or suffers from other defects. all that besides public officials are quick to violate their oath as a matter of policy.

IRTorqued  posted on  2010-03-13   2:20:11 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  

I would like to have been born a citizen of Hawaii. Or any place warm.

not to worry.

you'll probably spend eternity in hell after posting that boat song.

groundresonance  posted on  2010-03-13   2:35:38 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  

that will make up for all those cold showers in the lawn sprinkler.

groundresonance  posted on  2010-03-13   2:36:17 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  

you'll probably spend eternity in hell after posting that boat song.

LOL!!

wudidiz  posted on  2010-03-13   2:49:46 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  

You'll lose. Top fine is $500 or $5,000. It is rarely prosecuted unless some D.A. or A.G. wants to make an example of you. Read the linked Spakovsky article too.

NRO: Our Race: American   [Mark Krikorian] I was glad to see my friend Hans von Spakovsky explain the need for truthful answers on the census. (This was in response to my earlier posts here and here.) This is why I've made clear that you should not lie on your census form by, for instance, answering "Klingon" for your race, or "Guamanian" or "Chamorro" if you're not, in fact, Guamanian or Chamorro, as stupid and unjustifiable as such a question is. Nor is the form overall especially onerous. It's one of the shortest ever, and no one's going to get the long form, with its questions about indoor plumbing and the like, because it's been replaced by the American Community Survey, which is an ongoing survey of a sample of the population. Filling out the census is your responsibility as an American — do it. Nor, while we're on the subject, do I have any problem with the letter we all got announcing that the census form was on its way. The Bureau's responsibility is to count everyone, and if they have good reason to think such letters (or even Super Bowl ads) are likely to help, so be it. And finally, before I get to the main point of Hans's post, I think it's important to note that the number-crunchers at the Census Bureau are highly trained professionals with skills much in demand in the private sector, and we're lucky to have them working for us. It's not like they sat around at a staff meeting one day and said, "Hey, why don't we to ask Americans what 'race' they are?" Congress tells the Census Bureau what to do and ought to be the sole focus of anyone's ire. This is why Hans is completely correct in writing "The only real answer to this problem is for Congress to prohibit the Census Bureau from collecting such information and to make all government programs (and the reapportionment process) explicitly race-neutral." But Congress isn't going to do that on its own. Our contemporary system of race laws is both stupid and evil, and thus supported by both Republicans and Democrats in Congress. That's why it's necessary for citizens to come up with imaginative ways to register their disgust with the whole immoral concept of race laws and, if possible within the law, make them unworkable. And the decennial census is an ideal opportunity to do so, since it's one of the few civic rites where participation is almost universal. As Hans pointed out, 13 USC 221 says "Whoever . . . willfully gives any answer that is false, shall be fined not more than $500." First of all, answering Question 9 by checking "Some other race" and writing in "American" is not false and therefore not a violation of the law. But if the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia disagrees, he just needs to call me and I'll be happy to turn myself in. If I lost, the $500 fine would come back to me 100-fold in a book contract; more importantly, simply shining a light on the utterly specious nature of our race laws would ring their death knell. For example: the census considers Korean and Pakistani and Guamanian to be distinct races — not ethnic groups, but "races," as evidenced by Question 9, which says "Other Asian — Print race, for example, Hmong, Laotian, Thai, Pakistani, Cambodian, and so on." If "Pakistani" — a political/religious identity invented in 1934 — is a "race," then "American" is a race. What's more, if these are "races," then so are Jamaican, and Italian, and Mixtec. In other words, apart from any questions of constitutionality or morality, the government's concept of "race" is simply gibberish, and I dare the Justice Department to try to defend it in court. The late Hugh Davis Graham wrote Collision Course: The Strange Convergence of Affirmative Action and Immigration Policy in America, which traced how these fallacious "race" categories were invented. If I might quote from my 2002 review of the book for NR: So the four "official" minority designations we now take for granted were essentially made up by civil servants preparing questionnaires for government contractors. This then led to an almost comical procession of groups trying to get on the gravy train. Hasidic Jews petitioned the Small Business Administration for participation in minority set-asides, but were rejected as a religious group. Then Asian Indians petitioned, and were accepted, bringing the Pakistanis and Bangladeshis in their wake. Later, an Indonesian woman, initially rejected, finally mastered the lingo and argued in her appeal that Indonesian Americans "have suffered economic deprivation" and the "chronic effects of discriminatory practices for a very long time" — this despite the fact that there were only a handful of Indonesian immigrants in the U.S., and they were wealthier and better educated than native-born Americans. Iranians, however, were rejected, apparently because "the chronic effects of discriminatory practices" stopped at the Pakistani border; Graham wryly remarks that "the SBA's ethnocultural line-drawing at the Khyber Pass, coming from an agency not noted for this expertise, made no sense in terms either of Middle Eastern cultural anthropology or of American history and law." So for next week, remember: Question 9 on your census form — check "Some other race" and write in "American." You're doing nothing wrong. And you may help set something right. 03/12 01:10 PM

TooConservative  posted on  2010-03-13   8:52:45 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  

Maybe you can detail why you are so distrustful and make a set of bullet items so we understand your point of view.

Why do I mistrust government.....? Let me count the ways.

"The Central Intelligence Agency owns everyone of any significance in the major media." ~ William Colby, Director, CIA 1973–1976

Nothing in the State, everything outside the State, everything against the State - Jan Lester, Escape From Leviathan

"When plunder becomes a way of life for a group of men living together in society, they create for themselves in the course of time a legal system that authorizes it and a moral code that justifies it." - Frederic Bastiat

Good order results spontaneously when things are let alone. - Zhuangzi

F.A. Hayek Fan  posted on  2010-03-13   9:57:22 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  

You'll lose. Top fine is $500 or $5,000. It is rarely prosecuted unless some D.A. or A.G. wants to make an example of you. Read the linked Spakovsky article too.

I'll pay the fine.

"The Central Intelligence Agency owns everyone of any significance in the major media." ~ William Colby, Director, CIA 1973–1976

Nothing in the State, everything outside the State, everything against the State - Jan Lester, Escape From Leviathan

"When plunder becomes a way of life for a group of men living together in society, they create for themselves in the course of time a legal system that authorizes it and a moral code that justifies it." - Frederic Bastiat

Good order results spontaneously when things are let alone. - Zhuangzi

F.A. Hayek Fan  posted on  2010-03-13   10:04:19 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  

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