nope. not the point of the census.
frankj1 wrote:
Probing Question: Why is the census important?
by Solmaz Barazesh
Probing Question: Why is the census important?
Credit U.S. Census Bureau
Every 10 years, the U.S. Census Bureau undertakes a mammoth task: counting all of the people living in the United States and
recording basic information such as age, sex, and race. The United States' founders thought these data were so important they mandated it as part of the Constitution. But today, some people question the importance of the census, and some complain that it's an invasion of privacy.
So why do we have a census, and what is the information used for?
"The census is most definitely important. Our whole representative democracy is based on it," said Gordon De Jong, professor of sociology and demography and senior scientist in Penn State's Population Research Institute. "The census ensures that each community gets the right number of representatives in government." Because representation is based on population, an up-to-date tally is essential.
The census also helps with the equitable distribution of public funds, De Jong said, as federal and state funding for educational programs, health care, law enforcement and highways is allocated based on population, in part. "Equitably distributing the billions of dollars of public money requires up-to-date population data."
In broad terms, the census helps us see how the United States is changing. In the 2000 census, 281.4 million people were counted in the United States, an increase of 13.2 percent from the 1990 census population of 248.7 million. The highest rates of population growth were reported in the South and West.
So the census is utilized to determine the allocation of resources, yet it does not include illegals who are utilizing resources, isn't that in essence, a dysfunctional or broken system?
And with excluding illegals, it also is not a true reflection of our demographics.
