for someone with such disdain for the MSM, you sure know a lot about them...

I'll bite, and sit quietly, Professor of Gerrymandering: what did the Trump administration intend when it decided to include a citizenship question...and please refrain from using the VRA argument hoisted by Trump and Trump media...SCOTUS already said that was "contrived"...

delta1 wrote:

Answering a question with a question.
Bravo.

You told us all that the citizenship question was a GOP power grab.
You're asked to explain and you tell us how other people said so.
You're asked again and you decide you'd rather hear what Tailgater thinks the Trump administration was doing.

I haven't put my pony into this race.
I really don't care why Trump wanted it.
Personally, I think it's a very relevant thing to ask on a national census. America has 300MM++ residents. How many are citizens? GASP! I must be racist!

Citizens and non-citizens live differently. Whether they be Latino or Eastern European or Asian.
We spend money differently.
We retire differently.
With different needs. From social programs to healthcare, government funding will change based on the demographics.

So I'd like to see the question on all census forms.
I disagree with the decision by the supreme court.
But disagreeing with them doesn't mean I'd support an end-around to get my way. Although I'd listen to all legal options.

It's disappointing to see so many repeat the mantra that this is some evil plot by the GOP, yet none of them are able to detail how this information can be used as such.

tailgater wrote:

So I think the government has every right to know who is a citizen and who is not. I find it dissapointing that the attempt to gain a legal basis for the question was underhanded. If for any reason the question does not belong on the census, why not ask it on another form? It defies logic that this question can not be asked.

Speyside wrote:

the article described Hofeller's rationale, using documants he wrote...but you decide that is wrong, based on...MSM...and yet you say you don't care why Trump wants the question in there...if that was true, then why so defiant about the reports that Trump's WH responded to Hofeller's argument?

delta1 wrote:

maybe this will unravel some of contradictory "facts" here...

Joel, when you were employed by The Census Bureau, did you just canvass once a decade? If so, then you worked on the Census.

Or was your work part of the household info gathering for The American Community Survey (ACS) which is conducted by the Census Bureau on an on-going basis year round but is not THE Census?

The household survey hits slightly less than 300K homes per month and includes the types of questions people here seem to recall being asked on the Census...some of those questions may in fact have been included on the limited use "long form" but since that info is not germane to the purpose of the 10 year census, is no longer part of that.

If one does get asked by the Census Bureau stuff about place of birth, education, income, languages spoken in the home, it is not for the 10 year Census, it is for the Bureau's interest in compiling data useful to communities that might need to stay more current than once a decade...like for districts to prepare for an influx of non English speaking students that will impact the school system's curriculum etc..but is not of interest for the purposes of the 10 year Census required by the Constitution. It is for the yearly accumulation of data for the ACS.
The Census is more interested in Representation based on totals of residents, citizen or not.

An interesting thing I read about ACS, it is only concerned with people that expect to live at the residence for the next two months, no matter how long they have already been there, as it is more about immediate data that should be useful to geographical districts. You could be away on business fro two months, but that would still be considered your residence. But if you went to your vacation home for two months, your primary residence would not be counted in the local stats if you were surveyed while on vacation.

All answers are kept strictly confidential, employees face severe penalties for violating respondents rights to privacy

Also, there is some overlap between the two lists of questions,, and yes, once again, they are both under the Census Bureau.
This is likely the cause of confusion here.

frankj1 wrote:

46. Rent question

That's it... Now imagine some dude in dreadlocks and a badge shows up at your door and asks you all those questions... How's that gonna go? The correct answer is "not well"...

opelmanta1900 wrote:

believe me, this is not a question setting you up...but you may be the only person with related experience qualified to have an opinion not based solely on political feelings and or emotions about immigrants in America as it relates to the questions...

So, Joel, do you feel there is any validity to the proposition posed by the consultant and allegedly adopted by the GOP that a significant number of immigrants, both legal and not, and/or immigrant citizens or not, might be intimidated enough to avoid the census, thus skewing the count of people enough to lower the number of potential Democrats?

In other words, is the consultant's theory plausible?

frankj1 wrote:

Yes.

Before being dispatched we were told, you will be going into heavily Hispanic areas where people are suspicious of the government and very resistant to filling out this form...

We were told ahead of time, the citizenship question is touchy, it has to be emphasized that the gathering of this information is strictly for population count, not law enforcement...

For what it's worth, myself and the other enumerators set a record that year for least amount of census forms turned back in completed...

opelmanta1900 wrote: