If you folks are worried about the gov't knowing too much about you, I think that you may be a little too late in that regard. The gov't can get all it wants from other sources. They most likely know more about you than you would think or you would like.

The grocery store that I shop at has an "advantage card." Spend so many $$ and you gt "free gas" and other "savings." If you use this card (and I would imaganie some of you do at other stores) the grocery store can see what you spend on groceries, estimate how many people are in your household, tell what religion you may be, how many kids you have, your income, and possibly your education, too. Oh, they also know where you live, and can get other information, too.

TSC

 

I hope they can figure out where I live, I do taxes every year, claim a dependant and even tell them how many. I'm even such a nice guy I tell them how much I make in a year before they bent me over!

 

Then that begs the question, why would our government spend billions of our tax dollars to collect information that they already have? In addition, does the constitution grant our government the power to collect information for the purpose of allocating the revenue they've collected through our taxes?

 

The Contitution says that they do indeed have to collect census data. The US Census is the official demographic machine of the gov't. However, if my super market knows so much about me, just think what the US gov't. can do.

 

double post

 

The questions are, why would our government spend billions of our tax dollars to collect information that they already have, and, does the constitution grant our government the power to collect information for the purpose of allocating the revenue they've collected through our taxes?

We already know what the supermarkets are doing.

 

Well, Tom, for one thing, American are migratory people. Look at my state, Cleveland is losing people, and Columbus is gaining people. I guess it begs the question, Tom, that representative districts may be reformatted in order to meet the Constitutional needs of the people. It would also "beg the question", Tom, why this may occur from state to state---as states such as Ohio and Michigan are losing people, but other states are growing in number---and deserve the representation indicated by the Constitution.

While the IRS and other agencies may already have the info, none of the info meets the demands of the US Census as dictated by the US Constitution.

I find it rather interesting and ironic that many of you, who are strict Constitutionalists, are worried about giving the Census any information. I guess if you live and swear by the US Constitution, you need to deal with this every ten years, right?

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Thanks Tim, I guess.?

I really wasn't trying to dance with you.

I'm just asking questions. Specificly, why would our government spend billions of our tax dollars to collect information that they already have, and, does the constitution grant our government the power to collect information for the purpose of allocating the revenue they've collected through our taxes?

Now I have another. What are the "Constitutional needs" of the people? Oh, and also, "reformatting" congressional districts is a good thing?

For the record, I'm all for the counting of the people.

 

I should have used the word "redistricting" rather than "reformatting."

For Example. let's say Cleveland loses people to Columbus. Our representatives may be lost, because of redistricting and re-apportionment of the people.

If the people need representation, and Columbus gains so much that they need new representatives, and Cleveland loses so much, then the representatives districts would dictate that, due to population growth, Columbus gains a US representative and Cleveland would lose one.

We all understand that the US House of Representatives is based on population; if a district's population decreases, then so does its "clout" in DC. Likewise, if a district---or an area---has population growth, then that district see its "clout" grow as its population grows.

An example of this in Ohio is Lorain County---the county in which I live. The Ford plant closed, the steel plants are down, and there has been a population exodus. Why have a US representative represent nobody? We may, depending on the census, lose a representative for our US House district.

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Thanks again Tim, but I'm not finding any answers to the few questions that I've posed here.

I understand the reason for counting citizens.

I do understand gerrymandering. I can't tell if you are advocating for or against it.

I have actually located the answers to one of my own questions. The Constitution doesn't expressly give the government the power to collect information for the porpose of allocating tax payer dollars. It is in the U.S. Code though, for whatever that's worth.

I'll just keep looking for the answers to why our government would spend billions of our tax dollars to collect information from us that they already have, and what "constitutional needs" are. You can let me know if you think that gerrymandering is a good thing or a bad thing.



http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/13/141.html

 

Because that department of the government doesn't have that information. The departments that do have that information aren't sharing.

 

PLEASE, show me where it says they can grill me about things not pertaining to how many reside at my place. like income n such

 

Another reason why the government needs to shrink and not be involved in any kind of business. They are too stupid to make anything work efficiently, that would be like a manager at our business refusing to tell another manager about a customers shipping address and billing information, instead making the second manager waste time and money on a phone call to collect information manager 1 already had. If this actually happened I would fire manager 1 on the spot.

 

how does anyone really know how many people are in the country.

 

Teach your children well,.... about the Census that is.

U.S. Census Bureau-Census in Schools