Don't Fence Me In...

I ran across this bit of information this evening called the
"American Community Survey".

Do any of you guys know about this? I sure didn't.

It is a program (looks more like a division to me) of the U.S. Census Bureau.

The American Community Survey is a new nationwide survey designed to provide communities a fresh look at how they are changing.

It will replace the long form in the future censuses and is a critical element in the Census Bureau's reengineered 2010 census plan.

Sounds benign enough...

I looked up Oklahoma County's stats...

Interesting, and sad at the same time.

I ran across the U.S. Census Bureau's Fact Finder.


*Note: Must remember this for research projects and papers.


But what I wasn't expecting were the questions that this rather long form is asking.


According to Phyllis Schlafly:

Person 1 must answer 25 questions about his residence and the size of the property. What kind of home, apartment or condo do you live in, when was it built, when did you move in, are you operating a business in your home, how many rooms and how many bedrooms do you have, what kind of bathroom and kitchen fixtures do you have, and what is the market price of your residence?

The survey asks how much you pay each month for electricity, gas, water, rent, real estate taxes, fire or flood insurance, plus six very specific questions about your first and second monthly mortgage payments. There are questions about your telephone and automobile, and about how many months of the year you and others occupy the residence.

The survey then gets really personal, seeking the answers to 42 questions about you and about every other person who resides in your household. Person 1 is used like a private investigator to extract the information from everybody else, and warned that if anyone doesn't want to answer your nosy questions, you must provide the name and telephone number of such person so Big Brother can follow up.

She is none too happy about this new census to say the least.


Where have I been? I didn't know anything about this.


John W. Whitehead wrote about it in his article,
The Thought Police and the American Community Survey on September 13, 2004.

But there are supporters of this census stating that it will be key to local and state economic development.

The Brookings Institution's
Pari Sabety thinks it's a good thing:

And high quality, up-to-date information is key to improving market efficiency, identifying potential investment opportunities, developing effective public policies, and efficiently allocating scarce public resources.


I'm still mulling this thing over in my head. While I haven't seen the "actual questions" on this survey, it really makes me wonder...



Isn't the IRS good enough to provide income info?

Isn't the County Tax Assessor's office good enough for property values?

Can't the insurance companies show the government some of their datamined reports?

Can't the mortgage companies share a bit of info too?



Does someone really need to know if I use Charmin or Northern to wipe my...


Okay... That's enough.


later...