As you know ;the census is taken every 10 years in the US . (Article I, Section 2 of the Constitution )The next one is scheduled for 2010 . This is normally a straight count the people and record the numbers conducted by the Census Bureau ,a part of the Commerce Dept.
Usually politicians take the numbers from the census and use it to their political advantage ,by redrawing the electoral map ; a process called Gerrymandering .
Gerrymandering - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
It sucks ;but it is part of the
spoils of war that we have come to accept. The count itself has been conducted pretty much straight-up and by law has been in direct control of the Commerce Dept.
US CODE: Title 13,2. Bureau of the Census
Until Now.
President Obama in an effort to have his Lincolnesque "cabinet of rivals " added Conservative Senator Judd Greg as a nominee for the position of Commerce Secretary . But it appears that he doesn't trust Greg to oversee the census taking .
The Capitol Hill publication Congressional Quarterly yesterday reported that the White House, responding to minority groups' concerns about Gregg's commitment to funding the census, has decided to have the director of the Census Bureau report directly to the White House.
Gregg mum on Census Bureau - Manchester- msnbc.com
In their efforts to build a permanent majority they will now put the Census in the hands of the most partisan member of the White House ;Rahm Emanuel . This Chavez-like power pusch appears to be both a violation of the Constitution and Federal Law as laid out in the US Code. .
Before the 2000 census, the Dems fought for census sampling to replace the traditional straight count. SCOTUS rejected the idea . Since at least the 1990 census, the Democrats have pushed to have the Census Bureau report its numbers based on statistical estimates even though the Constitution clearly requires them to “count” the population. This would give them the ability to estimate ,the illegals ,or other Democrat leaning constitutents that don't want to be counted and avoid it. It looks like they will get it this time ;the
Chicago Way by a White House power grab.. Why not just empower ACORN for the task of taking the count ? ACORN is tabbed to get a huge chunk of the stimulus bill .
Bruce Chapman ,former head of the census bureau explains why the census taking should remain non-partisan.
Simply put, there is no excuse for this idea. It is not true that the Census Bureau has ever been under the direct management of the White House, and for good reason. Even if angels were in charge of the Executive Mansion, if the nation's premier statistical agency were placed under White House direction the danger to public trust would be enormous. The Decennial count is one of the few federal functions specifically described in the Constitution itself and must be operate above suspicion of politics.
"Power flows from an accurate census count. Everyone involved for years has seen the count therefore as a sacred trust. It must not be polluted with even a semblance of presidential meddling."
Don't Politicize Next Year's Census Count (Discovery Blog)
I will be writing to Senator Craig today to ask him to consider withdrawing his nomination rather than being a party to this nonsense. If Gregg has any integrity he will promise to reject his appointment unless this power grab is reversed.