The Census Form
By DCMerkle
@DCMerkle (1281)
United States
March 15, 2010 6:33pm CST
I haven't gotten mine yet, but I heard tonight on the news that it was only about 10 questions. Now how can everyone be counted with only 10 questions and how will that be translated to programs and budgets? That's rather scaled down and could cause a big loss to budgets across the Nation.
As people here, that live in the U.S., get theirs, I would be curious what you think. Does it do our Country justice or leave us in the dust?
1 person likes this
6 responses
@spalladino (17891)
• United States
16 Mar 10
I have mine but haven't filled it out yet. I don't believe this count will result in big budget losses since it does ask for each member of the household's age so school age and the elderly will be accounted for. What else do you think the Census people need to know?
@spalladino (17891)
• United States
17 Mar 10
Well, don't forget about the American Community Survey that a bunch of folks will be forced to fill out which asks about a million personal questions. That will give the Census Bureau an idea of the makeup of the neighborhood...and your personal financial business. My favorite from that one, by the way, is the question that asks how much your home would be worth if it were on the market today. How the he11 is anyone supposed to know that?! 
@jesusmyjoy (125)
• United States
17 Mar 10
I got mine..I haven't opened it yet..but it says its mandatory..what happens if we don't fill it out..i do intend to but just curious.
@laglen (19759)
• United States
16 Mar 10
I have not gotten mine yet. But I am wondering how much more they should be asking. They just have to count for the representation. representatives and funding go by number of people. This is all they need to know.
@xfahctor (14118)
• Lancaster, New Hampshire
16 Mar 10
ONLY 10 questions? How many questions does it take to get a head count? There are only a couple questions needed, "how many in the residence and what are their ages". Period. I don't plan on answering anything other than that, the rest is none of their business as far as I'm concerned.
@DCMerkle (1281)
• United States
17 Mar 10
xfactor,
If it was only as simple as that, but it isn't. I know that there are people that are very private when it comes to government, but somethings have to be mentioned when it comes to financial brackets. Again, that's where the redistricting will come into play. If one district has 700 people and another has 150 people, the government could see that one is more influential just based on the population and that may not be the case. The population that has 150 people may be in a higher financial bracket and would get the higher budget and the 700 people that need the higher bracket will lose out.
@missliss08 (766)
• United States
16 Mar 10
The census is a farce, plain and simple. Now I am not telling you not fill it out, because you can go to jail. However they claim it helps bigger cities get funding for roads, schools, etc. Bull they want to know how many white, black, mixed race, and latino people there are. They want to know what you make, and various other questions that have nothing to do with proper funding. If bigger cities got more money for schools, and roads, than much smaller communities, then why do the smaller communities have way better roads, and way way better schools? It is a joke.
@DCMerkle (1281)
• United States
17 Mar 10
Well as far as communities, that are smaller than some having better roads and schools, it could because they don't have a larger deficit. Larger communities would never have the type of funding that would be needed to cover all its bases. That's why I'm concerned about redistricting. It's going to keep the scales unbalanced or make it worse.
@DCMerkle (1281)
• United States
17 Mar 10
hofferp,
Now that's just the thing. I know that here in Md. they did some redistricting in an election year. Not only did some districts grow, but others shrunk in size and their were voters that felt that it was unfair as far as the voting as parties was concerned. The census will cause redistricting to be done based on the population and that's where I feel that it will affect State and Federal budgeting. Some that don't deserve a larger budget will get it while others that do will lose out. I just think that questions of at least the average income should have been asked. I know that's the IRS's job, but will the two ever compare notes to keep the budget, what there is of it, to be kept balanced out?
