American Community Survey

[Jennifer Groves]

Last week I was listening to Neal Boortz on the radio (WSJM) and a guy called in and was asking about the ACS. I came in on the middle of the call so don't have all the details, but the caller said someone showed up at his door with this survey and demanded that he fill it out.

The caller leafed through it and it required very detailed financial info--his monthly mortgage payment, property value, etc. The man handed it back to the survey person and refused to fill it out. The surveyer was irate and told the homeowner he didn't have the option NOT to fill it out, and if he didn't, the federal gov't would prosecute him to the fullest extent of the law, etc.

So the homeowner shut the door in the guy's face and called Boortz to find out what the ACS was about. Boortz thought there was some sort of government fine--$200 or so?--if a person refused to fill it out.

ACS is NOT the normal decennial census. I had never even heard of it before last week.

The link below has some info:

http://www.census.gov/acs/www/

Apparently ACS has been around since at least 2006. Not every American receives it. But I expect the Obama administration to seize on it and abuse it to new heights.

What I don't understand is WHY the feds would even need this. They already have a census! They have our tax returns. They have our social security #s. They already HAVE this info.

The only thing I can think is that, since the census is only every decade, the government is using ACS on an annual basis to raise taxes in communities where people actually work.

I'm certainly not satisfied w/ the info on the website. Can anyone shed more light on this? I don't think Americans are under ANY obligation to provide this kind of info, and if the government thinks we are, we have to change that.

I still wake up every morning feeling like I'm living in the former USSR... and now with winter weather, it feels more like I've been exiled to Siberia :)

Thanks for any enlightenment!