Brookyln Census Scandal Is Just the Tip of the Iceberg
by Stephen Robert MorseWhat happened last month at the Brooklyn census office was indeed unfortunate. But let us not be naive: Data collection inaccuracies and falsifications are happening throughout the entire New York Regional Area and possibly the entire nation, though perhaps on a smaller scale than in Brooklyn.
There are many luxury rental and condominum buildings where real estate management companies have a strict “no enumerator” policy, as well as tenement buildings and brownstones where it is impossible to gain access. There are also one or two family houses where it is unclear how many people live there and a knowledgeable proxy could not be located.
For these units, some enumerators went to public search records on the Internet or merely wrote the names off the mailboxes. The mid and upper level census managers encouraged field staff to use techniques to “guesstimate,” creating major operational ambiguity for the once in a decade headcount.
What was acceptable inside the questionnaire was another problem. Most enumerators tried to get all the information but those who went to a proxy who gave them little, no, or inaccurate information, finished their areas quickly. These same field staff were rewarded with more work and allowed to clean up districts that were lagging behind.
These cases are the same ones where quality assurance suspects poor data collection practices or data falsification. However, in some cases re-interview staff are unable to locate the respondent to verify whether the interview was actually conducted and prove it definitively. Many other quality assurance managers are told to “just pass it” or are afraid to accuse enumerators of poor quality work, fearing that they will be stepping on people’s toes.
For two years municipalities and city officials preached about the beauty of the census through media and print advertising. They encouraged people to send back their census forms saying it was the only way to ensure that their residents were counted and for their community to receive the federal funding it was entitled to.
But these city officials did little in the way in forcing real estate management companies and reluctant respondents to cooperate when their participation was required. The fact that the Census Bureau and Department of Commerce made empty threats to fine people for not cooperating and then did not follow through on it shows how poorly 2010 Census data has been managed.
The offices in the five boroughs of New York will be the last in the nation to finish NRFU, whereas most areas were done weeks ago. The few career census employees who valued a fair and accurate count and finished last can not be proud of their work. Those responsible for promoting the individuals won’t let them be proud. When it comes time for their annual performance reviews, the fact they finished last will be reflected poorly and jeopardize their careers.
What happened in Brooklyn should not come as a surprise. In retrospect the Census did what it usually does. It set hard line production goals, held managers and field staff accountable and fired them if they failed to meet these goals with little constructive technical support. Those who work quickly are rewarded with more work with little regard to accuracy.
I dedicate this post to the many crew leaders, field operations supervisors and LCO manager who lost their jobs because they valued a fair and accurate count.
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68 Comments
Speaking of the Brooklyn, NY census, I see over the weekend that New York City just lost a very famous person. Sticking to his vow to vacate New York permantently due to excessive taxation, Ruch Limbaugh just sold his ten room luxury apartment on the Upper East Side.
Viva La Rush!
I wonder how hard they will try to throw out whole counts in conservative majority districts and pad the numbers in liberal ones?
We're just getting going on the 2010 census shenanigans and the redistricting effort next year ought to be a great source of treacherous theater to behold…
So now Repubs are going to have to ask for a recount.
I had a census worker over at my house, asking us to provide our hard-to-reach neighbor's census information. He wanted us to provide the number of people and their ethnic identity, asking us "are they hispanic or do they look hispanic?". Because we all know under the Obama administration, racial profiling is a no-no unless it helps the Democrats manipulate ethnicity for political gain.
This is one census whose results can't be trusted, period.
If the census was made apolitical again, meaning enumberation only, they would have much more support from the public. The addition of prying and, frankly, unconstitutional questions and then having the gaul to actually advertise that by answering them you too can help to increase government spending beyond what government was EVER supposed to be involved with in the first place!
We are being RULED by an insane class of entitled, dangerous criminals.
I trust you told them where to put there questions?
All to benefit the party in power. They were going to have Acorn do the census, remember? Instead I'm sure they have Acorn members undercover doing the job.
Brooklyn's imported the Chicago Way. So what's new? This has happened all over the country, and we'll see more evidence of it soon.
It was inevitable once the White House Mafia brought the Census into the fold, setting all their local Dons in motion.
My better half was way too polite to him (there's a reason he's my better half). He said he couldn't help the census worker with the answers but told him that if a large RV were parked in the neighbor's driveway, that's a good indication they are home. The worker had left his calling card on their door and drove away. Neighbors got home about 20 minutes later, large RV and all. My husband's telling this story to the neighbor across the street, when who should drive on by and not stop? The census worker, right past the driveway with the telltale RV.
I think that pretty much sums up the federal government's work ethic.
The Chicago machine has its hands in everything, and every where. Watch this video to see more from a life long Democrat.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ccbd4DbpS4c&fe...
that's why he also welcomed LeBron James and Chris Bosh to sunny Florida as well. Fellow tax exiles…
Betwween paper and computer monitors I fear there is not enough room to contain all the scandals of the current admin.
Just as Moses led his enslaved people out of the land of Egypt, across the river into the Promised Land, creating the great Exodus, Barrack Obama has created an Exodus of his own. Folks are leaving in droves.
These are the same idiots that want to run our Healthcare system. Give me a break. This entire Census undertaking has been an abject failure from the get go. But what more should be expected from an Administration that cannot do anything right the first time, if ever.
They are a collection of folks that have no real life work experience nor competency in anything. Merely an assemblage of political pay backs and those that walk the halls of academia, never setting foot in the real world, all protected through again cronyism and tenure.
If there is ANY hint of wrong doing, count guessing and all the rest that is going on to further the socialist agenda, then YES, a new and unbiased count must be ordered and the Census results delayed for what ever period of time and at whatever cost is necessary.
This is at the heart of our elected representational form of government, and there is no time frame no cost that is too long or too much to get it right…………….period end of story. I would suggest that the Justice Department start immediate investigations into the falsification of public information, defacto voter fraud and disenfranchisement being perpetrated by this band of thugs. If this doesn't happen on its own then we need to have Congressional investigations into these matters.
While on the surface they may appear "small taters" in the overall scheme of things, believe you me, they are not and need to be pursued until these thugs and misfits are put behind bars. Just like the New Black Panthers and their antics and hate speech………………….but I wouldn't hold my breath during this Administration!! It will need to start in earnest after the elections and sanity is restored to our government.
VOTE THE BUMS OUT!!
Can I ask why no one seems to be questioning the "no enumerator" policies? I mean, for all the many ways in which our government overreaches, the census is actually one thing that they're supposed to be doing.
If nothing else, if a real estate management company is going to such lengths as to bar census workers from doing their official and legal duties, then surely they bear the responsibility of taking and providing accurate counts of their residents themselves.
Considering how crooked politics are in Chicago and NYC, I have to wonder exactly how "liberal" the people living there are. People tend to claim to support whoever is in power (self preservation around criminals) so it might well be that the majority are conservative, and they merely need a chance at an honest vote for a few years.
"A few years" so they get used to the idea that their votes actually count and they will not be punished for an honest vote.
Yeh, Missy,
And that's not even taking into consideration the shambles that will ensue if NEWT "HELPS" AGAIN…. LIKE HE DID WITH THE SCOZZAFAVA DEBACLE.
Can a STATE DIVORCE one of it's cities?
)))))))
Agreed, Rebas
They damn well better. I'm SICK of folks KNOWING THIS CRAP HAPPES AND DOING NOTHING.
HIRE A LAWYER AND SUE SOMEONE!
GROW A PAIR!
LIO,
1. GIVEN: THE CENSUS IS ENUMERATION ONLY
2. GIVEN: ALL WORKING CITIZENS MUST FILE A TAX RETURN, EVEN IF THEY OWE NOTHING
3. ALL CITIZENS ARE ISSUED AN SS# AT BIRTH AND RECORDED WITH THE SS OFFICE
4. ALL STATES HAVE BUREAUS OF VITAL BIRTH AND DEATH STATISTICS
5. DUHHHHHHHHHHH
we are becoming a nation of functional IDIOTS if we can't figure a cheap, accurate way to count legal citizens
"This has happened all over the country, and we'll see more evidence of it soon."
There are two words that almost assure us that the evidence WILL come out: Darryl Issa.
That's as long as we all remember to VOTE in November.
You offer a salient point.
To expound: Can a PEOPLE divorce itself of a President?
Prior to an election………
We are in a Crisis of Confidence.
This was planned by the Obama regime and went just fine for them. Dishonest bunch of bad people.
Good morning TS!
If people has common sense, which isn't so common, we would not be in the situation we find ourselves in now.
We spent BILLIONS on this last boondoggle. With your system it would require 50 phone calls to DC. I vote for your system. We would have to use a grid system for electing our representatives but the electoral map might look like a sane person developed it. Oh, wait! No gerrymandering? We can't have that now, can we?
I can't wait to see if these people that we WILL put into power this time around will uphold their Constitutional duties or become seduced by the power and turn into what We the People have come to hate.
Ah, Texas, you forget the true reason behind this year's census: We need to count all of the illegal aliens, so that we can give them representation, thereby increasing the influence of the commiecrats when we draw new districts and give them amnesty.
as our vainglorious prezident said, lio, "YES WE CAN!" ( sucker finally got one right!)
By hook or crook, come hell or high water, we most assuredly CAN have NO gerrymandering!
The WILL of the people is a mighty thing.
If they remake "The Ten Commandments" do you think Obama should play the Pharaoh? How about Rush Limbaugh as Moses parting the Hudson River?
that guy in the photograph looks like the legendary Gazza who was recently in the news in the UK trying to intervene in the standoff between an armed killer and the Police,here he is talking to a local radio reporter,he obviously has fallen off of the wagon,perhaps Barry could find him a job as his new 'drinks' Czar or as a door knocker for the census… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ohgGeWKB7Dw
18 Billion dollars is what this census cost or roughly 45 dollars per every man woman and child in the country.
We could have given a third of this money to the post office who could have done a better job of it.
Once the 18 Billion is gone they'll be back before congress asking for more and then either way it will end up in the courts. But hey it's not their money.
Mornin Mac.
I'm not forgetting it.
I'M REJECTING IT.
All these shanagans portends to the most crooked, corrupt 2010 and 2012 elections ever held in the US of A. Get ready fellow Americans, this once great country is too far down the road to communism to return to a free republic. The only chance we real Americans have is to form a strong militia and take on Obummer's civilian security force and take back this once great and proud free republic state one street at a time. The next few years are not going to look very pretty. If your household does not contain weapons, your time is running out before the 2nd amendment is voided by some clever piece of " Constitutional" legislation.
Wally Pieper
311 N River Rd
McHenry, Illinois 60051
623 695 4654
wally@wallypieper.ws
The left is suffering from a deficit in loyalty to the constitution and the republic and they're willing to trade it all away for a very short lived perception of economic security.
The house of cards is collapsing, the only question left for patriotic Americans is will we run into the collapsing structure to save the victims or watch and wait for the arrival of some yet unknown hero…?
Two things:
How many of these residences are week time temporary housing for those commuting from out of town? They probably already filled out their census form at home and will get counted twice.
Morse writes about how the five boroughs NRFU's will probably get a bad review. You have to be kidding! Only in the private sector is their accountability. They will instead get rewarded with promotions and bonuses. That's how government works. Most of those who cannot get work end up being hired by government and could never get a private sector job that would hold them accountable.
These people have been to my house 3 flipping times, I mailed my census back on time, and yet they continue to show up and harass me.
Careful what you wish for. I mean, it's gotta be done, but if they really uphold their Constitutional duties, there's only ONE possible outcome. If a Constitutional Congress meets an anti-constitutional presidency, there WILL be a government shutdown. It's inevitable. And someone that just read that said "GOOD!"
I say, "not so much." If you're obama, that HAS to be part of the equation. Take an ailing economy and crush it under debt; take over just a few industries, control the rest through fear; take control of finance through "sweeping reform legislation." Shut down energy production through "cap and trade." "No wait, we'll just use the oil spill as an excuse."
And then, you set up the final blow, the Constitutional Crisis. Government shutdown. No checks going out. No essential services. Riots in the streets. Anarchy. Death. Destruction. Mayhem. Just the way obama likes it. He's telegraphing his punch. This is how you break America. Take control of industry, finance and energy. Then force the Republican's hand (if they win Congress) on the budget, or whatever, to force the government to shut down. Explode the system. Fear in the streets. Lawsuits. Courts overloaded. 24/7 "news" (propaganda) cycle. And then we remember we're no longer in direct control of our industries, finances, energy. They turned a disaster in the Gulf into a catastrophe on the coast. More anarchy. Wild markets. Fluctuations. More propaganda. $8.00/gallon gas? "No heating oil for the 'poor' through your friendly government program, because Republicans have shut down the government." Can't you just hear Alan Grayson on that one? (completely rhetorical since we're throwing Grayson out)
But you get the point. We're all up for a showdown. Let's just not play into their hands.
Update: Scott Brown WILL support "financial reform." What a surprise.
The whole thing is run by incompetent clowns.
I filled out my census because there were no questions other than the standard ones.
About six weeks later we were visited repeatedly by census workers asking my wife the same questsions. Finally she put them on to me and we had a chat.
After that they visited 4 neighbors (proxy visit, why?) and bad mouthed us to them, asked why we were so difficult etc (WTF?)
These people they hired were morons, the supervisors were trouble makers, the whole thing made me want to tell the wife to turn the bull mastiffs lose on them, which was probably the point.
John, that is an excellant analysis. It begs the question; "What to do then?" I'll start.
The one thing that I see reoccurring is your point about the LSM (propaganda). Until they are totally diecredited, which is begining to happen now, we can not control the message. They are the reason that we are in the situation we face now. The solution is the "New Media" such as this site. In a short time, the impact has been incredible. Fox News, The Wall Street Journal are also gaining readership while the LSM is shedding readers. An example of the lameness of the media. I just heard a report about a half hour interview by an LSM talking head this Sunday AG Holder. Not one question about the Black Panther voter intimidation case. Unbelievable!
Richard,
Visit 21stcenturyteaparty.wordpress.com and leave your email in a comment. I would like to speak with you. I will not approve your comment, so no one but me will get your email address. Talk with you soon.
Steve
Seems to me that if they can't get an actual count, they will pad the numbers UPWARD, no matter what the district is now Conservative or Dimocrat…More people, the more potential voters for either or both parties..
But no matter how you slice it, this census is the ultimate "guesstimate"..and should probably be nullified, and redone in a more non-partisisn manner, if that's even possible…
I say we call in The Denominator to take care of these enumerators.
Alternative media is a huge part of it. But since we're "preparing for the brutality," let's not forget obama's "emergency" kiII switch for the internet. Or "net-neutrality." What? No legislation? No problem. It's an Executive Order "for the security of the country." "Let them fight it out in the courts."
Let's not forget, these people have installed a kiII switch into just about all of our resources. And they'll have a lot of angry, desperate people "demanding" government "fix this."
As for what to do, I'd say the only way to circumvent this is through immediate congressional investigations into all executive malfeasance. If we get a Republican majority, I think Darryl Issa will take care of that.
The other side is the State Governors and AGs tying up the federal government in the Courts. There's plenty of Constitutional overreach to keep them busy.
Then we'll see how prescient the Founders were, when they imagined that if one branch of government threatened the authority of the other two, out of self preservation, the two would act to control the first. It was a "human nature" call. I'm hoping they were right.
Historically, the SCOTUS has acted once, to my recollection, to constrain the power of the executive branch to the extent that it needs to be controlled now. Ironnically, it was under FDR in the mid 1930's when his New Deal went too far. As of now, we have a tenuous hold on the court but if anything changes prior to 2012, we're screwed. Thank God that Kennedy has said he will not retire while BHO is in office. This does not mean that other dirty tricks might not be employed by those in power now….
You reap what you sew America!
I am just a simple person.
I'm sure it all escapes me, the complexities.
But doesn't every American citizen have a social security number?
We're required to get them for children when they're born.
We're required to get them to work.
We're required to get them for any welfare benefits.
We're required to get them for any retirement benefits.
Who exactly does that skip?
Who exactly does NOT have a social security number?
Soooooooooooo how about we run a one minute long count of social security numbers and TADA census done. Cost NOTHING.
True this doesn't count illegal aliens. Who cares?
How could we do this so it would count location?
SSN isn't broken down by voting district.
I'll bet that info is somewhere. State by state basis?
Save a fortune. Eliminate fraud. Get a more accurate count probably than this ridiculous current system.
MAD YET? Get "AMERICA: LOVE IT OR LEAVE THE WHITE HOUSE!", "NEXT TIME, VOTE AMERICAN!", "KARL MARX Was Not A Founding Father!" and other great stickers and gear at http://www.keep2theright.com
acorn was used to do the final census tabulations and make sure the obeyme gets his political counts – the obama media will see to it
obama liar at his worst telling the census worker to get in their face
No doubt.
let me korrect your spelin' it's PRESIDUNCE…
census? we don't need no census…..it's strange that the scumsuckers will follow what is laid down in the constitution when they want to ain't it….nah! it ain't funny at allllllll…although the gubmint knows who we iz and where we iz they still gotta come and poke their noses into our bizniss…cuz it's da law!!!! hehehehehe
we must stand shoulder to shoulder…I'm ready…and armed…
I had a simular thing happen.. and I told the guy right out.. I was not giving out ANY information on my neighbors he than informed me he got some information from the reality company who sold the house.. which was 3 years old and the people already MOVED and the house is empty.. and when he told me my other neighbors don't speak ENGLISH I laughed since I ONLY speak ENGLISH and I talk to them..LOL.. since I didn't fill out my nationality etc.. I also told him he best not guess( I look more LATINO than they do and I am not ) he would be WRONG.. the only thing I put on the census for me and my husband was first initial, last name, age, and sex and AMERICAN CITIZEN
"2. GIVEN: ALL WORKING CITIZENS MUST FILE A TAX RETURN, EVEN IF THEY OWE NOTHING "
That is not actually true. Not all people are required to file income tax returns.
http://www.irs.gov/publications/p501/ar02.html#en...
Furthermore, not all people work.
"4. ALL STATES HAVE BUREAUS OF VITAL BIRTH AND DEATH STATISTICS "
People move around, and those movements are not recorded in county records.
Either way, Spanky, any one or combo of the above will get 99% of census figures for free, already in the stupid gov't system one place or another. We do not need a separate census in the computer age. Hell that whole idea was when we were a sparsely populated agrarian nation spread out all over hellngone with not one means of mass communication, let alone dozens.
From simple birth, death, IRS, W2, Driver's license, School records, all mandatory, all centralized and accessible by gov't….they can't NOT know how many LEGAL AMERICANS there are.
But then that's NOT what they're after, is it. They want illegals, they want ethnic and political demographics so they know how to skew the districting lines. It's never been about population…only politics.
That should be one of the things we work to change. They don't need that info for a head count and the should NOT be allowed to have it for districting or for any other political purpose.
AFAIK, there are no central computerized records of renters.
Home ownership records do not necessarily reflect where people are actually living. For example, an estranged couple may occupy more than one residence – and there would be no electronic way to know who lived in which place (i.e., congressional district).
We can't tally residency of kids from tax returns. And the federal government (rightly) does not have access to school records, so they aren't going to know where kids live.
I do believe that the best way to get an accurate enumeration per the Constitution is to engage in a Census.
It's interesting to note that years ago, far more info was collected during the Census. They used to ask things like where were your parents born, what is the primary language spoken in the home, what is the value of your property, what is your occupation, what is your annual income, etc.. This has occurred since the early 1800s.
I am FAR more upset about how funding was abused during this Census. Many millions of dollars were given to community groups to promote the Census. They didn't actually have to do any work for the money – there were no performance audits. Basically it was a way for the Democrats (via Rahm Emanuel) to channel huge sums of money to buy support from activist groups and to also pay them back for prior support.
I wish someone would do an expose on this. The dollar amount is huge.
Census canvassers and enumerators had to pass a test, which I doubt that more than 25% of USPS workers could pass.
Plus, many USPS workers make more than Census workers were paid, so they wouldn't take a pay cut. And think of how the USPS union would oppose something like that.
sow.
"Soooooooooooo how about we run a one minute long count of social security numbers and TADA census done. "
How does having a SSN tell you where someone lives?
$45 dollars for every man woman and child in the country, I doubt I have spent 45 dollars on every postal stamp I have ever bought. The postal service could have used that money to save thier own jobs, the postal service already goes to virtually home in the country, the postman is already known and trusted by the the neighborhoods they serve.
Mark my words this current census count ends up in the courts.
You're just being a sew and sow, Spanky2.
I'm so glad I saw that.
I agree that they grossly overspent on this Census, but I doubt that having the USPS handle it would have saved ANY money or improved accuracy.
Keep in mind that a LOT of people get their mail at private or public mail boxes – so the USPS would have no idea where they really live.
Or people get their mail at a communal location, like an apartment lobby or, in new housing developments, at centralized mailbox locations (e.g., one per block).
This is pretty important – postal workers work the day shift. Most of the Census work was nights and weekends (both Saturday and Sunday) – when people are home.
Our letter carrier drives the route. I used to know the one who had been here for 14 years, but we've had several new ones since then. Our current carrier is dumber than a box of rocks. I doubt she actually knows ANYBODY on her route. Even the old, good carrier would deliver mail here for the previous resident for years after he moved out. I'd have to remind him every time that they left.
The two tasks – enumerating and delivering letters – are indeed quite different.
Like you needed to. You've always had a Clouseau far as I've ever seen.
Left it aboard the Calypso.
Louie?
Me gotta go
Adiós.
Louie Louie, oh no
Me gotta go
Aye-yi-yi-yi, I said
Louie Louie, oh baby
Me gotta go
Fine little girl waits for me
Catch a ship across the sea
Sail that ship about, all alone
Never know if I make it home
i know, lol.
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