Republicans to Bachmann: Fill Out the Census

By: Brian Montopoli
Topics: In The News

(AP)

Hotsheet reported two weeks ago that Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann is refusing to fill out 2010 census forms beyond the number of people in the household. "The Constitution doesn't require any information beyond that," she said.

Bachmann, a Republican, complained the forms are "very intricate" and "very personal." She also expressed concern about the possible involvement of the liberal community group ACORN, which has been accused of voter registration fraud, in data collection.

Now three House Republicans on the panel that oversees the Census Bureau are urging Bachmann to rethink her position.

"Every elected representative in this country should feel a responsibility to encourage full participation in the census," they said in a statement. "To do otherwise is to advocate for a smaller share of federal funding for our constituents. Boycotting the constitutionally-mandated census is illogical, illegal and not in the best interest of our country."

The three Republican representatives – Patrick McHenry of North Carolina, Lynn Westmoreland of Georgia, and John Mica of Florida – wrote that they "share Ms. Bachmann's concerns about ACORN's involvement in the 2010 Census and will continue pressuring the Bureau to follow their own guidelines for partnering organizations and dump ACORN."

"However, we can not emphasize enough how important it is for every individual to fill out their census forms," they write. "… The unfortunate irony is that Ms. Bachmann's boycott only increases the likelihood that ACORN-recruited census takers will be dispatched to her constituents' homes. Anyone who completes and returns their census form will remove any need for a census taker to visit their residence."

Bachmann spokesman said in a statement that the representative is standing by her earlier position.

"We appreciate their views and hope to be able to work with them to keep ACORN – which has earned public mistrust through its repeated voter registration fraud – out of the census," he said.

In her comments on the census, Bachmann said "ACORN has been named one of the national partners, which will be a recipient again of federal money. And they will be in charge of going door-to-door and collecting data from the American public."

Politifact.com notes that ACORN will not be "in charge" of going door-to-door, that it is one of 30,000 partners, and that it will not get money for signing on as a partner. (Others say there are 40,000 partners.)

"Once again, she is making a scaremongering claim about ACORN with facts that are ridiculously wrong," the organization writes, giving Bachmann a "Pants On Fire" rating.

As a partner, ACORN's "primary responsibility is educating hard-to-count urban populations about the importance of an accurate headcount," according to a Census official who spoke to the Wall Street Journal.

Bachmann could be fined up to $5,000 for not filling out the census. As the New York Times notes, she told Fox News in June that she is not encouraging others not to fill out their census forms but that she and her family have to "draw the line."

Brian Montopoli
Brian Montopoli is the senior political reporter at CBSNews.com.
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by leftocenter September 19, 2010 5:10 AM EDT: Bachmann may have a point about the number and kind of questions in the census form, but be serious. The woman is a few bricks shy of a full load. Democrat or Republican, she is an embarrassment to what's left of our political system.; Reply to this comment


by FuKCorpMerica January 29, 2010 1:36 AM EST: Re: My Previous post Only if my taxed amount is greater than $500 a year would that be practical darn!; Reply to this comment


by FuKCorpMerica January 29, 2010 1:12 AM EST: I won't fill out my census. I am doing it in protest to the wasteful spending of our current dictator Black Bush. It says in the United States Code you don't have to answer if you religiously object, well I am forming my own religious sect called Prohibition Reform Church and claim under my first amendment rights I don't believe in the census. Now to get a tax exempt form for my cigarettes, LOL!; Reply to this comment


by reedlandj July 2, 2009 5:23 PM EDT: foundingfathersdaughter,
It's bad form to slam someone as uneducated simply because they disagree with you. From her description of Census info as the linchpin of federal statistics, in the Department of Commerce v. U.S. House of Representatives, then- Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor seems to disagree with your view of the limited use allowed for the Census.
O'Connor graduated from Stanford magna *** laude in 1950. O'Connor only took two years, instead of the customary three, to complete Stanford's law school. Along the way, she served on the Stanford Law Review O'Connor graduated third out of a class of 102.
Is she less educated than you?; Reply to this comment


by foundingfathersdaughter July 2, 2009 2:02 PM EDT: Agreed, the census is to evenly distribute the amount of representatives. It is not to see how many rooms are in our houses, if we have trouble getting dressed in the morning, how much money we make, where we work and what car we drive to work. This is the most invasive intrusion in my lifetime. I will refuse as will everyone I know. This is socialism..and I choose not to buy into it. Those who are putting this woman down are very uneducated. Try starting that education with the constitution and our declaration of independence. Don't Tread on Me.. this is the beginning!!; Reply to this comment

by aldon61 July 2, 2009 1:33 PM EDT

This gal is bananas! In Minnesota, if their population doesn't pick up on every citizen, they are in danger of losing 1 representative. Guess who's district is most likely to be consolidated? If you guessed her's, you would be right. Talk about cutting one's nose off to spite one's face, this is it. Minnesota people, let this representative know what you feel about losing representation.

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by rcwalker July 2, 2009 1:54 PM EDT: You missed her point. She did not refuse to give the number of residents at her address, she refused to give answers to the remaining questions that have nothing to do with population counts at specific addresses. Stick to the facts or keep quiet.


by actornaught July 2, 2009 3:32 PM EDT: rcwalker, you know darn well that every single shirtless wonder will simply toss out the census takers and not answer ANY questions, because their crazazy 'pub rep "told them to". Facts? The fact that your crazazy anti-govt hysteria will have you paranoid as Barney Fife, rather than cooperate with the census is FUNNY!


by ABM_21 July 2, 2009 1:31 PM EDT: The loon has spoken.; Reply to this comment

by franklooper July 2, 2009 1:00 PM EDT

Palin-Sanford-Bachmann in 2012! That's a ticket that I'd love to see.

Yes, I noticed that I named three. You see, one woman has just never been enough for Mark...

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by ABM_21 July 2, 2009 1:31 PM EDT: That's foul! It's funny, but that is foul!


by rcwalker July 2, 2009 12:57 PM EDT: Good for her... I to will refuse to give any more infomation other than the number of "citizens" in the household. That is all that is required by the Constitution. All the added "crap" has nothing to do with the purpose of Congress sizing. It all has to do with intrusions into individual and states rights. If everyone refused to fill out the sensus form except for the number of "legal citizens" in the household, the government might get the message to "take a hike".

By the way... there is not a question as to the legal status of the members of the household. Imagine getting more members of congress due to a large number of "illegal aliens" in your district.; Reply to this comment

by actornaught July 2, 2009 12:19 PM EDT

The title of the article should have been Krazier Than a Kraphouse Rat...

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by rcwalker July 2, 2009 1:02 PM EDT: Easy to take shots at someone... try using logic and look at the facts of why the census is required every 10 years . Try reading the constitution.