A Voice in the Wilderness In Defense of "Mere Conservatism"

Walter E. Williams Isn’t Happy About The Census

Dr. Williams is certainly one of the clearest thinkers and best communicators of free market principles in the country, but no one has ever accused him of mincing words.  His target this week: the 2010 U.S. Census.

The Census Bureau estimates that the life cycle cost of the 2010 Census will be from $13.7 billion to $14.5 billion, making it the costliest census in the nation's history.

That's a pretty penny in a time of economics crisis.  Williams sees not only wanton waste in the Census, but a unnecessary (and un-Constitutional) intrusion into the lives of American taxpayers and voters.

What purpose did the Constitution's framers have in mind ordering an enumeration or count of the American people every 10 years? The purpose of the headcount is to apportion the number of seats in the House of Representatives and derived from that, along with two senators from each state, the number of electors to the Electoral College.

He continues

The Census Bureau also asks questions about race, and I want to know what does my race have to do with apportioning the U.S. House of Representatives?

If I'm asked about race, I might respond the way I did when filling out a military form upon landing in Inchon, Korea in 1960; I checked off Caucasian. The warrant officer who was checking forms told me that I made a mistake and should have checked off "Negro." I told him that people have the right to self-identify themselves and I'm Caucasian. The warrant officer, trying to cajole me, asked why I would check off Caucasian instead of Negro. I told him that checking off Negro would mean getting the worse job over here. I'm sure the officer changed it after I left.

Most people don't care that the government incrementally intrudes into their lives more and more each year.  People want jobs and food on the table and some vacation time.  I get that.  Dr. Williams gets that.

But there are some principles and values and ideals that are worth taking a stand for NOW so that we can avoid things like top-down Socialism LATER.  On a very basic level, and if nothing else raises your ire about this year's Census, consider the absolute waste of time and taxpayers' money it is to hire the workers to administer and collect the Census data (many of whom quit after getting paid for their "Census Training").

From The Washington Post:

Thousands of workers hired last year for temporary positions by the U.S. Census Bureau were trained and paid but never worked for the agency, while others who fulfilled assignments overbilled for travel expenses, according to an audit released Tuesday.

Nice. Here's more from Williams on the waste in government: