What a waste of $$$

[Captain Curt]

This is a topic on which most of the opinions above are correct, even though they appear to be disparate.

The pre-census letter is wasteful. At least, it's wasteful if there were near complete compliance with the census letter that will follow.

There's not near complete compliance. There's not even remotely complete compliance. And, the seeds of that problem can be found in the above posts.

Many people think the government is intruding on their lives and they resist complying with, as Glenn W rightfully points out above, a constitutional REQUIREMENT of government no matter who's in office and a vitally important data source for running the country.

When someone doesn't fill out the form (I didn't the last time for much the same reasons cited above) the Census Bureau then must send someone to your house personally. And, they will do it more than once to finally try to find you at home so they can get a count. Talk about expensive. That's incredibly expensive.

So, back to the pre-census letter. It's a sales technique. That's all. It's intended to prepare the ground for the receipt of the census itself so as to enhance compliance and so as to attempt, at least, to minimize the cost of repeatedly sending a real person to your home to get a count, again, an incredibly expensive thing to do.

So, the letter is intended to actually save money by enhancing voluntary compliance with a constitutional requirement of government. If you're concerned about the expense of government you could easily choose a more fruitful target than that letter...such as the Republican wars of aggression.

LongFisher

Longfisher
Points well taken and to think you did this without insulting me and the rest of the anglers on this site along with my mates and the amount of salt in my chum.
Thank you

Respectfully

Curt

[Glenn W]

Curt, no insult directly to you was intended. If my use of the word "clowns" offends or insults you, I suggest you seek professional help.
This is indeed a dumb topic to even respond to on this forum with the mentality of many of the posters within this thread--- so in that regard, I'm sorry I mentioned anything at all.
My last comments to this ridiculous thread are: it is apparant that many of you have no idea (whatsoever) as to the need for and use of census data---- and remember the U.S. Government ownes the postal store--- I doesn't cost the government much of anything to send bulk mail.--- please despense with the trivial incremental costs of paper, etc.

[Avenger]

To send out the letters telling you that you will be receiving census materials shortly cost $85 million dollars. That is a huge waste of taxpayers dollars.

Actually, it's a carefully camouflaged bailout of the US Postal Service.

[longfisher]

...as an insult to most of those on this board:

"such as the Republican wars of aggression."

I must be getting rusty or my aim is diminished by age. I sure thought that would get the super-patriot blood pumping.

Had I not been viciously attacked on this board with my first posts intended to illuminate the principles of insurance that favored mandatory coverage to keep health care and health insurance costs down I'd be as meek as a mouse here. But that's not the way it turned out.

Police your civility and I'll police mine. Don't and I won't. Not only that, in my incivility I'll use large, multisyllabic words that perplex you, send you to the dictionary or make you feel uneducated and inferior.

It's always been your choice. Be civil or experience incivility in return.

LongFisher