Obama hijacks 2010 Census
3/2009
For the first time in history, the White House plans to meddle in the next census scheduled for 2010. The U.S. Bureau of the Census has traditionally reported to the Secretary of Commerce. Sen. Judd Gregg (R-NH) withdrew from consideration as Obama’s commerce secretary after learning that the 44th president was planning to “hijack” the 2010 census. “The way it was explained to me was that the Census would still report to the Commerce secretary but the White House wanted to have a major interest in the census process also,” Sen. Gregg said.
The outcome of the census has a variety of vital political implications. It can determine where federal resources will be sent, where they won’t be sent and can lead to redrawing legislative districts.
House Republicans sent a letter to Obama urging him to reconsider his plan, calling it an “unprecedented politicization of the census” and stating: “There is no legitimate historical precedent for placing the nonpartisan, apolitical Census Bureau under the control of political operatives on the White House staff.”
The Obama administration has apparently chosen to ignore the Republicans. On March 13, 2009, FOX News reported that the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) has signed up as a “partner” with the Census Bureau and some 250 other civic groups to hire an army of 1.4 million temporary workers to count Americans (and inventory their homes and possessions).