Amardeep has already broached the topic of the U.S. Census in his recent post about question number 9. I’d like to follow up by making an important appeal to all of our readers: PLEASE encourage every South Asian American you know to get this form filled out and turned in as soon as possible. I am serious. When you are at the bar/restaurant/movie this weekend, ask your friends if they have filled it out already. If your mom and dad call and ask how your day was, ask them if they filled it out. Nag. Incessantly. They will all thank you for it later. From the U.S. Constitution:
Clause 3: Representatives and direct Taxes shall be apportioned among the several States which may be included within this Union, according to their respective Numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole Number of free Persons, including those bound to Service for a Term of Years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three fifths of all other Persons. [Link]
The New York Times recently featured an article about the efforts of the Indian American community in the Richmond Hill neighborhood of New York City:
Kulwinder Singh, a 52-year-old Punjabi Sikh who works as a tow-truck operator, approached a young community organizer who was taping a promotional poster for the 2010 census to a wall inside his temple in Richmond Hill, Queens. Mr. Singh looked perplexed.“Population count,” the organizer, Herminder Singh, 19, explained in Punjabi, before launching into a detailed explanation of the survey.
The older man listened intently, finally declaring, with a resolve that would warm the heart of any census official: “My family has 10 to 15 members. When the form comes, I’ll fill it out.” [Link]
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p>How about the rest of you?
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p>I wanted to survey the progress thus far in census form return rate from the top 10 U.S. voting districts by South Asian American population. But shockingly, nobody can say with certainty what they are. Maybe they will do that analysis for the 2010 cycle because it seems like something important to know. I have decided to pick 5 U.S. voting districts where I know there are a ton of brown folk. Let’s see what’s up using their really cool interactive map:
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p>Edison, NJ:
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p>Fremont, CA
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p>Houston and Sugarland, TX
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Cerritos, CA
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Western suburbs of Chicago, IL
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So it looks like Houston, where I live, is performing shockingly poorly. The rest are just average. All these districts need to be performing way better than average if we want to save the tax payers money. The U.S. government will have to start knocking on doors if these forms don’t get turned in soon. The cost of doing so comes directly out of your taxes. I don’t want my taxes being spent to convince you all that this is in your best interests. It should be obvious. Nag my fellow mutineers, please nag.
There was an interesting story over in Daily Kos about how areas like Houston and other hotbeds of neoconservatism are following Michelle Bachmann and Ron Paul and Glenn Beck’s lead, all of whom are using crazy conspiracy theories to suggest that people shouldn’t fill out the census forms, because it’s a government conspiracy to take over your life. Of course, this will backfire on them later – GOP strongholds are underperforming in the census, and that could mean the redrawing of district lines to be more favorable to Democrats in the long run.
So as much as I’d like to see a more liberal government, I feel duty-bound to urge everyone to turn in their census forms if they want to make sure their voice and their votes mean something.
Speaking about Sensus 2010, we still have not rec’d blanks to fill in and send back. I called a number, and a recording said if I don’t recieve them by April 12, please call back. Is there a sure way of expediting this or even fill it out on line? When is the deadline anyway?
Some data I read today in Fortune Total cost of 2010 census – $14.5 billion Non response follow up – $2.74 billion (Abhi’s initiative is to save this part)
Like Son – like Father. You all know I meant Census. Please do not sense us;-)
Go Cerritos!
Yo Dad,
You can physically pick up forms at your nearest questionnaire assistance center or Be Counted site. Just type in your zip code through this site and locate your nearest center: http://2010.census.gov/2010census/take10map/bcqac-textview.php
“Non response follow up – $2.74 billion (Abhi’s initiative is to save this part)”
I told some people to fill out their form, do I get a cut ?
i dunno. last time we had a president this lefto-transformative didn’t he use the census to put us all in a concentration camp? i wonder what Michele malkin’s position is on this?
Manju: and I was wondering why it is that the left likes the census so.
Sunzari @ 6 – Thanks. The link showed me a place just 3 miles from home. Will go and fill it out this weekend. Thanks again.
The gummint already knows your name, address, and phone number from your tax records. Depending on how you paid your taxes or how you chose to receive a refund, they know your credit card and/or bank account number too. If you’re a DBD, they also got your fingerprints at your port of entry. And these conservative pansies are now running scared of the census? Just man up and send it in, bitches!
/rant
pingpong, but why are you so irked, so interested in cons. pansies turning their census forms in?
I think it is related to folks getting upset when the bravo reality tv folks crashed Obama’s gubmit dinner. Sacrilege. Religion. Blasphemy.
Alreadey done
Con teabaggers hate the census because it’s unconstitutional.There’s nothing in there about a decennial census. Read the constitution, sheeples!
tea partiers you mean…tea bag is a derogatory sexual term.
eh, whatever. since when did town hall screamers, congressperson harassers and death threat issuers become so punctilious about manners and proper names?
I see that Votebank politics doesn’t only exist in India.