3rdnlng Posted June 24, 2013 Share Posted June 24, 2013 (edited) No, it doesn't separate me from the rest of you unwashed, I'm one of the 3 million in this country that has been asked to fill out "The American Community Survey". The survey has not arrived yet, just the notification that it will arrive. I wonder if after it actually arrives they'll send me a notification of that too? Gotta help out their brothers in th U.S.P.S I guess. I've briefly read up on it a little bit and now remember the flak that was going on over the survey's privacy invasion. What with all the spying that the government does, why do they need me to tell them what time I go to work and return? Don't they already know? Do they really need me to tell them if I have a flush toilet or not? Can't they tell that from listening in on my phone conversations? They can't be very smart if they don't know what that gentle whooosh sound in the background was. Anyway, I'm told from some sources that not filling it out can bring a fine. Has anyone here had experience with this survey? I'm going to wait until I see the questions before making a decision, but I'm certainly leaning towards a big mIm to the government. Edit: Just ran across this person's ordeal: http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/orwellian-american-community-survey The ACS itself is a lesson in government overreach. Article 1 of the Constitution allows for a census every 10 years so that seating in Congress is proportional to state populations. Lawmakers gave the Commerce Department the power to ask more questions, and it took the power and ran, and ran, with it -- ending up asking questions unrelated to districting. (ACS answers, according to its website, are to help "manage or evaluate federal and state government programs" -- not to help with congressional seating.) What's especially problematic about the ACS are the answers it demands from citizens. The least threatening of them are just strange -- such as asking whether your home has a flush toilet and whether "there is a business (such as a store or barber shop) or a medical practice" on your property. Then there are the financial questions. The ACS asks everything from your sources of income (in dollar amounts) to how much you spend on gas, electricity, and water. The IRS just asks what you earn; the Commerce Department wants to know how you spend your money as well. Edited June 24, 2013 by 3rdnlng Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Just Jack Posted June 24, 2013 Share Posted June 24, 2013 Thank you for your service to our country. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dayman Posted June 24, 2013 Share Posted June 24, 2013 Be honest in your responses 3rd. Don't let shame keep from disclosing your lack of flush toilet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3rdnlng Posted June 24, 2013 Author Share Posted June 24, 2013 Be honest in your responses 3rd. Don't let shame keep from disclosing your lack of flush toilet. It flushes if I choose to flush it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Best Player Available Posted June 24, 2013 Share Posted June 24, 2013 No, it doesn't separate me from the rest of you unwashed, I'm one of the 3 million in this country that has been asked to fill out "The American Community Survey". The survey has not arrived yet, just the notification that it will arrive. I wonder if after it actually arrives they'll send me a notification of that too? Gotta help out their brothers in th U.S.P.S I guess. I've briefly read up on it a little bit and now remember the flak that was going on over the survey's privacy invasion. What with all the spying that the government does, why do they need me to tell them what time I go to work and return? Don't they already know? Do they really need me to tell them if I have a flush toilet or not? Can't they tell that from listening in on my phone conversations? They can't be very smart if they don't know what that gentle whooosh sound in the background was. Anyway, I'm told from some sources that not filling it out can bring a fine. Has anyone here had experience with this survey? I'm going to wait until I see the questions before making a decision, but I'm certainly leaning towards a big mIm to the government. Edit: Just ran across this person's ordeal: http://www.weeklysta...ommunity-survey The ACS itself is a lesson in government overreach. Article 1 of the Constitution allows for a census every 10 years so that seating in Congress is proportional to state populations. Lawmakers gave the Commerce Department the power to ask more questions, and it took the power and ran, and ran, with it -- ending up asking questions unrelated to districting. (ACS answers, according to its website, are to help "manage or evaluate federal and state government programs" -- not to help with congressional seating.) What's especially problematic about the ACS are the answers it demands from citizens. The least threatening of them are just strange -- such as asking whether your home has a flush toilet and whether "there is a business (such as a store or barber shop) or a medical practice" on your property. Then there are the financial questions. The ACS asks everything from your sources of income (in dollar amounts) to how much you spend on gas, electricity, and water. The IRS just asks what you earn; the Commerce Department wants to know how you spend your money as well. I have experience with the survey. When it arrived,stamped on the envelope was the following. "Must be filled out under penalty of the law" or something close. I chose not to fill it out since at the time I found the survey a little to probing. After 90 days or so a second one came. I may have had to sign for it. Then the phone calls started. Finally towards the end of the year. A govt. agent from a Seattle office (we were in SF bay at the time) knocked on the door and showed ID, and gave me his card. At first I wouldn't let him in the house, then felt some pity, since he said his job performance review was based on how many criminal Americans like myself refused to fill them out and he needed to talk us into it. He claimed that future federal money allotments for my town were part of the process. With 2 wars raging I simply said I thought it would be better for the country if he was layed off, or fired. But we still talked and he proceeded to tell me stories of being threatened to be shot dead. And, people letting their dogs go after him if he breached a unlocked fenced property. In the end I never filled it out and he gave up. Oh, no "penalty" either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3rdnlng Posted June 25, 2013 Author Share Posted June 25, 2013 I have experience with the survey. When it arrived,stamped on the envelope was the following. "Must be filled out under penalty of the law" or something close. I chose not to fill it out since at the time I found the survey a little to probing. After 90 days or so a second one came. I may have had to sign for it. Then the phone calls started. Finally towards the end of the year. A govt. agent from a Seattle office (we were in SF bay at the time) knocked on the door and showed ID, and gave me his card. At first I wouldn't let him in the house, then felt some pity, since he said his job performance review was based on how many criminal Americans like myself refused to fill them out and he needed to talk us into it. He claimed that future federal money allotments for my town were part of the process. With 2 wars raging I simply said I thought it would be better for the country if he was layed off, or fired. But we still talked and he proceeded to tell me stories of being threatened to be shot dead. And, people letting their dogs go after him if he breached a unlocked fenced property. In the end I never filled it out and he gave up. Oh, no "penalty" either. Thanks, BPA, If you are still on the board when I draft, I'll be sure to select you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cinga Posted June 25, 2013 Share Posted June 25, 2013 I think you need to check your mail a little more often since the census was a few years ago... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dayman Posted June 25, 2013 Share Posted June 25, 2013 A quick wiki shows that if you don't fill it out they are more likely to do in person follow ups...and that nobody has ever been charged with a crime or fined. Wiki...but backs up BPA's story. Fill it out 3rd...or become victim of government jehovah witnessing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3rdnlng Posted June 25, 2013 Author Share Posted June 25, 2013 I think you need to check your mail a little more often since the census was a few years ago... Read the OP. They are sending out 250,000 of these every month. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cinga Posted June 25, 2013 Share Posted June 25, 2013 Read the OP. They are sending out 250,000 of these every month. I stand corrected.... And hope I get one too because I will do the same thing I did for the census, mark the number of people in the home and nothing more.... It was fun for a while, but after a while and one threat too many, I gave then my attorneys card and said any more communication with me could go through him... Never heard from them again... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Koko78 Posted June 25, 2013 Share Posted June 25, 2013 Just tell them you didn't fill that out - someone else did. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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