Robert M. Groves has a lot of Nerve

For months Groves has been inundating Americans with advertisements from the US Census Bureau directing them to fill out their census forms and return them. He tells us that without accurate census data there may not be enough hospitals, roads, or schools. He hails the census as way "to empower the people over their government, instead of the other way around". Former Census Bureau Director Kenneth Prewitt, however, is more honest in his assessment that the Census is used for the "planning of our economy...and of our social services needs, and so forth." He continues, "In fact, every question plays some key role in a public program or a regulatory activity." If you are like me, this sort of double talk may leave you scratching your head. On one hand, we have Groves telling us that responding to the Census "empowers" us over our government. On the other hand, we have Prewitt telling us that the information gathered by the census will be used to divvy up entitlements and create new regulations to restrict our activities. That doesn't sound very "empowering" to me.

Unfortunately for Groves (and fortunately for the American people), the Constitution does not provide a census for any of these reasons. Article I Section 2 makes no mention of hospitals, roads, schools, entitlements, or increased regulation. A Census is required ONLY for the purpose of apportioning representatives and making sure taxes are evenly distributed:

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. The actual Enumeration shall be made within three Years after the first Meeting of the Congress of the United States, and within every subsequent Term of ten Years, in such Manner as they shall by Law direct.

The latest generation of activist census takers are either oblivious to the Constitutional function of the census, deliberately ignoring it, or making up a fanciful interpretation of this clause in order to justify their behavior.

The good news is that at the end of the day, Groves and his minions are only as powerful as we the people allow them to be. If you feel "empowered" by telling the government your name, telephone number, ethnicity, if you own or rent your home, or if you sometimes live somewhere else, then by all means do it. However, know this: None of this information is Robert M. Groves' or any other census taker's business. It is certainly not required for "representatives and direct taxes" to be apportioned. So long as the American people remain apathetic, we can count on Groves and future Census Bureau directors to continue to abuse their power by prying deeper and deeper into our personal lives. If the Constitution is ever going to be taken seriously again, it must start with the people. As Groves would say, it's in our hands!