Back in college I worked as a census taker walking the backwoods of Apalacia to see if anyone was living back there, and if so, trying to convince them to a) not shoot me, b) not sic the dogs on me, and c) please fill out their census form. The job was greatly complicated by the fact that supposedly only 1:6 people had to fill out the long form, but what they didn’t tell people is that those 1:6 people aren’t randomly selected. The lower the population density of an area, the more heavily they sample. The result is that 1:2 homes had been sent the long form in some rural communities and there had been mass rebellion against the whole intrusive process by a population little disposed to tolerate federal interference in the first place. Virtually everyone had simply thrown the form in the trash.
I was so good at my job (compared to the guys doing the same thing that were getting shot at or chased by dogs), that they wanted to send me to take census on the crack houses in New Jersey. I declined. Mountain folk I could handle safely. Rats, stoners, and naked crack whores I didn’t think I could.
Anyway, when I trained for this position I was told that there was a wall of separation between the census bureau and the rest of the federal government. The census bureau was supposed to operate completely free of any interference from anyone, and that our number one job was protecting the privacy of the citizens.
As others have already pointed out, BHO’s grab for power is illegal and is a slap in the face to everyone whose ever gone door to door to fill out those forms. When I did it, I staked my integrity on the integrity of the organization. I got people to trust the Commerce Department by getting them to trust me.
To me, I can’t imagine why anyone would ever take the job of Commerce Secretary when the President has so openly promised to undermine their authority. Why would you take a Cabinet Position as a sitting Senator, when its already been openly disclosed that the actual business of the Commerce Department will be run by a shadow cabinet and you’ll be a powerless figurehead with no responcibilities?
