Is that true? I thought the Commerce department had a reputation of being a spot used for political patronage where the President’s appointees promote various business interests in exchange for campaign donations. Did you mean the Census Bureau specifically?
Suppose for a moment that there are problems with the census–problems that need serious attention. Isn’t it the role of the President to fix problems in the executive branch? Why is it safe to assume that there is no legitimate reason for White House involvement?
Clothahump, dude, you’re gonna have to pace yourself. If you get this worked up over a bureaucratic thing like this in the 1st month of Obama’s term, you’re gonna be in bad shape in four or maybe even eight years.
Well, if the propriety of Obama’s involvement turns on the existence of problems with the census, don’t you think it would be important to establish that fact one way or the other before decrying his involvement?
Just speculating into the void, here…but perhaps it is a gesture towards more transparency as a means of generating more trust. There is a sense abroad that minorities are underrepresented census-wise. I have no idea, but its “out there”.
I suspect that Obama believes that the census is almost certainly kosher in its intentions…that is, it is not deliberately manipulated by the Forces of Darkness to their ends. But he cannot help but be mindful that if such manipulation were possible and concealable…it would be very much to the advantage of those self-same FoD.
So, he takes responsibility, the accountability is his. He’s going to say “I have watched this carefully. I can say to you as a minority person that every fair effort has been made, this census is as fair and accurate as can be reasonably expected.”
Building trust in government amongst those most inclined to mistrust government is good civics.
If that’s what he’s up to. Yer guess, good as mine.
You people will be laughing out the other sides of your mouths when the next census comes back 80% black, 19% white, 1% other. Then where will you be, huh?
To be perfectly fair, had GeeDubya made this move with exactly the same stated intentions, my first thought would have been “What the hell is Dick Cheney up to now?”
But since the shoe is on the other hand, we should ask ourselves “Could this move be interpreted in a negative light by ultra-conservative reactionary paranoid wingnuts? And more importantly, why are these shoes on my hands?”
As of April of 2008, the 2010 census was in serious trouble. (Thanks Humpy for raising my awareness of this issue.)
Absent evidence that these problems have been fixed, increased involvement from the man ultimately in charge of making the census run properly seems warranted. That said, I think a healthy amount of skepticism and demands for transparency are warranted, given the role the census plays in our political process.
It is the basis for apportionment of House districts and state legislative districts, and one basis for the allocation of federal and state aid to cities and counties.
I think I’ve got it…After three beers and sinus medication, I’m starting to think a bit like Clothahump.
Why indeed would Obama want control over the census? Think about it… Why would he want information about the state of the population going back for years and years…
Yes, this plan is so much more evil than filling up the Justice Department Division of Civil Rights with Republican political hacks with law degrees from out of the backs of magazines, and setting them to work rubber-stamping the redistricting plans of Republican state legislatures.
