Intrusive and expensive

How well do you speak English? Do you have difficulty dressing yourself? Or bathing? How many times have you been married? Does your house have a toilet that flushes? What is your emotional condition? Most Americans would be offended if someone they did not know, or maybe even did know, approached them and demanded answers to questions like the ones above. In fact, many Americans who are asked these questions do take offense, especially when the person asking is an agent of the federal government. Each and every month, the U.S. Census Bureau mails more than 250,000 households the American Community Survey, which pries into the lives of ordinary Americans with these types of questions. The fines can be up to $5,000. Is this freedom? Is this the proper role of government? The Census Bureau will spend at least $2.4 billion over the next decade on the

OPPOSING VIEW

Survey pries into your private life

American Community Survey. Not only is it intrusive, mandatory and expensive, it is also worth asking whether this is a proper use of taxpayer dollars. Higher spending results in higher debt, higher taxes or both. If we can’t come up with savings as our $15 trillion debt mounts, then European-style austerity measures will loom or the government will be forced to take more from your hard-earned paycheck.

At a per unit cost of approximately $70 per questionnaire, and with more than 5,000 federal employees required to administer and implement the survey, surely this government intrusion should be considered a serious contender to eliminate for deficit savings.

As with so much of our enormous government, the American Community Survey is well intentioned. But for the sake of reducing government spending and limiting further government intrusion on our personal freedoms, I am left with a serious question: Isn’t there a better way to run our government?

Rep. Daniel Webster, R-Fla., sponsored the Housepassed amendment to eliminate funding for the American Community Survey.