New legislation can protect the Census Bureau from the political poison that was injected by the Trump Administration, but the damage to the 2020 Census has already been done
Good grief, when will the bad news about the Trump administration end! I firmly believe many people of color were indeed afraid to participate in the 2020 Census.
Good point. However, if the GOP takes the House in 2022, then it is unlikely that they will permit new legislation which could potentially take away the advantage created by the Trump administration. We know where Kevin McCarthy stands on all things Trump. And the other enablers will just fall in line behind him. I worry that we won't get back to the democracy I enjoyed for most of my life because of the very divisive nature of the cult that defines the current GOP.
Never before the Trump administration and the rise of Christian nationalism did we find it necessary to re-inforce constitutional orders with latterday legislation to prevent their destruction. We are on a steady track to fascism, led by Christianity, the 'conservative' GOP, and a right-wing voter bloc who seem to be unable to understand what authoritarian government will mean to them.
When did our schools stop teaching civics and government classes?
Altering census numbers did not start with trump. One might say it began at the beginning, the Constitution calling for "persons'" to be counted which left out the 3/5 of a person slave. It was an issue in the 1920s as well as the 1980s with many Americans continual dislike of illegal immigrants---or even legal immigrants. trump's goal was always to keep power, to curtail representation where illegals and people of color lived, but he and his lied saying it would protect voting rights. Nixed by the Supreme Court.
The 2020 census also faced problems from the covid pandemic, fires and other acts of nature that uprooted residents, fear of deportation, and a general distrust of government which probably started with Nixon.
There are some safeguards. The American Community Survey samples @3million households yearly,
asking questions not on the 10 year census, that can benefit communities. There is an Economic Census every 5 years. There are surveys conducted by other government agencies and others that determine everything from computer usage to how many get covid vaccine.
There are calls for change in the official census by using other sources than mailed or door to door contact. such as using state records. Won't happen. Too difficult to amend the Constitution.
Good grief, when will the bad news about the Trump administration end! I firmly believe many people of color were indeed afraid to participate in the 2020 Census.
Good point. However, if the GOP takes the House in 2022, then it is unlikely that they will permit new legislation which could potentially take away the advantage created by the Trump administration. We know where Kevin McCarthy stands on all things Trump. And the other enablers will just fall in line behind him. I worry that we won't get back to the democracy I enjoyed for most of my life because of the very divisive nature of the cult that defines the current GOP.
Never before the Trump administration and the rise of Christian nationalism did we find it necessary to re-inforce constitutional orders with latterday legislation to prevent their destruction. We are on a steady track to fascism, led by Christianity, the 'conservative' GOP, and a right-wing voter bloc who seem to be unable to understand what authoritarian government will mean to them.
When did our schools stop teaching civics and government classes?
Altering census numbers did not start with trump. One might say it began at the beginning, the Constitution calling for "persons'" to be counted which left out the 3/5 of a person slave. It was an issue in the 1920s as well as the 1980s with many Americans continual dislike of illegal immigrants---or even legal immigrants. trump's goal was always to keep power, to curtail representation where illegals and people of color lived, but he and his lied saying it would protect voting rights. Nixed by the Supreme Court.
The 2020 census also faced problems from the covid pandemic, fires and other acts of nature that uprooted residents, fear of deportation, and a general distrust of government which probably started with Nixon.
There are some safeguards. The American Community Survey samples @3million households yearly,
asking questions not on the 10 year census, that can benefit communities. There is an Economic Census every 5 years. There are surveys conducted by other government agencies and others that determine everything from computer usage to how many get covid vaccine.
There are calls for change in the official census by using other sources than mailed or door to door contact. such as using state records. Won't happen. Too difficult to amend the Constitution.