My Two Census

In our function as a watchdog for the 2010 Census, we want you to know that the Census Bureau’s IT Department is still slumping…be prepared for technological challenges in the days ahead.

If you are searching for data concerning America’s population and demographics, look no further than the “American Factfinder” presented to us by the Census Bureau. As of this posting, you are sharing these beloved 50 states with 305,813,193 other people. However, this statistic doesn’t include the millions of undocumented immigrants known to be sharing this country with us.

From the way this news was reported, the availability of Census jobs may be the most exciting thing that’s happened in KC since the Royals won the 1985 World Series…

For new Census data from the KC-based Kauffman Foundation that discusses how entrepreneurship affects job growth, check out this MSNBC report.

For the millions of Americans who are currently unemployed, short term relief may be found by working for the Census. In towns and cities across America, the Census Bureau is hiring. Ostensibly, competition will be stiff, even in locales nobody’s ever heard of. Check out these local news reports:

Census hiring in Pratt, Kansas

Census hiring in Taylor, Texas

Census hiring in Fresno, California

Census hiring in Pasadena, California

With only 413 days remaining before “Census Day,” April 1st, 2010, there’s no better time than now to watch a corny video manufactured by the U.S. Government that promotes participating in the Census. Note: At the time of this posting, only 114 people (most likely all from the production company that made it) have viewed this promo.

Remember folks, the results of the 2010 Census will determine how 300 billion of your tax dollars are allocated each year. In the era of 800 billion dollar bailouts, that may not sound like much, but it’s enough money to give many elected officials the jitters.

Just ask Keith Hite, the president of the National Association of Towns & Townships who appears on this video – Come on U.S. government videography team and producers, is he the best celebrity you could find to promote the Census? – and says, “the Census, no matter when it is, is the consummate partnership between local, state, and federal government.” Thanks Keith. We’re glad that from your perch in your Town & Townships Tower (sounds like a Mickey Mouse organization to me) that you still find time to star in promotional videos.

The video goes on to discuss “innovations, like a new, short census form will help to make it even more successful.” I’m familiar with the phrase “less is more,” but how will asking fewer questions (seven in total) yield more accurate data? This “innovation” seems to be a concession to libertarians, most of whom won’t fill out the 2010 Census form anyway.

Only during the video’s photo montage (to the tune of an unknown “hopes and dreams” theme song) do we finally see the microcosm of America as we know it that features brief clips of every racial, ethnic, occupation, ability, class, and age group from sea to shining sea. If you look closely at these pictures, many appear to be stock photos that were likely taken in places other than American soil. Perhaps we at MyTwoCensus are cynics, but this is our job, so we can keep America strong into 2010 and beyond.