We just received our census questionnaire from the Federal government. It comes emblazoned with a foreboding all-caps message on the envelope:

YOUR RESPONSE IS REQUIRED BY LAW

This might lead you to believe you must answer all of the questions. The Census is, after all, one of a handful of Constitutionally-mandated exercises. The enclosed letter, printed on an official-looking pale blue background, says:

“Census results are used to decide the number of representatives each state has in the U.S. Congress.”

True enough. Here’s how the Constitution says it (Article I, Section 2)…

Representatives and direct Taxes shall be apportioned among the several States which may be included within this Union, according to their respective Numbers…The actual Enumeration shall be made within three Years after the first Meeting of the Congress of the United States, and within every subsequent Term of ten Years, in such Manner as they shall by Law direct.

But the letter from the unnamed “Director, U.S. Census Bureau” goes further…

“The amount of government money your neighborhood receives also depends on these answers. That money is used for services for children, and the elderly, roads, and many other local needs.”

This is not only extra-Constitutional (from outside of the document), it’s also arguably anti-Constitutional (against the specific words and intent of the document).

In fact, the 16th Amendment, which ushered in the income tax in 1913, explicitly notes that the collection of taxes shall be “without regard to any census or enumeration.” A plain reading would indicate that disbursement of those tax funds ought also to disregard the census figures.

There’s good reason for that.

The Founders listed specific functions of the Federal government (enumerated powers), delegated to it by the States and the people. They never designed the centralized national government to become a redistribution channel, gathering taxes, then cycling some of those dollars back to targeted individuals or companies.

In fact, the “general welfare” clause (Article I, Section 8), is often misinterpreted to mean Congress should become a beneficent uncle to the poor, emphasis on “welfare.” But the true emphasis is on “general”, meaning that Congress only undertakes to do that which is of broad, general value to the United States as a whole, not to particular States, corporations, individuals or demographic groups.

That said, the Department of Commerce has a Constitutional duty, via Congress, to determine how many people are here, and where they live, in order to make sure legislative boundaries are accurately drawn. Any other questions on the census form go beyond the Constitution to meddling, and perhaps toward more autocratic, centralized government, sustained by socio-economic and ethnic class warfare rhetoric.

So, the following questions [paraphrased below] will remain blank when I return my census form.

Who owns your dwelling?
What is your telephone number?
What’s your sex?
Are you Latino?
What’s your race?

I will answer how many people live here and the age of each one. These are useful in determining legislative representation.

If you have not yet completed your census form, take a moment to consider the fact that the Federal government has absolutely no sovereign power. It’s authority is utterly and completely derived from the States, through ratification of the Constitution, and by the “consent of the governed.” In other words, it depends on us, and we are its boss…no matter what the scare-caps on the envelope say.

The sovereign ones here are the people — whose unalienable rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness are a Divine endowment.

In these United States of America, that still counts for something.

---

Scott Ott is editor in chief of ScrappleFace.com, the world’s leading family-friendly news satire source, and a co-host of the thrice-weekly news commentary and humor show,Trifecta (with Bill Whittle and Steve Green) on PJTV. His non-satirical text, video and audio work can be enjoyed at ScottOtt.org