March 19^th 2008 – received notice that we were selected to participate

March 26^th 2008 – received American Community Survey

March 31^st 2008 – received reminder notice (post card) in the mail telling us that we need to return the completed survey

April 19^th 2008 - received notice that we needed to send in our survey, with a new copy of the survey and a letter explaining that it is mandatory and that I must comply, that we may have employees follow up and come to our home and/or call us.

Before we started taking pictures, there were times that presents that my children’s Great Grandmother sent them were falling out of the box to the point where our mail carrier was apologizing. Every item she sends my children is opened completely, and often not taped shut afterwards. There is no notice that it has been searched or any indication that something happened.

I am sure it is not our particular carrier b/c we have had 2 carriers in the last 2 years, and it is happening with both.

This started right after we went to our state senator about a tax refund that was owed to us from 2002, which we are still fighting for.

Here are photographs of the front and back of each item from this week, only addresses have been blurred.

Why isn’t there more of an outcry about the ACS?

After reading so much online and getting myself all worked up, I posted my dilemma with the ACS to a local YAHOO mom’s group yesterday.

I had to explain some things a few times, but a lot of the moms were in support of not doing it and appalled at the questions and invasion of privacy, and at how so many were just freely giving away their freedoms by answering the questions.

Well today there are a lot of posts about how I am paranoid and that living a paranoid life is “worse that a ‘big brother’ government that doesn’t exist”.

I am incredibly confused at the reactions. I did respond to her on list, and now apparently my response was so incredibly negative and “brings so many others down” that people are leaving our list… I hate to see people leave, our list is an awesome resource to moms, but I am not about to ask people to stay and apologize for “enlightening” someone to something. Not everyone is going to be happy with everything going on at any particular time. I’m not happy with this damn survey, and I can talk to other people about it right? I mean if they can ask/complain about a doctor, why not me and the government in this case?

I just can’t believe that people are just so blind and upset that someone questions something that our government does… 

Here was my response to the email I received on the group list (I am choosing not to include the emails from the other moms it since it is a semi private group, but you can get the gist that I was being negative and paranoid):

I really am not being negative about this. I asked for others opinions and I respect them all, including yours.

I just want to say that the things that I am “paranoid” about, and that other on this list seem to agree about are things that our founding fathers warned us about. They foresaw people losing their liberties, and took the steps to make sure it didn’t happen with the constitution. If you read their respective writings, it is very interesting that our rights are being taken from us in ways that the founding fathers warned us not to give in about.

Guns being taken from homes, intrusion into our homes by government officials without warrants, protesters being places under surveillance…. all things that the Constitution of the United States was set up to protect us from.

Do I honestly think that the government is going to use this survey to put me under surveillance? It honestly might be used against us with the IRS. But for most people given the survey, not useless the answers raise flags. Do I feel that I should HAVE to fill it out? No. And I won’t. In the wrong hands the answers to these questions can be quite detrimental.

My husband and I have been “tagged” by the IRS b/c we are still fighting over a refund from 2002. They have now tried to get the NC Revenue Service after us, even though we were not married, didn’t live in NC, and didn’t work here. T he Husband is now on a “pull aside” list when flying, and so am I, neither of us are able to board a plane without a full search of us and our belongings. My mail now comes opened most days. My children don’t even get to open their own packages from their great grandmother b/c the post office does it for them. My business packages come opened and often dirtied and I have to sell them at a discount.

Until we started fighting the IRS and writing our congressmen and senator about it and the real ID act, I never gave what our government did a second thought. It was what it was and we had little say and it was here to protect us. I mean, they know best, right?

I have since decided that isn’t right. We are targets now b/c we wrote that letter and because we have stood up to fight. I honestly believe that and so does my husband. It happens to a lot of Americans who stand up to the IRS. It was really eye opening for me when it started happening. I grew up in an upper middle class family in the suburbs of Washington DC. My mother is a republican to the core. I was raised with those same values and never questioned anything that our government said and did. Heck, until college, I thought Regan was the best president ever………….. (I have figured that one out ;o) ) But my point is, not everything they are doing is right or legal, and something has to happen to open our eyes to it.

This survey is an intrusion. The government does not need that information from me. I will gladly tell them how many people live in my house, and the rest, if they truly need it, they can find on their own.

‘Those who would sacrifice freedom for security deserve neither’ – Benjamin Franklin.

I believe, as did our founding fathers, that if we don’t stand up and protect our freedoms, we don’t deserve them.

Don’t worry, I will stand up for my personal freedoms, and yours. That way someone is fighting for them.

Just because I am “paranoid” doesn’t mean they aren’t after me

I am up early this morning, so it’s my turn to ramble and hopefully make sense.

The American Community Survey is a survey that is sent to 250,000 homes each month by the Department of Commerce and the US Census Bureau.

This is NOT the US Census that comes every ten years (which makes the next census due in 2010). This is a survey that is not anonymous; it requires not only your name, but you address, phone numbers, birth date, gender, race, ethnicity (yes, both) and more, just on the first two pages. It then asks for the same information for each of the persons living in the house with you.

About two weeks ago, on March 19th 2008, when I first received notice from the US Census Director by mail that I would have the pleasure of partaking in the survey, I didn’t think much of it. I assumed it was the actual Census b/c it came from the Census Bureau, and tossed the notice.

I received the American Community Survey on March 26th and with my hectic life and children’s lives, I did not get a chance to open it until the afternoon of the 29th.

I started to fill out the information and stopped when I realized that it was going to be specific to me and not going to be anonymous… The questions were invasive, and the wording in the “guide”, FAQ pamphlet, and the included form letter from Charles Louis Kincannon, Director of the US Census Bureau, really began to upset me.

The front of the envelope that the ACS came in stated in bold letter “YOUR RESPONSE IS REQUIRED BY LAW“. That alone put me off a little. I understand civil duty; I understand jury duty; I understand the need for the census and why it is required; I do NOT understand why this information they are asking for is required. I began to read the corresponding pamphlets that I had ignored.

In the FAQ pamphlet it asked “Do I have to answer the questions on the American Community Survey?” The Answer was “Yes, your response to this survey is required by law (Title 13 United States Code, Sections 141 and 193). Title 13 as changed by Title 18, imposes a penalty for not responding. The survey is approved by the Office of Management and Budget. We estimate this survey will take 38 minutes to complete.”

There is no way in hell that the information they want will take me less than 38 minutes to find and write down. I don’t know off the top of my head what my business sales from this past year or month were. I don’t know what my home value is, what I have left on my mortgage, what type of health insurance I have, what I have taken in public assistance in the last year, what my property taxes, flood insurance, month electric bill, water bill, gas bill are. How many miles my office is from my home, what time I leave, what time I return, not to mention the same for my spouse and children… Just digging out my files and looking this information up will take me the better part of an hour.

I opened the “Guide” for the survey, hoping to find out if I was able just to fill in the number of people in my household and that be it. Again it states that I am required to fill out all questions asked in the survey.

When I read the article they use as “law” I can be fines $500 a question for incorrect answers. . . the fine for not filling it out at all, was only $100.

My husband was not home at the time so I called my mother-in-law to get her perspective on the survey and to see if she had ever received one. She had not, and said she would “never receive” it.

I jumped on google, and began looking up different people’s experiences on this survey. I am appalled at the waste of tax payers resources, harassment, and invasion of privacy that this survey is causing.

www.checkpointusa.org/Census/Census.htm#documents is a great site with different links, both government links and blogs, about the survey.

So my question to all of you is, What happened to you when you didn’t fill it out and ignored the mailings?