Politics versus the census
Now politics are threatening to undermine the accuracy of the 2010 population count.
Census numbers are used to dole out federal dollars and apportion political districts large and small. Census data are used to divvy up $300 billion a year among state and local governments.
A complete count is vital for metro areas, which have large minority and immigrant populations that made up much of the estimated 3 million people nationwide who weren't counted in 2000. A complete count is particularly important for slow-growing states with congressional districts at stake.
Census Day is April 1, right at the start of spring. But divisive political posturing already is in bloom.
Sens. David Vitter, R-La., and Bob Bennett, R-Utah, want census takers to ask everyone about citizenship and immigration status. Their goal is to keep undocumented immigrants out of the count, thus keeping them from influencing the flow of dollars and political seats.
But millions of census forms have been printed and are being printed, one reason that the Vitter-Bennett amendment to the census appropriation is a long sh
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