by Mark Silva
The man set to take charge of the 2010 Census, a University of Michigan professor who has worked at the great national headcount before, has supported the idea of statistical sampling to offset actual undercounts of minorities.
This isn't the way the 2010 Census will work, according to the boss, Commerce Secretary Gary Locke. Yet the reappearance of Robert M. Groves on the Census scene, the president's nominee to run the show, has raised a red flag among some Republicans.
Republicans already are worried that the White House will be running the Census show, a concern that emerged in the withdrawn nomination of Republican Sen. Judd Gregg as commerce secretary - though Gregg maintained that was not a big issue.
"This is an incredibly troubling selection that contradicts the administration's assurances that the census process would not be used to advance an ulterior political agenda," Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., ranking Republican on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, says of Groves' nomination. "Mr. Groves will have every opportunity to address these concerns during the confirmation process."
Groves, a former Census Bureau associate director of statistical design, served at the agency from 1990-92. He has devoted decades to research on ways to improve surveys.
As associate director, he had recommended that the 1990 Census be statistically adjusted to make up for an undercount of roughly 5 million people, many of them minorities in dense urban areas who tend to vote for Democrats - which would have an impact on the way new congressional districts are drawn and the political parties' balance of power.
The Census Bureau was overruled by Republican Commerce Secretary Robert Mosbacher, who called the proposed statistical adjustment "political tampering.''
The Supreme Court later ruled that statistical sampling cannot be used to apportion House seats, but said that adjustments could be made to the population count when redrawing congressional boundaries.
Commerce's Lock has made it clear that sampling will not be used for apportionment. He stated during his Senate confirmation hearing that there are no plans to use sampling for redistricting, while indicating that sampling could be used to measure Census accuracy or collect a wider range of demographic data.
Groves, 60, a professor at the University of Michigan, takes over at a critical time. Census officials acknowledge that tens of millions of residents in dense urban areas -- about 14 percent of the population -- are at high risk of being missed due to language problems and a deepening economic crisis that has displaced homeowners.
Hispanics, blacks and others are warning that a traditional Census will not be enough. Arturo Vargas, executive director of the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials, praises Groves as a well-regarded academic, calling the question of statistical adjustment in 2010 a "non-issue" because there are no plans for it.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Comments
According to the leader of the Republican party - Mullah Limbaugh - minorities don't exist unless they plan on voting for the Greedy Oil Party.
Here's some comments on race from Republican leader Rush:
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"I mean, let’s face it, we didn’t have slavery in this country for over 100 years because it was a bad thing. Quite the opposite: slavery built the South. I’m not saying we should bring it back; I’m just saying it had its merits. For one thing, the streets were safer after dark."
"You know who deserves a posthumous Medal of Honor? James Earl Ray [the confessed assassin of Martin Luther King]. We miss you, James. Godspeed."
"Have you ever noticed how all composite pictures of wanted criminals resemble Jesse Jackson?"
"So you go into Darfur and you go into South Africa, you get rid of the white government there. You put sanctions on them. You stand behind Nelson Mandela — who was bankrolled by communists for a time, had the support of certain communist leaders. You go to Ethiopia. You do the same thing."
"Look, let me put it to you this way: the NFL all too often looks like a game between the Bloods and the Crips without any weapons. There, I said it"
"The NAACP should have riot rehearsal. They should get a liquor store and practice robberies".
"They're 12 percent of the population. Who the hell cares?"
"Take that bone out of your nose and call me back (to an African American female caller)."
"I think the media has been very desirous that a black quarterback do well. They’re interested in black coaches and black quarterbacks doing well. I think there’s a little hope invested in McNabb and he got a lot of credit for the performance of his team that he really didn’t deserve"
Posted by: Hulk SMASH! | April 2, 2009 5:12 PM
A sampling:
It's guesstimating that there MAYBE more people.
Forget race/ethnicity. Why did Obama label himself a black? He had a white mother.
He CHOSE to be a certain race, that doesn't mean is a member of that race. He is multicultural..multiraced.
We all are.
The federal government has got to stop messing into social problems. They have yet to solve any problems.
As a matter of fact, the government has created more problems, than there initially were.
Vote locally.
Posted by: local yokel | April 2, 2009 10:37 PM
As a matter of fact, the government has created more problems, than there initially were.Vote locally.
Posted by: local yokel | April 2, 2009 10:37 PM
.
Yeah, we're better off when the Republicon party is in charge and they privatize everything and sell us out to their big business cronies like Haliburton, KBR and Blackwater. We can trust those guys.....NOT!
Posted by: former Republican | April 2, 2009 11:25 PM
"This is an incredibly troubling selection that contradicts the administration's assurances that the census process would not be used to advance an ulterior political agenda," said the kettle, projecting fears of repetition of his own party's past actions, to the pot.
Posted by: David | April 3, 2009 5:56 AM