Does the law say how many questions Rep. Bachmann needs to fill in to get her free tinfoil hat?

Let me try not to be unkind to Rep. Bachmann -- paranoia is treatable.

Dear Micky,

If you adjust your tinfoil hat a bit in the counter-counter clockwise direction, you'll find that you can better shield yourself from the wingnut wavelength that's so obviously taking over and dominating your thought patterns.

I sure hope she wears a tinfoil hat while she fills in the ovals.

Should be "lightning rod" unless you're referring to some kind of new weight-loss fad.

So Rep. Bachmann now suggests we should all fear the Census, and NOT disclose full and accurate information to it? Suppose everyone followed her lead?

I doubt she's thought through the consequences of this.

The results of the census are important data, used for a wide variety of important purposes:

- congressional redistricting
- state legislative redistricting
- apportionment of funding for a variety of government programs
- projection of trends in the population and demographics of the U.S., to plan for future needs
- input to and support of marketing efforts and business planning by many U.S. business
- and many, many more

The 2000 U.S. Census cost about $4.5 billion, nearly $16/person. At the rate the cost has been increasing every 10 years, it'll probably be more than $20/person this time around. If so, we're looking at investing over $6 billion dollars in the 2010 Census.

It's hard enough for the Census Bureau to get data as it is. Beyond the incredible logistical problems, there are many people, such as immigrants, who resist giving accurate data, or evade giving data at all, out of fear of how it might be used by the government.

Now we've got an elected official who is telling everyone they OUGHT to fear giving full and accurate information, and that she herself is going to refuse!

This is one of Rep. Bachmann's most irresponsible statements to date.

It's not just that she is attacking the Census - and thereby harming all the good and important uses its data is put to.

She is also attacking the productivity of the billions of dollars spent on the Census.

Ms. Lowe is incorrect. The law provides for a maximum penalty of $500 for false answers, or $100 for refusing to answer. See US Code 13,221.

That being said, Ms. Bachmann is showing herself more and more to be completely unmoored from reality.

We'll see how irrational she is at the next election.
If she gets re-elected; it appears that she knows what she's doing.
What that says about US, on the other hand ....

hello all
if you want to give your personal information to a criminal organization ACON - and if you trust what uses this information will be used for then goahead give them what they want - I WILL NOT

FOR YOU MICHELLE BACKMAN HATERS - she will have a very minimal impact on your future - i think you should be giving your attention to the people who are ABOUT TO GREATLY CHANGE YOU AND YOUR CHILDREN'S FUTURE.

hello
if ACON gathers your census information - do not be surprised if you find MICKEY MOUSE OR THE ENTIRE DALLAS FOOTBALL TEAM - living in you home.

I'm all for ACORN being allowed to collect census information....just as long as their employees were required to wear US Immigration and Customs Enforcement tee shirts.

"...there are many people, such as immigrants, who resist giving accurate data, or evade giving data at all, out of fear of how it might be used by the government."

So do immigrants wear tin foil hats, too?

Rep. Bachmann shows an alarming inability to read plain English, particularly for someone who practived tax law. The Constitution clearly states that "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." In simpler language, the count shall be done as Congress says it shall be done.

This impetuous behavior from Rep. Bachmann will cost Minnesotans millions of dollars in the future. The federal government uses the census to determine the distribution of federal aid money. If just one Minnesotan follows Congresswoman Bachmann’s example they will end up costing the state $10,000 dollars in lost federal aid and will face a $500 dollar fine for refusing to participate in the Census.

Also, as ACORN is heavily involved in the census, I am sure they are aware that sharing a person’s private information with anyone but the census bureau carries a 5,000 dollar fine and up to 5 years in prison.

Rep. Bachmann is engaging in non-violent protest to put a needed spotlight towards the intention of the Democrat party to collaborate with a criminal group that has been indicted and convicted of election fraud.

Representative Bachman is supposed to represent us. In the government we have. The fact that she does not want to give any information about her family in the census shows she distrusts the system she works in and does not want information about whom she represents. I do not consider this good representation.