Politics Of the Census

TW: Am sure like most of us, u do not spend your days fretting about the census but rest assured our elected representatives do. Last week there was a mostly substance free kerfuffle regarding whether Obama was "grabbing power" this time around by more closely controlling the pending count (despite what Hannity/Limbaugh hyperventilation might imply).

As the piece mentions, next year will be the first since 1980 where a Dem oversees the process from the White House. The overall issue is very simple, the Dems perceive benefit in counting as many non-whites as possible and the Republicans vice versa. If you read the last election's voting by demographic the logic blasts you in the face. Rest assured this is not a new issue, every census has been controversial for similar reasons (there was a time when the Dems did not care to count all the African-Americans).

From Amy Sullivan at Time:
"...In very general terms, Republicans would prefer to err on the side of under-counting and Democrats would prefer to err on the side of over-counting...The 1990 Census missed an estimated 8 million people — mostly immigrants and urban minorities — and it managed to double-count 4 million white Americans. Recent or illegal immigrants are often reluctant to answer questions in a government survey, and many experts fear that concerns about government misuse of personal data post-9/11 could hamper participation in the 2010 census as well. Children have also traditionally been under-included in census totals.

...The battle over how to count people only makes sense when you look at what is at stake. The redistricting of local districts and reapportionment of congressional seats is based on census counts — a state could gain or lose seats based on its population, and shifts within a state determine plans for redrawing political boundaries. The redistricting that took place in Texas at Tom DeLay's urging following the 2000 census — which swung six congressional seats to the GOP — is just one example of how dramatically political fortunes can shift based on the use of those crucial numbers.

Census counts are also used to determine how many federal dollars may flow to a city or state based on grants and other outlays. Democrats have long charged that the undercounting of minorities and poor Americans prevents federal funding from reaching strapped communities. Meanwhile, Republicans argue that Democrats seek to boost numbers in order to create extra congressional districts in urban areas and to bring in more federal money for their constituencies..."
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1879667,00.html