Super Committee Looking for Places to Cut the Federal Budget - Census on the Chopping Block

It is truly amazing how much money was spent on the census in the US in 2010. In fact, I was quite bothered by the results, because the data was obviously skewed and incorrect. As a businessperson I follow all the statistics from the federal government, because I know it helps me make decisions.

Even though I am retired now from the franchising industry, I often consult small businesses and startups and therefore I need access to that information. Quite frankly if the government can't do a better job, at a better price, collecting this information, then maybe they shouldn't do it at all. Okay so let's talk about this for a second shall we.

Currently, corporations in America have far more data than the US government when it comes to the demographics of the US. Not only that, but by the time they go through your social networking page, and all the other data available, they know more about you than a burglar might learn burglarizing your home and going through all your personal files. Seriously, and we all know that's true, so let's not kid ourselves.

Recently, on Halloween 2011 there was a rather spooky article in the Wall Street Journal. The article was titled; "U.S. Census Confronts Budget Ax," by Ben Casselman. The article stated;

"Washington politicians often battle over what economic statistics mean and what to do about them. Now, they are fighting about the statistics themselves. The House Appropriations Committee didn't explicitly cut the 2012 economic senses; the panel cut President Barack Obama's proposal of a $1 billion census budget to only 855 million."

Now then, there's an obvious solution to this problem, and there is a way to get better data and better results, and more statistically reliable reporting by merely hiring the US post office which is also in debt to do the census for the government. After all the US postal workers already go to every house, and they pretty much have a good idea who lives there. Secondly, no one hates their postal person, and chances are the citizens won't lie to them when filling out the form.

Not only that people can fill out the form and leave it in their mailbox and the post office can pick it up, or folks can just drop it in the mail. That solves two birds with one stone and helps the U.S. Postal Service with their incredible budget problems. Why is it that people in Washington can figure this out? It's such a simple fix. Please consider all this and think on it.

Lance Winslow has launched a new provocative series of eBooks on Future Concepts. Lance Winslow is a retired Founder of a Nationwide Franchise Chain, and now runs the Online Think Tank; http://www.worldthinktank.net/

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High court won't block's don't ask's during appeal - Washington Post

The Supreme Court refused Friday to stop enforcement of the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy while a lower court hears a challenge to the Pentagon's ban on gays and lesbians serving openly.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit is preparing to hear legal arguments in a case brought by the Log Cabin Republicans. The gay rights group is challenging "don't ask, don't tell," and in September a federal district judge found the policy to be unconstitutional and blocked the Pentagon from enforcing the ban.

The appeals court is not likely to set a hearing on the issue until mid-March, and its ruling could come anytime after that. But the Justice Department persuaded the 9th Circuit to lift the judge's stay, prompting the Log Cabin Republicans to appeal to the Supreme Court.

The high court's order Friday came with no explanation and no noted dissent. It provides no clue to how the justices ultimately would rule on the merits of the case, because the only question presented was whether to lift the stay.

Even so, it was notable for one thing: Justice Elena Kagan's decision to recuse herself from the case. Her decision was not explained, but it likely has to do with her service as President Obama's solicitor general and her role in decisions about setting the administration's strategy in response to the suit.

Whenever a justice is recused, that raises the possibility of a 4 to 4 tie. But in this case, it also robs those who oppose "don't ask, don't tell" of a justice likely to be sympathetic. While dean of Harvard Law School, Kagan was an outspoken critic of the policy, though she told conservative critics during her confirmation hearings - both as solicitor general and for the Supreme Court - that she could separate her personal opinion from her legal analysis.

The potential for a tie also increases the importance of the circuit court's opinion. A tie means that the lower court's decision stands but without setting a national precedent.

The American Civil Liberties Union launched a separate legal effort Wednesday against the Pentagon's policy on gays in the military. The group is suing to change the military's rules on the amount of separation pay given to service members discharged for being gay.

ed.okeefe@washingtonpost.com barnesb@washpost.com

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