SACRAMENTO, CA - "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."

That’s what Article 1, section 2 of the United States Constitution says about the Census. The key term is
"enumeration," a simple count of the people. Instead of concentrating on getting that task right, the
government has expanded the Census into an interrogation seeking all kinds of detailed information. Those who object to these questions have been portrayed as neanderthals motivated by nothing more than unreflective antipathy to the state, or partisan politics. A detailed questionnaire of the government by citizens might help to put things in perspective.

How many workers are there in your department?
That would be a good lead question. Government, after all, is the nation’s biggest employer. Microsoft, IBM,
and GM aren’t even close. This question would help citizens understand that reality. It would be interesting, and likely shocking to many, to know the total number of those who work for the government.

What perks and benefits do you get not generally shared by those in the private sector?
This could include: Count and name the number of holidays for you and your department. Include conferences.

That might prove enlightening, as would: How many of the workers in your department are actually necessary
in your department? This would put a finer point on it, as would: How many of these workers, including yourself, were hired as part of gender and race preferences or quotas? Or perhaps: Would life for the average citizen change if your position were to be eliminated? Or even: If you were an employer, would you hire someone like yourself? The possibilities are endless.

Does your position as a government worker lead you to automatically support expansion of government programs and payrolls? A correlated question would be: Would you personally benefit if more or fewer people were on welfare? And also: How many in your department are members of public-sector unions? Further: Do you send your own children to public or private schools?

A steadfast principle of government, but one little understood by voters, could be clarified with this query: Explain how your department strives to spend its budget in unnecessary and wasteful ways in order to justify budget increases. Other questions would add detail. When your department gets a five-percent budget increase instead of a seven-percent budget increase, do you call this a "budget cut?"

That is, by the way, exactly how it’s done in Washington. Other questions might call for some knowledge of history. Name three wasteful government programs and agencies that have been eliminated during your lifetime. Pressing the inquiry: What is your response, and that of management in your department, to the term "privatization?

This data would be helpful to a populace often in the dark about the way government actually fails to work,
and subjected to an education system that portrays the government as a miraculous problem solver.

Government workers would probably resent some of these questions as intrusive. That might help them understand why ordinary Americans also resent intrusive inquiries from a government whose only constitutional obligation in this matter is to count the people.

-- K. Lloyd Billingsley