FW: [DW] Fwd: [NNIPNews] Press Release: Nationwide Protest Against House Elimination of ACS

[michael gurstein]

I sent the info about the parallels between the cuts in the US census and
that in Canada to an elist of senior US telecom policy wonks I follow and
here slightly edited is the interesting response.

M

-----Original Message-----
Sent: Thursday, May 17, 2012 9:15 AM
Subject: FW: [DW] Fwd: [NNIPNews] Press Release: Nationwide Protest Against
House Elimination of ACS

I use ACS data too, which can be helpful in planning networks.

I am guessing that the push to get rid of it comes from companies
that sell marketing data, and see ACS as a competitor.  You can buy
all sorts of information.  Some of them start with census and ACS and
embellish it, but if there were no ACS, they could sell their
inferior-quality samples at a higher price, and have more
customers.  It's like their other idea to close down the National
Weather Service, since you can buy weather reports from private
companies, and to shut down the post office, since you can have FedEx
or UPS deliver things too.  Privatize everything, the public be damned.

At 5/17/2012 11:55 AM, Michael Gurstein wrote:

>We went through this exact same thing with our long form census in
>Canada last year as one of the first clearly ideology driven actions by
>our newly elected majority "Harper Government". It led to major uproar
>by the academic and NGO community, high level and very public
>resignations from our census bureau and continuing perturbations in the
>media and elsewhere.
>
>What folks such as myself who were critical of this couldn't figure out
>was what was behind this since the amount of money involved was really
>trivial, the disruption (and political fallout) was non-trivial and it
>seemed to come out of the policy/ideological blue sky with no
>forewarning or greenwashing softening up of the public.
>
>Any insights now that you folks are about to be equally
>"dis-counted"...

>
>From: Pettit, Kathryn <[hidden email]>
>Date: Thu, May 17, 2012 at 7:10 AM
>Subject: [NNIPNews] Press Release: Nationwide Protest Against House
>Elimination of ACS
>To: NNIPNEWS <[hidden email]>
>
>
>With apologies for cross-posting... an update on the messages from last
>week heres the press release and link to the final letter from the
>Census
>Project.****
>
>** **
>
>*******
>
>** **
>
>[image: The Census Project] <http://www.thecensusproject.org>****
>
>Census Reporters/Database Reporters****
>
>For Immediate Release
>Wednesday, May 16, 2012****
>
>For More Information Contact:
>Phil Sparks 202-326-8700, [hidden email] or
>Terri Ann Lowenthal 202-258-2425, [hidden email]**** *Nationwide
>Protest Against House Elimination of American Community Survey**
>***
>
>WASHINGTON-- Hundreds of organizations released a letter(
>www.thecensusproject.org) sent to the leadership of the U.S. Senate
>protesting actions by the House of Representatives last week which
>would eliminate FY 2013 funding for the American Community Survey (ACS)
>. The ACS replaced the so-called census long form in the 2010 decennial
>census. The letter to Senate leaders also noted that House actions cut
>the Census Bureau's budget request by more than $100, reducing funds
>for planning the Census 2020 and forcing possible cancellation of the
>2012 Economic Census of the nation. The Senate is expected to vote on
>the Census Bureau soon as part of its consideration of the Commerce,
>Justice, Science Appropriations Committee process.****
>
>** **
>
>The more than 500 organizations signing the letter represent nearly
>every sector of the nations economic, civic, and social environment.  
>Many have vastly different policy and political perspectives on most
>other issues, but they all agree that a modern, democratic society
>cannot function prudently without objective, reliable and comparable
>data for every community in the country, no matter how sparsely
>populated, remote, or
>diverse.****
>
>** **
>
>The diverse range of national organizations expressing alarm at the
>potential loss of the American Community Survey include the National
>Urban League, U.S. Conference of Mayors, Autistic Self-Advocacy
>Network, NAACP, American Planning Association, National Association of
>Towns and Townships, National Association of Latino Elected and
>Appointed Officials Education Fund, Mortgage Bankers Association,
>American Association of University Women, American Sociological
>Association, International Council of Shopping Centers, Community
>Action Partnership, National Education Association, National Congress
>of American Indians, National Association of Regional Councils,
>Association of Pedestrian and Bicycle Professionals, AFSCME, Leadership
>Conference on Civil and Human Rights, Asian American Justice Center,
>and the National Council on Aging.****
>
>** **
>
>"The adverse consequences of these proposals are widespread and would
>affect the nations ability to meet the needs of Americans through wise
>allocation of resources, monitor the nations economic recovery, and
>meet our constitutional obligation to conduct an accurate census in
>2020," the letter coordinated by the Census Project declared*.*****
>
>** **
>
>The House action to eliminate the ACS came last Wednesday on a vote of
>190-232. The House action was virtually a straight party vote with 11
>Republicans voting against the action and 4 Democrats voting to support
>the
>cutback.****
>
>** **
>
>Signers include dozens of organizations that serve people with
>disabilities and mental health conditions, and older Americans, at the
>community level. Many critics of the ACS pointed to questions on limits
>[on] one or more basic physical activities and dressing, bathing, or
>getting around inside the home as evidence of unreasonable governmental
>intrusion.  But advocates and caregivers for disabled Americans and
>seniors use the data these questions produce to gauge the need for
>rehabilitative services and assisted living facilities across the
>country.  The ACS is the only source of neighborhood level data on the
>extent of physical, mental and emotional challenges affecting the
>population.****
>
>** **
>
>"The ACS is the only source of objective, consistent, and comprehensive
>information about the nations social, economic, and demographic
>characteristics down to the neighborhood level.  The importance of
>high-quality, objective, and universal ACS data for public and private
>sector decision-makers cannot be overstated.  The federal government
>alone allocates more than $450 billion annually in program funds to
>state and local governments based in whole or in part on ACS data," the
>Census Project letter continued.****
>
>** **
>
>Many organizations representing various commuting alternatives, such as
>bicycling, also expressed their concern about the potential loss of
>reliable ACS data.  ACS questions on the time people leave and return
>to work, and their mode of transportation, produce irreplaceable data
>on commuting patterns that allow local governments to meet the needs of
>commuters at peak traffic times, creating bike-only lanes and changing
>traffic light and walk sign timing, for example.****
>
>** **
>
>Dozens of housing industry associations and low-income housing
>advocates also signed the letter.  The ACS is the only source of
>comparable, timely, small-area data about the condition of the nations
>housing stock and the socio-economic characteristics of neighborhoods,
>all key pieces of information to guide a recovering housing market at a
>time of economic
>uncertainty.****
>
>** **
>
>A full copy of the congressional letter is posted online at: (
>http://www.thecensusproject.org/letters/2012-05-16_Senate_Census_Budget
>_Ltr-
>SenateLeadership-Final-Signed.pdf