Trump Cuts Census Short To Help Him and Republicans
After requesting an extension in April, the U.S. Census Bureau is now reversing course and saying it will end its count a month early, even as response rates are the lowest they’ve ever been in recent history due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This unprecedented move comes right at the time that census workers are usually preparing to count traditionally undercounted segments of the population – including people who are homeless, people who are low-income, immigrants and speakers of languages other than English. Leaving them out of the census would have major implications for community services, elections and political representation. Aired on 8/4/2020.
Republicans’ PATHETIC Census Plot
Republicans are attempting a pathetic census plot to take the 2020 election.
Opinion | Trump’s Desperate Plan to Cut Short the Census Could Backfire
The Trump administration is pushing the Census Bureau to end its count a week from Wednesday, even though more than 10 percent of addresses remain uncounted in some states. Times Opinion predicted how many people would remain uncounted on Sept. 30, based on each state’s current response rate.
Per the above article; “The Trump administration is pushing the Census Bureau to end its count a week from Wednesday, even though more than 10 percent of addresses remain uncounted in some states.
Times Opinion predicted how many people would remain uncounted on Sept. 30, based on each state’s current response rate. Our analysis shows that those undercounts will cheat some states — mostly Republican — out of federal funding and one state out of a congressional seat.
The Census Bureau’s goal is to collect responses from 99 percent of the households in its address list. Thirty-seven states won’t reach 99 percent completion by the end of September, according to our model, which is based on a study by researchers at the American Statistical Association.
If the end date were pushed back to Oct. 31, as census officials previously planned, we predict that every state would reach a completion rate of at least 99 percent.
“It’s not hard to connect the dots,” said Terri Ann Lowenthal, a former congressional staffer and census expert. “Apparently President Trump realized that if he doesn’t win the election then he won’t be in office when the Census Bureau finishes the apportionment counts,” thereby forfeiting his chance to modify the numbers that he gives to Congress, said Ms. Lowenthal.
Though Mr. Trump’s directive was struck down in court this month, our model shows that if the count ends this month, the undercount in Florida will lead to a different congressional makeup: Ohio will gain another seat, while Florida will lose one. That would not be the case if the October deadline was reinstated”.
