The Government is giving me a Headache.

First, the American Community Survey. Here's another take on it.

Here's what happens if you don't "comply".

I know I've been remiss on the studying and posting here of the Constitution, but the part that addresses this is coming right up - in fact, it's in Article 1, Section 2. The Census is supposed to be a headcount, for the purpose of determining how many Representatives each state sends to Congress. It's supposed to be done every ten (10) years.

This "American Community Survey" is being sent out to different groups of households, MONTHLY!!!!

And what in the ever-loving @#$%$'s business is it of the FEDERAL GOVERNMENT what time I leave for @#$%ing WORK in the morning?!?!?!?

Why did we make Afghanistan and Iraq go to all the trouble of coming up with their own Constitutions? We should have just given them ours. It worked pretty well for a good long time, and we're not using it anymore.

I'm not even going to get started on F-Troop.

Or the sorry excuse for public education in this country.

The more I think about it, the more I think the we need a Ctrl-Alt-Del for the FedGov - reset to the Constitution, as originally laid down, with the Bill of Rights attached. Re-vote on all constitutional amendments. The obviously good ones, like the 13th, 14th, 15th, and 19th, would automatically re-pass. The rest (such as the 16th and 18th, might face a bit more debate).

And while we're at it, I'd like to make the Bill of Rights amendments 2-11. The new First Amendment would read to the effect that "Should any Representative or Senator sponsor or co-sponsor a bill that becomes Law, and is later found to be in violation of the Constitution, said Representative or Senator shall be found to be in violation of Article III, Section 3 of the Constitution, and shall be subject to the penalties for Treason."

Sen. Feinstein, call your office. It's time for your neck measurement.

On the other hand, Kim notes that things are slowly heading back in the right direction. Slowly being key - it took a long time for things to get this bad, it's gonna take a long time to get them back to being right.

Just like it takes time to become obese, it also takes time to go from obese to fit. Dedication, consistency, and patience are key, and they work.

In the case of government, it takes a dedicated, consistent, and patient constituency to turn around the behemoth that the FedGov has become. It's happening - slowly. It helps to have people who know something about government, so educate yourself, then educate your friends and family. For example, Lisa didn't see anything wrong with this questionnaire, until I started pointing out that the correct answers to most of the questions, according to the Constitution, are "None of your business, and why do you want to know?". Then she started noticing how intrusive the questions are, and how that's really none of the FedGov's business.

Note - my big problem here is with the Feral Government demanding that I answer these questions. If the City of Fort Worth asked the same questions, I'd be a lot more inclined to answer. The City actually has an interest in what time I leave for work and how far I drive, since the City has to plan for handling traffic efficiently. Thus, this data is (at least marginally) valid for them to have. I use public utilities here, and the City has to do capacity planning for that, so asking how much water and natural gas I consume are valid questions for them to ask (although I'd think it would be more accurate to get those data from the utilities themselves). But things like that are NO BUSINESS WHATSOEVER of anybody in Washington, DC.

Ugh. This whole business has NOT left me in a good mood tonight.