By Bill Wilson
The rising chorus of the leftist meme reveals the legitimate fear they have for the move by the Trump Administration to ask one simple question on the upcoming Census; are you a citizen of the United States? To hear the horde of so-called “progressive” mouthpieces you would think the act of asking this question is tantamount to renouncing both the Magna Carta and the Declaration of Independence. The hyper-ventilating was on full display on April 15 by Catherine Rampell in the Pravda (Washington) Post in her piece, “The Trump administration’s census question degrades our data — and our democracy.”
According to Comrade Rampell, asking if a person is a citizen will accomplish two vile goals of the Trump dystopia. It will degrade the data collected by the Census and, of course, it will be a spike into the heart of our cherished mythological democracy. Unfortunately, on both counts the radical anti-American Left are dead wrong. In fact, they are aggressively demonstrating their long-term goals on destroying both honest data analytics and any semblance of representative government.
In the 15 Censuses conducted since 1870, the question has been asked in all but three cases. So, far from being some nefarious new weapon dreamed up by the Trump team, it is the historic norm to ask such a question. The more important question we should be asking ourselves is why the anti-American Left is so zealous in their demands that it not be asked? The answer, I fear, is all too apparent. They want open borders. They want an end to a sovereign United States. They crave the death of the principles of individual liberty, self-governance, and the rule of law. Every single act they take is aimed at these goals.
But, as we all know too well, facts no longer matter all that much in the post-reality world birthed by social media billionaires test marketing narratives to convince us to commit political suicide. So, let’s look at Rampell’s contentions.
First, data manipulation is exactly what asking the immigrant question is designed to prevent. Leftwing state governments are spending literally hundreds of millions of tax dollars to stack the census numbers. California will spend more than $150 million to push illegal immigrants to “answer the Census.” Illinois, who can’t pay their lottery winners or vendors, will spend $25 million to do the same thing. New York will spend $40 million. Why? Simple. Since federal funds are based on residents they want to grab as much money as they can from Uncle Sucker.
And the larger issue is representation in Congress itself. All three of the states listed above are projected to lose seats after the 2020 count. But all are spending heavily to get anyone who can hold a breath to respond to the Census in a raw power grab, to keep their over-represented rotten boroughs to centime their drive for control. If the question being asked makes it more difficult to get illegal aliens to pile on to stake the count and rig the Census, the Left will have to fight it tooth and nail, it is existential for them. And in fact, it is existential for the United States. If the question on citizenship is not asked, the final death rattle will not be far off.
Secondly, Rampell makes the now obligatory assertion that “the administration jeopardizes our democratic and economic health…” It seems that anything Trump wants to do hurts their “democracy.” It is all pure contrivance. We need to all remember the famous definition of democracy as two wolves and a sheep voting on what to have for dinner. As a representative republic, the United States was never and is not now a “democracy.” It is a system of checks and balances designed to keep the passions of the moment from harming the fundamental value; liberty.
And diluting our voting rolls with non-citizens harms liberty by diminishing the votes of all citizens. Padding the numbers of residents strikes a blow to liberty by triggering some bureaucratic formula to force small, independent states to pay for the insanity and perversity of a handful of leftist strongholds.
There is every reason to believe the citizenship question will survive. Even a John Roberts will find it a death blow to his frayed reputation to deny what has been done for 120 years to be done again. We all just need to be prepared for the temper tantrum that is sure to follow and do all that can be done to ensure the 2020 Census does not become the death notice of the United States.
Bill Wilson is a former board member and President of Americans for Limited Government.
