Coburn Challenges Private Sector On Census Cost
U. S. Senator Tom Coburn today issued a challenge to the private sector calling for proposals to address the rapidly rising cost of the 2010 Census. The challenge will go out to those in industry, academia, government and elsewhere who may have innovative ideas for bringing the cost down.
“The American people are far more innovative than their government in almost every respect. The Census Bureau’s reluctance to employ new methods and online tools goes against the grain of common sense. If we can collect taxes online from any tax filers, surely we can count every American quickly, inexpensively and accurately,” Coburn said.
At a hearing this afternoon of the Subcommittee on Federal Financial Management (FFM), the Census Bureau will announce that the most recent cost of the next census is estimated to be at least $11.5 billion. When broken down on a per household basis, it will cost more than $90 to count each household.
The Government Accountability Office has reported that the 2010 count is vulnerable to potentially fatal management and technical failures, as well as the massive cost over-runs that have characterized each Census in recent decades. The cost has gone from under a billion dollars in 1970, doubling by 1980 ($2.2 billion), increasing by 50 percent in 1990 ($3.3 billion), doubling again in 2000 to $6.6 billion and now doubling again to somewhere around a projected cost of $12 billion for 2010. The American population has not increased at a proportional rate. In fact, the per-household cost of the first census in 1790 was less than a penny. In 1970, it was under $2. Yet somehow, the cost today is at $90 per household. The Census Bureau has refused to provide an option to Americans to be counted online, despite the fact that more than 70 percent of American adults are online.
“It is time for out-of-the-box thinking to rein in costs, increase efficiency and still fulfill the Constitutional mandate to count every American,” Coburn said. Coburn also made news during a hearing. The Associated Press reported, "A US senator from Oklahoma says Border Patrol agents should be allowed to shoot at fleeing drug traffickers. The patrol's deadly force rules were questioned today at a US Senate Judiciary Committee hearing in Washington. The matter involves the conviction of 2 West Texas agents who in 2005 shot a fleeing, unarmed drug trafficker and covered it up. Oklahoma Senator Tom Coburn asked, quote: "Why is it wrong to shoot the (trafficker) after he's been told to stop?" US attorney Johnny Sutton, for the Western District of Texas, said the Supreme Court has ruled that using deadly force in that way is illegal.
“The American people are far more innovative than their government in almost every respect. The Census Bureau’s reluctance to employ new methods and online tools goes against the grain of common sense. If we can collect taxes online from any tax filers, surely we can count every American quickly, inexpensively and accurately,” Coburn said.
At a hearing this afternoon of the Subcommittee on Federal Financial Management (FFM), the Census Bureau will announce that the most recent cost of the next census is estimated to be at least $11.5 billion. When broken down on a per household basis, it will cost more than $90 to count each household.
The Government Accountability Office has reported that the 2010 count is vulnerable to potentially fatal management and technical failures, as well as the massive cost over-runs that have characterized each Census in recent decades. The cost has gone from under a billion dollars in 1970, doubling by 1980 ($2.2 billion), increasing by 50 percent in 1990 ($3.3 billion), doubling again in 2000 to $6.6 billion and now doubling again to somewhere around a projected cost of $12 billion for 2010. The American population has not increased at a proportional rate. In fact, the per-household cost of the first census in 1790 was less than a penny. In 1970, it was under $2. Yet somehow, the cost today is at $90 per household. The Census Bureau has refused to provide an option to Americans to be counted online, despite the fact that more than 70 percent of American adults are online.
“It is time for out-of-the-box thinking to rein in costs, increase efficiency and still fulfill the Constitutional mandate to count every American,” Coburn said. Coburn also made news during a hearing. The Associated Press reported, "A US senator from Oklahoma says Border Patrol agents should be allowed to shoot at fleeing drug traffickers. The patrol's deadly force rules were questioned today at a US Senate Judiciary Committee hearing in Washington. The matter involves the conviction of 2 West Texas agents who in 2005 shot a fleeing, unarmed drug trafficker and covered it up. Oklahoma Senator Tom Coburn asked, quote: "Why is it wrong to shoot the (trafficker) after he's been told to stop?" US attorney Johnny Sutton, for the Western District of Texas, said the Supreme Court has ruled that using deadly force in that way is illegal.
Labels: Tom Coburn
posted by Mike McCarville @ 1:49 PM
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