But, but, but—you won’t get your federal goodies if you aren’t counted! You won’t get your share of the wealth redistribution! What will happen to all that money that goes to food stamp fraud? Boo hoo!
From the Detroit Free Press:
If you’re a young, ethnic or lower-income individual, the U.S. census is looking for you.
Working around the clock, census workers are targeting traditionally hard-to-count populations in the colossal effort to count every person in the nation this month.
They are visiting local mosques, shelters, schools, fast-food restaurants, decaying neighborhoods and even combing bridges, abandoned buildings and open fields for homeless people to encourage everyone to fill out the census form by April 30.
“In this economy, it’s very important for everyone to participate, especially those who are disenfranchised,” said Kim Hunter, spokesman for the U.S. Census in southeast Michigan.
Metro Detroit stands to lose about $1,400 a year for every uncounted resident. The federal funds finance hospitals, education, shelters, road repairs, emergency response, job training, child care and other services.
[…..]
A lot is at stake — $400 billion a year. That’s the amount the federal government sends to local communities based on demographics and population.
The article tells us that the feds and other paid workers are fanning out in the Detroit area to count every last resident.
“Many of these folks are living day to day. They want to know what’s in it for them.”
Turns out, census officials said, a lot is in it for low-income people, which is a hard-to-count population — health clinics, public transportation, shelters, job training and education. [Food stamps!]
Food Stamp Fraud rampant in Detroit area
Coincidentally, just as I was seeing this census story, I came across this site which has a list of about 40 cases of recent food stamp fraud in Michigan, primarily in the Detroit area.