GOP Census Bill Would Eliminate America's Economic Indicators

[unhappycamper]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/01/gop-census-bill_n_3188043.html



Rep. Jeff Duncan has introduced a bill to stop nearly all U.S. Census surveys.

GOP Census Bill Would Eliminate America's Economic Indicators
Michael McAuliff
Posted: 05/01/2013 7:31 am EDT

WASHINGTON -- A group of Republicans are cooking up legislation that could give President Barack Obama an unintentional assist with disagreeable unemployment numbers -- by eliminating the key economic statistic altogether.

The bill, introduced last week by Rep. Jeff Duncan (R-S.C.), would bar the U.S. Census Bureau from conducting nearly all surveys except for a decennial population count. Such a step that would end the government's ability to provide reliable estimates of the employment rate. Indeed, the government would not be able to produce any of the major economic indices that move markets every month, said multiple statistics experts, who were aghast at the proposal.

~snip~

"I don't know how the market reacts if there is suddenly no unemployment rate at the start of the month," Prewitt said. "How does the market react if we don't have a GDP (gross domestic product)?"

"Do they understand that these data that the Census Bureau collects are fundamental to everything else that's done?" asked Maurine Haver, founder of business research firm Haver Analytics and a past president of the National Association for Business Economics. "They think the country doesn't need to know how many people are unemployed, either?"



unhappycamper comment: When all the economic indicators are bad, their response is to stop reporting. I guess that's one way to stop the bad news. Stop reporting it.

[daleanime]

1. ......

[TheMastersNemesis]

2. The GOP And Churches Believe They Will Take Over Soon.

If there is no economic data the churches can claim there IS NO POVERTY OR JOBLESSNESS so they won't have to use any of their "faith based" money for helping the poor. And the GOP will be able to claim there is no unemployment.

[JustAnotherGen]

3. Sir

You nailed it.

[dawg]

4. Well, in partial defense of this dufus ...

those manufacturing questionnaires sent out by the census bureau are incredibly detailed and baffling to complete. They are quite the pain in the ass, especially for smaller businesses who don't have more than one person in their accounting department.

[Fuddnik]

5. The whole system is corrupted and dysfunctional.

Time to start over.

[AnneD]

6. The fact are not necessary....

GOP has been ignoring the fact and making up their own reality for years now. This will just make it official.