6 ms·

Why do you feel this story is more important?

by c0nducktr 9y ago

adamsea 9y ago
Are you so politically uninformed you don't know the answer to your own question?
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- dang 9y ago
  This breaks the HN guidelines. Please post civilly and substantively, or not at all. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newswelcome.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newswelcome.html
Spooky23 9y ago
Appointees serve at the pleasure of the appointing authority. Firing one is a story, but ultimately not earth shattering. The Census is something that is critically important to all sorts of "backend" processes in government. For example, your county probably apportions sales tax based on census figures. It's sort of like the criticality of the employment and inflation statistics from the Department of Labor. Many processes assume that these tasks are completed correctly and with integrity. When senior people like his who are cogs in the wheels of government resign at the prime of their careers, that means that something is broken or is about to be broken.
- danso 9y ago
  And let's not forget that the Census is the Constitutionally-authorized function for collecting the population data needed to enumerate representation in the House of Representatives: https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial-census/about/census-constitution.html https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial-census/abo...
- s73ver 9y ago
  It should be noted that the Director of the FBI serves a 10 year term, specifically to avoid the "serving at the pleasure of the President" item.
nickpeterson 9y ago
The census happens rarely and impacts politically important concepts like congressional districts. By undercutting the ability to have an accurate census, people can gain political advantage. Right now the Republican Party is basically propped up by older white men and women, but that is a rapidly diminishing demographic in the US. Pretty soon it will be dwarfed by other groups of people. By skewing the census, and the rarity at which they happen, Republicans can gain another 10 years or so of influence beyond what they should have (going by the numbers).

Why do you feel this story is more important?

adamsea 9y ago

Are you so politically uninformed you don't know the answer to your own question?

deleted 9y ago
[deleted]
deleted 9y ago
[deleted]
dang 9y ago
This breaks the HN guidelines. Please post civilly and substantively, or not at all. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newswelcome.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newswelcome.html

Spooky23 9y ago

Appointees serve at the pleasure of the appointing authority. Firing one is a story, but ultimately not earth shattering. The Census is something that is critically important to all sorts of "backend" processes in government. For example, your county probably apportions sales tax based on census figures. It's sort of like the criticality of the employment and inflation statistics from the Department of Labor. Many processes assume that these tasks are completed correctly and with integrity. When senior people like his who are cogs in the wheels of government resign at the prime of their careers, that means that something is broken or is about to be broken.

danso 9y ago
And let's not forget that the Census is the Constitutionally-authorized function for collecting the population data needed to enumerate representation in the House of Representatives: https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial-census/about/census-constitution.html https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial-census/abo...
s73ver 9y ago
It should be noted that the Director of the FBI serves a 10 year term, specifically to avoid the "serving at the pleasure of the President" item.

nickpeterson 9y ago

The census happens rarely and impacts politically important concepts like congressional districts. By undercutting the ability to have an accurate census, people can gain political advantage. Right now the Republican Party is basically propped up by older white men and women, but that is a rapidly diminishing demographic in the US. Pretty soon it will be dwarfed by other groups of people. By skewing the census, and the rarity at which they happen, Republicans can gain another 10 years or so of influence beyond what they should have (going by the numbers).