Some will recall one of Obama’s first controversial decisions was to seize control of the U.S. Census Bureau from the commerce secretary over to the White House ahead of the decennial 2010 census.
Conservatives immediately rang the alarm, but their worries were dismissed by the White House and mainstream media. Now it appears their fears were well-founded.
“It takes something that is supposedly apolitical like the census, and gives it to a guy who is infamously political,” said Rep. Rob Bishop (R-UT) of then White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel.
“Requiring the Census director to report directly to White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel is a shamefully transparent attempt by your administration to politicize the Census Bureau and manipulate the 2010 Census,” read a letter addressed to Obama authored by Reps. Darrell Issa (R-CA) and Patrick McHenry (R-NC).
While Republican officeholders were the primary sources of statements expressing concern over the move, some non-partisan analysts were also unnerved by the move. “The last thing the census needs is for any hard-bitten partisan (either a Karl Rove or a Rahm Emanuel) to manipulate these critical numbers,” wrote University of Virginia professor Larry Sabato in an email to Fox News at the time. “Partisans have a natural impulse to tilt the playing field in their favor, and this has to be resisted.”
The White House dismissed the concerns of conservatives which were, indeed, unfounded insofar as they related to the 2010 census. But the fears of some that the Census Bureau could be corrupted by the imperatives of the political operatives in the White House was today proven accurate.
While Republican officeholders were the primary sources of statements expressing concern over the move, some non-partisan analysts were also unnerved by the move. “The last thing the census needs is for any hard-bitten partisan (either a Karl Rove or a Rahm Emanuel) to manipulate these critical numbers,” wrote University of Virginia professor Larry Sabato in an email to Now according to The New York Times, directions have come down to the Census Bureau from the throne White House to change the wording of questions on health care coverage so that they can no longer be checked against the past three decades of data.
According to the nonpartisan analysts and census officials The Times spoke with, this change will make it nearly impossible to accurately assess the effects of the Affordable Care Act has had on the number of Americans who have health insurance.The changes will, however, likely have the effect of showing a reduction in the number of uninsured. This will not be the result of the effects of the law. Rather, according to the Census Bureau’s chief of the health statistics branch, the drop in uninsured is only going to be due to “the questions and how they are asked.”
What do you think? Were the Conservative critics in 2009/2010 right after all?
Source: Mediaite
photo via Pete Souza/White House
Rotten to the core!
They can become public speakers and make millions if they leave office respected. Give them a meager pension. I’m sick of politicians working 8 or less years and get 4x the benefits as an average state worker who has to work over 30 years to receive one quarter.
time to clean house including the white house.
They are all low lifes, i am beginning to think you cannot be in politics unless you have this mentality.. THEY ARE ALL EVIL ..
this clown is nothing but a joke….needs to be run out of our country.
What statistics AREN’T being manipulated by the Obama Administration?
Lying with statistics is one of the first things we were taught in Stat 101. Obumah has brought that skill to new heights.
Everything he does is smoke and mirrors. There is not an honest thought in his head… Nor a truthful one either…
it’s always smoke and mirrors with this communist dicktator!
THIS GUY WILL DO ANYTHING TO ADVANCE HIS SOCIALIST AGENDA. IMPEACH HIM.