From: "Richard Hong" 

>> Well, then what _is_ unconstitutional?

Randall,

It's a gray area, but the question boils down to this: is it a violation of
some fundamental Constitutional right to ask me whether I have indoor
plumbing?  I think not; for example, the nature of my housing is
information routinely gathered for purposes of assessing property tax.

In order to assert that it is unconstitutional, you have to specify which
Constitutional right is being abrogated.  Perhaps there is a right being
abrogated.  But merely citing the section of the Constitution which
authorizes a census is insufficient to establish that additional questions
run afoul of the Constitution.

Note that the section describing the penalties refers to refusal to answer
questions on an authorized "census or survey".  Technically, the
additional questions may be regarded as a survey being taken by the Bureau
of the Census in conjunction with the mandated census.  I may agree that
the govt is being too invasive, and yet believe that they are within their
Constitutional rights to pass such a law.

IMO, it's almost akin to my feelings on abortion.  I'm pro-choice, but I'm
not convinced that Roe v. Wade was rightly decided.  I tend to believe that
states have the right to regulate abortion and that the privacy right (as
applied to abortion) is a fiction - yet I would vote to make abortion
legal. In the same way, I believe drugs should be legalized, yet I also
believe that it is Constitutional for the govt to outlaw them.

Just because I believe that the govt shouldn't be doing something doesn't
mean that I accept that the Constitution forbids it.

Rich

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