Branson free paper promotes Census collectivisim

The Branson Independent, published thrice weekly, purports to welcome letters to the editor.

But not, apparently, letters that challenge the accuracy of the paper's reporting.

I wrote a letter responding to the current Census hype, prompted by the front page item in last Wednesday's (March 10th) Independent.

No room for my letter, or any letters, as of yesterday's paper. My guess: important news like Madonna's marriage advice trumps trivial matters like the destruction of the U.S. Constitution.

Here is the letter:

Dear Editor,

On your front page today is this assertion:"Those who know what the Census is about, know that it's aboutsecuring funding for residents who live in every county, each villageand each municipality across the state and throughout the United States."Does anybody read the Constitution anymore? Article I, Section 2 of that unconsulted relic informs us that the Census is about apportionment in the House of Representatives.

The 2010 Census will determine whether Missouri is represented in the House by eight or nine members. Knowing the difficulty of amending the Constitution, judges, lobbyists, and legislators have nullified it instead, expanding thethe Census into a tool for central planning. Having taken money fromthe current and future residents of the states, the government sends it back to said states, after deducting a rather substantial handling fee, which is used to create jobs - government jobs, that is.

Imagine what Missourians could do if, instead of sending our money to D.C. and lobbying to get some of it back, we just kept it here. If the Commerce Department simply concentrated on getting an accurate count, rather than collecting data for collectivist schemes, there would be no need for massive campaigns begging the citizens to fill out the Census forms, or painful reminders of the ongoing abuse of our founding fathers' work.