So John quit because he didn't like his new boss who hates government? So much for #resist.

@1 - Seriously, why resign only so that ⊥rump&co. can install a sycophant who will do Caesar's bidding & destroy the Census Bureau from within?

It's barely been more than 3 months, and the destruction is fucking amazing... in a bad way.

#Gah!

You couldn't find a stock photo of the U.S. Census?

the census doesn't Gerrymander the congressional districts. that's GOP Governors & legislatures.

Comey is a BFD, Charles.

So can Black America be bothered to vote in 2020 or will they stay at home and complain again like 2016? For all the whining about Trump and white superiority, the fact is Black Americans didn't turn out to vote even though they knew this is what they would get. Write about that Charles.

Determining whose votes count and whose don't is a really important, subtle (because most people just assume the system works) way of controlling access to power. Little known fact: when the first emperor Augustus was offered any position he wanted in the republican machinery of Roman government, the job he took wasn't that of consul, but rather the fairly lowly, bureaucratic job of censor. But in that position, he drew up the rolls with the membership of the senate.

@4 The census is still a really important job. Getting an accurate count does more to put at least something of a brake on gerrymandering. It also affects how and where money is spent.

And it's important that the count is right. We've been seeing floods of people moving back into city cores that were abandoned in the '50s, '60s and '70s (one reason housing prices are sky high). Those people, who tend to lean left, absolutely need to be counted accurately.

@1 The census is one of a very short list of jobs that the Constitution specifies that the federal government absolutely must do (Article 1, Section 2, if you want to check for yourself). Not even the most ardent, die-hard Tea Partier would object to the federal government carrying out that particular task.

So no, the President doesn't just get to get around the Constitution by defunding the census bureau.

@6:

It's not like he won't try though...

It's not just the decennial census that the Census Bureau does - they're also the folks out collecting stats for the Bureau of Labor Statistics - unemployment numbers and the like.

@1- There isn't much one can do aside from resign if you're being told to do a job without any resources. By making a splash now one might hope to get things on track by the time the census is supposed to start. Right now anyone in that position is getting set up to take a fall. You can't build a five story building with two stories worth of material.

@5

Depends on how successful Republicans are in continuing to suppress the vote for African Americans.

It was Bill Clinton who rewrote the Community Reinvestment Act in 1995 that lowered housing regulations and pressured banks to give large loans to low income households.

Pretty pathetic attempt to link those loans to Bush with a Wikipedia article about a campaign buzzword he used. But you know what they say about malice and stupidity.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Community_…

I believe that we should not trust the U.S. Census, which recently as the 1940s was used to round up innocent Americans for imprisonment based on their race. Are we to trust the Trump administration to keep its hands off an inventory of Muslims, Mexicans, or similarly-targeted groups?

@6: yes, it's super important to get the information before republican legislatures use it to consolidate their minority power.

maybe what I object to is the "more important". it's not a competition.

/Which thing is more important/ is of very little importance. It only matters once you are down to zero time in your life being spent farting around doing none of the important things. Then you make choices. But none of us reading Slog comments is at that point.

@10 voter suppression wasn't proven in the key swing states that actually matter like Ohio and Minn. Black people weren't motivated and if you talk to some they will probably tell you as much. Even Kaepernick came out before the election and advocated against voting. Conspiracy excuses are weak, take accountability, there's plenty of mainstream articles documenting low black voter turn out due to apathy with an old, white woman running- this is why Trump is president- not gerrymandering in Texas.

@15 - Uh, I dunno friend, there's some fairly detailed, non-conspiracy information about Kris Kobach's efforts to game the 2016 vote in Ohio & Michigan ... read this.

Wisconsin has been caught illegally gerrymandering, AND using "Voter ID" laws to circumscribe black votes. Wisconsin was a critical slim-win for RumpT.

North Carolina is not even a democracy any more, so bereft of fairness are they.

You are correct that apathy played a role, definitely. But so did targeted Facebook advertising to blacks-only to convince them to not vote for Hilary "superpredators!" Clinton.

Considering the razor thin margins by which RumpT & co. "won", it hardly matters which particular method was the deciding factor. 2% + 2% + 2% still equals RumpT in the Big House... er.. I mean White Supremacy House.

@15 - And don't forget that for most people it doesn't really matter who the president is, because the same police are still there doing the same thing they always do.

Oh johnnyUtah
I lived in utah for 20 years. Before the NBA came to town Utah was 0.6% black. It’s always people who never met an immigrant who bitch about them and the same way with Utahns about black people. Face it, the only black person you see is on TV in the NBA and NFL.

Editor?? For the grammar Nazi here can you correct James Comey’s name in the main story? You have it spelled “Comney.”

The year 2046 is when every white supremacist is freaking out. That’s the year when whites will no longer be a majority in the USA.

Started with Hawai’i where EVERY ONE is a minority, to now include California, New Mexico, and Texas where whites are now a minority. David Duke and the boys (and girls) are freaking out! They were REALLY hoping that Trump would build a YUGE wall around the entire USA and never allow another immigrant in..except for Mrs. Trump #4.