The erudite and ever-quotable late Senator from New York, Daniel Patrick Moynihan, famously said, “Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts.”
Apparently, Sen. Moynihan was wrong. According to media reports, employees at the U.S. Census Bureau fabricated employment data to make it appear that unemployment was declining dramatically on the eve of the 2012 presidential election. The New York Post names a specific Census Bureau employee, Julius Buckmon, who cooked the books, adding that “a knowledgeable source says the deception went beyond that one employee.”
The official monthly unemployment numbers are determined by Census Bureau interviews with some 60,000 U.S. households. Allegedly, Buckmon, who worked for the Bureau’s Philadelphia office, created people out of thin air and reported them as being employed. In compiling the monthly employment reports, Buckmon “interviewed” three times as many households as his peers.
Buckmon’s credibility is obviously in doubt, but he claims that he was told to fabricate data by his superiors. Whether the falsification was carried out to improve President Obama’s chances for reelection, or they were carried out because the Philadelphia office was having trouble meeting the requirement that they reach 90 percent of the households on their call list, is not clear.
What is clear is that the American public must be very skeptical about government data. This is an especially sobering thought as discussion of a mass amnesty remains before Congress. The bill passed by the Senate, in theory, relies on a government agency – the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) – certifying that border and other immigration enforcement triggers be met before amnestied aliens can receive green cards.
The obvious question Americans must be asking now is, Does the government operate with its own set of facts? How reliable are claims that our borders are more secure than ever, or that deportations of illegal aliens are at an all-time high are not “a little deceptive”? Will we be able to rely on assurances from some future DHS secretary that there are data to back-up claims that enforcement requirements have been satisfied?
Given all credibility issues that have been raised in recent months, there is no reason why the House should even consider moving forward on immigration legislation that relies on assurances that cannot be independently verified.
12 Comments
The Obama administration has always released numbers on deportations and border apprehensions in such a hazy way that Obama can make any numerical claim he likes without fear of being contradicted by the facts, which are hidden. It’s not that the numbers released don’t add up, it’s that they cannot be added up.
I can already imagine what Obama will say if Americans become aware that S. 744 includes a massive increase in immigration rates and in temporary work visa. “Don’t worry. If you like your current job you can keep it.”
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No amnesty! No more raising debt limit, decrease it yearly! Dump Obamacare, lost a great deal of money, effort and time due to total incompetence of all involved. Elect Ben Carson!
It is obvious that they are here illegally. They are killing our jobs, getting free health care that WE AMERICANS CAN’T. They are totally disrespecting the Constitution of The United States that this wonderful country stands for. I don’t have a problem if they want to become United States Citizens if they speak fluent English, pay their taxes, and come in the LEGALLY way just like my ancestors did. My grandfather came over here from Italy and learned fluent English, worked hard. paid his taxes and became a United States Citizen the right way.
Donna they are killing our jobs?…………….HA!…this has been going on for decades……they are have actually made many Americans Rich…………………………………………….
The Dems flat stole the 2012 election, conspired to send erroneous information to the public, votes counted for dead people, dogs, and lies to the election officials, allowed multiple votes, bought votes for packs of cigarrettes, intimidated voters via the New Black Panthers (which was reported, and pooh poohed by Holder, and dismissed), and the like. Anyone who votes for a Democrat must want America to fall to Obozo’s DHS army. Hoping he is impeached before he can commit any treasonous actions against my beloved country. His and the Dems have created a fiat. Hoping the House fights back tooth and nail. Changing a law like that essentially was a fiat by the dems. Thinking they’ll be really sorry they did that when the Republicans take over the Senate next year. #ObamaIsTreasonous #ImpeachObama #MolonLabe #NoVotesForIncumbents
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Constance you must be an immigrant…..stole an election? GOP taking over………..listen the GOP is dead just wait and see and so any democrat that has done wrong………………
Trusting this administration on anything they do is like the fox guarding the henhouse. We are still catching hundreds of thousands at the border every year. According to the border patrol, for every one caught two make it into the country. The odds are in their favor. That’s why they try. And will try again if caught because we don’t do anything to make them stop.
The only thing that will work is a physical fence. You know, the one Congress in 2006 mandated to be built but, as usual, sure as night follows day, was defunded and remains largely unfinished.
u sing the same song with every administration……………….run for president……….
Jack Welch was right about the Census Bureau employment numbers, as almost anyone with a bit of street smarts had suspected. Of course, it’s reminiscent of the Soviet Union cooking the books, and the Soviet citizens just about equally distrusted their government. Government lies have a way of undermining government legitimacy. Funny how that works.
Thanks for the Great Article on Phony Unemployment Rates Ira
Here’s a blog I just wrote to another website, because of your wonderful article:
“…Explain that “college education allegation theory” to the 50% unemployment rate for [scarce ????] RN college graduates. Or the 150K engineer [scarce ???] jobs removed from America since 2006 per BLS…..IMO, even the % that found jobs, what jobs? I asked the waiter if RNs were working tables at my local Applebees, he said they were….
Cooked Books
“….Apparently, Sen. Moynihan was wrong. According to media reports, employees at the U.S. Census Bureau fabricated employment data to make it appear that unemployment was declining dramatically on the eve of the 2012 presidential election. The New York Post names a specific Census Bureau employee, Julius Buckmon, who cooked the books, adding that “a knowledgeable source says the deception went beyond that one employee.”…”
http://live-immigrationreform.pantheonsite.io/2013/11/21/the-credibility-gap-another-reason-not-to-move-forward-on-amnesty/
your articles are weak…….