There is an ongoing congressional investigation of improprieties and possible fraud at the US Census, as the New York Postreports a rumor that in 2009, gearing up for the 2010 national headcount, the Obama administration wanted to put the Census under the auspices of senior White House aide Rahm Emanuel.
Normally, the Census is administrated by the Chief of the Commerce department. Obama reportedly decided that Emanuel would be a superior overseer. The fact that a strident Democratic strategist such as Emanuel could have been at the helm of the Census, the main purpose of which is congressional redistricting, must have put Republicans in a lather.
Last week, the Post reported that during the 2012 presidential campaign, US census data was manipulated to demonstrate a favorable decrease in unemployment from 8.1 percent in August to 7.8 in September. The steep decline indicated Obama’s economy was looking much better. However, not only were these numbers false, but the US Census knew it. Moreover, the manipulating of data was allegedly pervasive and had been going on for some time.
All this prompts the question: Did the White House know about the falsified job numbers before the 2012 election?
Ultimately, Emanuel didn’t get the job, but we know that Jason Buckmon, a US Census employee, admitted that he told others to fill out surveys to bolster employment numbers. He also pointed the finger at his supervisors, whom he claims instructed him to do it. Time will tell what the outcome of the investigation will be, but we already know the current administration is tactical if not transparent.
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