In yesterday’s mail was a flyer from Minnesota US Representative Michelle Fischbach (R-07). These show up all the time in my USPS box and I generally send them straight to the recycle bin. But this one caught my eye. Read the first sentence of the second paragraph and see if you can spot the mistake.
The Census Bureau itself says that, yeah….they can be counted:
The resident population counts include all people (citizens and noncitizens) who are living in the United States at the time of the census. People are counted at their usual residence, which is the place where they live and sleep most of the time.
There have been efforts over the years to limit the census to only citizens. In early May, the US House passed a bill which would do just that.
The bill, H.R. 7109, sponsored by North Carolina GOP Rep. Chuck Edwards would impact the 2030 census and onward if signed into law.
The census, which occurs every 10 years, helps determine congressional seats in the House and can determine political power.
Since the first census in 1790, citizens and noncitizens have been included in the official population count of the U.S. due to the 14th Amendment’s requirement to include “whole numbers of persons in each State.” [emphasis added]
Edwards argued during debate of the bill that the Constitution did not specify that noncitizens should be counted in the census.
He argued that the word “persons,” in the 14th amendment, “carries no definition.”
It’s unlikely to pass the Senate, which Democrats control by a slim margin, and the White House already put out a statement opposing the bill.
By deliberately misleading her constituents about who can and cannot count towards a population, Rep. Fischbach only serves to sow further racial discord within the sprawling Seventh Congressional District.
I’d be curious to know how many other Repub members of Congress are using similar language.
And it’s worth noting that Fischbach, who nobody would consider even a moderately moderate Republican — she voted in 2021 not to certify the electors from both Arizona and Pennsylvania — did not even get endorsed by the District Republicans. She is now locked in a primary battle that is generating a lot of signs for her opponent in my corner of the 7th. The Minneapolis Star Tribune recently profiled him, and boy let me tell ya, he is a treat…
In campaign statements, Boyd has vowed to defend life "from conception to our final breath." Asked his position on birth control, he said he believes it comes before conception and that he wouldn't try to restrict access to it.
Among the figures Boyd has said he looks up to is David Barton, a national evangelical leader who's argued the separation of church and state is a myth. Barton has also espoused anti-gay views, suggesting the federal government should regulate same-sex relationships.
The First Amendment's establishment clause prohibits the government from establishing a religion or favoring one religion over another, and a number of the nation's founders wrote of their desire to avoid repeating the sectarian strife that had long been common in Europe. President Thomas Jefferson wrote in an 1802 letter that the establishment clause was intended to create a "wall of separation" between church and state.
Boyd previously taught a "Biblical Citizenship" course created by the conservative Patriot Academy, which includes material on "the myth of the separation of church and state," according to the academy's website. He told the Star Tribune he believes the separation of church and state has been misunderstood.
For those who are curious, there is a DFL (our name for the Dems) candidate running. Yes, he’s a bit of a long shot, but at least we have someone challenging whomever comes out of the August 13 primary.
In the meantime, Rep Fischbach should really take a remedial civics course.