The first US census, two-plus centuries ago, cost 24 cents a person. The 20oo census cost about $16 per person. This year it will cost $48. That's $15 billion, thanks to waste and incompetence.
In March 2008, federal auditors designated this year's census a "high-risk area" of federal spending. Among the reasons: weak management of Census Bureau purchases, including computers and software, and inaccurate cost estimates.Adding to that expense, The Kansas City Star found, are 28 million Census mailings that bureau officials and the U.S. Postal Service have agreed will simply be thrown away.That's right. Of the 425 million pieces of mail that began going out last month, as many as 28 million pieces, or about 7 percent, will end up in the nation’s recycling bins. ...McClatchy/Kansas City Star
We could use that $10 billion right about now, couldn't we.
