Good pay and flexible hours sound pretty good in an economy with more than 10% unemployment, so I surfed over to the Census Website’s Interactive Pay Rates Map to see what we Colorado tax payers are paying for these new “created or saved” government jobs in Colorado. Would you believe we’re paying them $16.75 tax dollars/hour? That’s well above the Federal minimum wage of $7.25/hour. So that must mean the Census Bureau requires skills well above the minimum skill set of the labor force, right? I mean, the government even has a skills test it requires of interested applicants.

I puzzled over what it exactly takes to be a census-taking government employee, so I took a peek at the Census Practice Test.

What types of skills are evaluated on the multiple-choice Census Practice Test? Well, there are complex verbal and mathematical conundrums, such as…

Vocabulary,
Choose the one answer which BEST fits the meaning of the word in capital letters.
8. TRANSCRIBE –

A) to transport
B) to copy
C) to repeat
D) to exchange

Addition,
13. .41 + 21.4 + 6.3 + 280 =

A) 48.49
B) 59.8
C) 308.11
D) 450

Subtraction,
17. 2610.0 miles – 2554.8 miles

A) 55.2 miles
B) 56.2 miles
C) 165.2 miles
D) 552 miles

And counting!

21. If you went from the corner of Bruce Street and Tannen Road to the corner of Spring Avenue and Suitland Road by the shortest way, how many houses in your assignment would you pass?

A) 5
B) 6
C) 10
D) 12
E) 4

Let’s continue to Section IV of the Practice Test. This section is “designed to test a government Census employee’s ability to use good judgment in interpreting information in order to determine the best of several possible alternatives.”

Refer to the following outline of a chapter from a census procedures manual in order to answer questions 22 and 23.

Furnishing and Operating the Local Census Office
2.A. Space
2.A1 Space for the Local Census Office
2.A2 Training Space

2.B. Bills
2.B1 Identification
2.B2 Certification
2.B3 Submission for Payment
2.B4 Special Instructions
2.B5 Administrative Operations Codes

2.C. Services
2.C1 Telephones
2.C2 Utilities

2.D. Supplies and Equipment
2.D1 Receiving Shipments
2.D2 Organizing Supplies
2.D3 Storing Small Items
2.D4 Repair of Office Machines
2.D5 Requests for Supplies
2.D6 Purchase of Supplies and Equipment

2.E. Rental of Office Equipment
2.E1 Pre-Arranged Rental
2.E2 Local Census Office Rentals
2.E3 Delivery Acceptances
2.E4 Payment of Rental Bills

2.F. Rental of Automobiles
2.F1 Report Days Rented
2.F2 Forward Trip Tickets

2.H. Local Census Office Layout
2.H1 Administrative Area
2.H2 Supply Area
2.H3 Processing Area
2.H4 Field Operations Area
2.H5 Computer Terminal Room

And here’s your question:
23. Which section tells how supplies such as pencils, erasers, and paper clips should be stored?

A) 2.D2
B) 2.D3
C) 2.D5
D) 2.H2

I’m not sure which is more disturbing about Question #23, that we need to make sure a government employee (who presumably graduated high school) can read a table of contents, or that our government actually has written storage procedures for pencils, erasers, and paper clips? Personally, I’m just hoping that the questions on the actual Census that gets delivered to my door won’t be as challenging as this government employee entrance exam.

The anti-business agenda of the White House and Congress may be destroying the economy and competing with Jimmy Carter for who can create the most unemployed Americans, but at least our President has “created or saved” hundreds of thousands of (temporary) jobs for the Census.

The campaign’s first TV ad highlights Lucero’s role in the removal of Ward Churchill from CU and ties the Reagent’s hard work at cleaning house at the University level to his goals of cleaning house in the United States Congress. Here’s the TV spot:

Additional information on Tom Lucero’s background, goals, and issues stances can be found at his website: www.lucero2010.com.

When: Thursday, October 15, 2009 from 5:30-7:30pm
Where: Colorado Auto Dealers Association, 290 East Speer Boulevard Denver, CO (map)

The Political Organization of Women Republicans is a nonprofit membership organization of leading and emerging pro-business women who share and promote the principles of fiscal accountability, individual responsibility, and limited government. Our Mission To Build the State’s Most Influential Community of Politically Astute Republican Women

When: Wednesday October 14th, 2009 from 6-8pm
Where:

Max Gill and Grill at 1052 S. Gaylord, Denver, CO (map)

Taco appetizers will be served and Happy Hour prices will be available at the cash bar. 

Suggested contribution: $30

RSVP to Susan Evans at (970) 660-4412 or susan.evans@lucero2010.com

I think there may be a remote chance that Republicans in Colorado are beginning to realize that winning back the state from the tax-raising Leftist Democrats is going to require allowing the Next Generation of Conservatives to step up and lead.  Just today the Colorado GOP elected Leondray Gholston as the Vice Chair of the State Party, which shows that the Colorado Republicans are looking at new strategies as the 2010 election approaches.  Aurora City Councilman Ryan Frazier, one of the potentials seriously considering a run for Colorado’s Junior Senate Seat, is another rising star for the conservatives.  In the Politico article, when asked about deciding whether to run, Frazier noted:

“For me, it’s going to come down to whether this state is ready for a different direction to embrace a new generation of Republican leadership,” said Frazier. “In many ways, I would be a very untraditional candidate for this office. But in order to move the state forward, it’s going to take new ideas — and I think I have a lot to offer.”

Fresh blood.  Fresh leadership.  It’s time to let the Next Generation of Conservative Leadership rise to the occasion.

You may have heard that CU Regent Tom Lucero has declared his candidacy for the congressional seat in the 4th district in 2010.  Tom’s realizing early on that when you run on a platform of small government, free markets, and individual rights of the people, you end up taking fire from collectivist, propaganda corporations like ProgressNowAction.  Their smear attempt of an essay: Who is Thomas J. Lucero, and Where DOES He Park his Shoes at Night? is laughable, at best.

It seems Ralph Trenary over at the ProgressNowAction Corporation thinks he has a “story” about Regent Lucero.  Ralphie writes that Lucero’s press release is misleading and dishonest because it lists the regent as a resident of Loveland while Ralphie’s extensive, undercover, investigative journalist research (you laypeople would call this a “phonebook”) does not list any “Tom Luceros” with Loveland phone numbers.  You see, Ralphie’s confused because over a decade ago, he notes that Lucero’s 1997 campaign HQ address listed Johnstown, CO, and now, over 10 years later, the Loveland Reporter-Herald called Lucero a resident of Loveland.  The ProgressNowAction Corporation doesn’t have a story, they’re just afraid of a congressional candidate who believes in Liberty. 

A few things come to mind as I read the Ralpher’s essay.

1) Ralph Trenary is a tool… of the collectivist, propaganda corporation ProgressNowAction.

2) Regent Lucero does live in Loveland. 

3) Even if Lucero lived in Johnstown instead of Loveland, Johnstown is also in the 4th district.

Bottom line is this kids: don’t trust the drivel put out by collectivist, propaganda corporations like ProgressNowAction anymore than you would a 2nd grade essay.