House Bans Census Mailings That Aren't Census Mailings

If you received one of the GOP's fundraising letters designed to look like an official U.S. Census form, hang on to it (assuming you didn't "return it along with your generous contribution") — that piece of paper could soon be an historic artifact…

The House passed legislation Wednesday that would ban misleading mailings designed to appear they're from the Census Bureau, following criticism that Republican groups were sending fundraising letters using the census name.

Under the bill, mailings marked "census" will be required to state the name and address of the sender, along with an unambiguous disclaimer that the survey was not affiliated with the federal government.

The legislation passed 416-0, after two Republicans who sit on the House panel overseeing the census, Rep. Darrell Issa of California and Jason Chaffetz of Utah, agreed to co-sponsor the measure. Sen. Tom Carper, D-Del., has said he intends to move forward with legislation in the Senate.

See how easy it is for Congress to get things done, if people put their minds to it?

Now why can't they be as efficient about banning the actual Census, the way Michele Bachmann wanted all along?

Tags: Census, Darrell Issa, House of Representatives, Jason Chaffetz, Michele Bachmann, Republicans, Tom Carper