More Census Dollars at Work

I was watching the race here in Atlanta on TV this weekend and saw the new Census 2010 car:


This photo is from the official census website. As you can see, the census is sponsoring more than one vehicle.

If you're not familiar with NASCAR, a full vehicle sponsorship (as opposed to a smaller sticker) can run millions of dollars. The census website states that the sponsorship for three races for this car costs $1.2 Million. According to the website, the census hopes that this sponsorship will encourage people to mail their censorship forms in. According to the website, "for every 1 percent increase in mail response, taxpayers will save an estimated $85 million. Those funds would otherwise be required to send census takers to collect responses in person from households that don't mail back the form.”


I have to admit, I am a little fuzzy on the math here. If I receive a census form and don't mail it back, they will send someone specifically to my house? They state that a "1 percent increase in mail response," will save taxpayers millions. What is that increase in numbers? Is that 1,000 forms? 100,000 forms? 1,000,000 forms?


We all know we are in tough economic times. Am I really the only person that thinks paying for a NASCAR sponsorship in addition to the silly superbowl ad is a bad idea?