WASHINGTON -- Should the government be spending millions of taxpayer dollars on Super Bowl ads for the census in these times of daunting deficits and busted budgets?

"I am very concerned with the amount of money spent by the Census Bureau for the production and airing of these commercials," Georgia's junior senator wrote.

"Every one percent increase in the mail back of census forms from residents saves the government $80 [million] to $90 million in labor-intensive costs of door-to-door follow-up to non-responding households," Census Bureau spokeswoman Shelly Lowe wrote in an e-mail response to questions from The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Lowe said that when the Census Bureau bought a Super Bowl ad in 2000, it helped halt a three-decade decline in response rates.

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Waymo autonomous vehicles operate across 65 square miles inside I-285 and have been involved in six incidents with Atlanta Public School buses since May. Waymo issued a recall because of their cars briefly stopping or slowing down before continuing forward while a bus was stopped and flashing its lights. (Courtesy of Atlanta Public Schools)

Credit: Courtesy of Atlanta Public Schools