Do you know enough about the economy to make proper decisions? Let us see. You may use the chart on the IRS form but no goggling for the answers. Bet you can't get ten...
The see if you qualify to vote test
I. How much did the federal government take in last year?
A. 1.1 trillion dollars
B. 4.7 trillion dollars
C. 2.4 trillion dollars
D. 345 billion dollars
II. Which category in the Federal budget is the top in percentage for spending?
A. Foreign aid
B. Defense
C. Social Programs
D. Medicaid/Medicare
III. What percentage of the Federal budget is spent on debt?
A. 2.2%
B. 9.3%
C. 18.2%
D. 4.9%
IV. How much is the national debt?
A. over 2 trillion
B. nearly 4 trillion
C. about 7.5 trillion
D. over 10 trillion
V. How much do we spend as a percentage of the Federal budget on foreign aid each year?
A. over 10% of the budget
B. about 5.5% of the budget
C. nearly 12% of the budget
D. less than 1% of the budget
VI. After nearly two decades of increases, which government entity’s money was reduced in the ‘08 budget?
A. The office of Drug Control Policy
B. The Department of Education
C. Medicaid reimbursement payments to states
D. The National Endowment for the Arts
VII. John McCain claims he can balance the budget with a crackdown on earmarks. What dollar amount was dedicated to earmarks in 2008?
A. nearly a half a trillion
B. a bit over 18 billion
C. nearly 67 billion
D. over 32 billion
VIII. Barack Obama has announced he will spend how much in the next ten years on energy independence projects?
A. 150 billion
B. 10 billion
C. He gives no firm figure
D. 24 billion
IX. If defense spending cuts are taken off the board what percentage of discretionary programs cuts will be required to save 100 billion dollars a year?
A. 18.5% across the board
B. 7.9% in targeted cuts on the four most expensive programs.
C. 11.3% without cutting education
D. 6.5% across the board
X. Which of these statements is false? We have spent 560 billion dollars as of this week on the war in Iraq. What could that same funding have purchased?
A. over a million new housing units
B. 2,224,000 new elementary school teachers
C. Health coverage for all 47 million uninsured Americans
D. Enough to wipe out all the state budget deficits nationwide for the last five years
XI. Who does the United States owe the most money to?
A. China
B. OPEC
C. the Brits
D. Japan
XII. How many manufacturing jobs have been lost since 2000?
A. over three million
B. none-it is a myth we have lost jobs
C. nearly 2.2 million
D. 600,000
XIII. What number does Barack Obama commonly say will be the cutoff for those who will expect a tax increase under his plan?
A. His definition is not yet clear on this.
B. $250,000
C. $41,000
D. 5 million
XIV. What is the closest figure to the 2008 budget deficit?
A. 50 billion
B. 150 billion
C. 500 billion
D. 25 billion
XV. Which is correct in dealing with discretionary spending?
A. Health and Human Services account for over half
B. Over half is spent on security issues
C. Education spending has been increasing at double the inflation rate
D. Education, Health and Human Services, Veteran’s cost and Foreign Aid account for 60% of this spending.
Extra Credit: How much did Sara Palin spend on refurbishing the mayor’s office? Was it :
A. $50,000
B. $50,000
C. $50,000
D. None- she decorated it with Moose pelts for free
Answers:
Questions 1V—the government took in 2.4 trillion, Defense is the correct answer to II. B—9.3% is spent on debt. IV. Nearly 10 trillion. V. D. less than 1%--Most people when asked this question answered 10%. Most of our foreign aid goes to Egypt and Israel and we are not as generous with aid to other countries as believed.
Questions- VI-X---The answer to VI is A—reduced by 166 million. The money left is being spent in odd ways. VII. B. 18 billion-which makes his economic plan a joke as he advertises getting a 100 billion from earmarks. VIII. 150 billion is the answer. IX- A 18.5% across the board which would have devastating consequences and is further evidence of McCain’s budget lies as he claims that he will increase defense spending, while cutting taxes. A near 20% reduction in Education, Vet’s Programs, Health and Human Services and Security would be necessary to obtain his "savings". A total farce. X. C is false it would cover 39 million which would still leave 8 million still uninsured which gives you a sample of how much health care spending is needed. All three of the other answers are true.
Questions XI-XV-XI-we owe the most to Japan—around 600 billion, China is second with 520 billion, the Brits third with 224 billion and OPEC is owed 125 billion. XII. The answer is A. 3 million since Bush came to power. 600,000 this year alone. XIII. B. $250,000 XIV.—C-500 billion---By the way a review of how big a billion is may be helpful. If you counted out loud 24 hours a day it would take you about 30 years to get to one billion. XV. B. over half is spent on security issues of the 1.2 trillion allocated. This includes the war of terror, and homeland security. That leaves about 560 billion for Education, Health and Human Services, Environmental issues, Vet’s care, Highways, Mass Transit, Aids Prevention, Homeless programs, etc.. You know, all that worthless crap liberals bleed their hearts over.
Scoring 1-3----Do not vote under any circumstances! Be reasonable goddamn it! You know nothing. Try reading the Clifford the Red Dog series before 2012.
Scoring 4-6---Watch something other than Fox News and read something other than the National Enquirer once in a while. Remember while voting that the D means Darn Good and the R means Really, really bad. That should help you.
Scoring 7-11—you know as much as Chris Matthews and way more than Sean Hannity whose excuse was that the questions had an obvious left wing slant. Yeah, they were based on facts.
Scoring 11-15—smarter than the average bear, boo boo! Do you ever leave the house anymore?
Notable people’s scores: Alan Colmes—15 but he doesn’t want to have it publicized for fear of what Hannity may say. Billo—got a solid seven but that is a bit deceptive as the Republicans sent him the answers beforehand. John McCain couldn’t finish as the pressure reminded him of being in the Hanoi Hilton—he was a POW after all- did you forget? Keith Olbermann got a 12 but he cheated off Rachel’s paper. Bill Maher got an eight but received two extra credit points for adding some funny answers to questions he didn’t know.
Sarah Palin refused to take the test after aides close to her perused the test and concluded it did not contain enough Alaskan based questions. They released a statement: Sarah will be taking it soon after the Washington press gets off applying their sexist pressure to her reform message that has made it impossible for her to fully concentrate. It has been a whirlwind last couple of weeks for Sarah and people should give her a break. Just this week she learned that her close neighbor, Russia, had many, many noocular weapons, that weren’t visible from her deck which surprised her; that those little pills Cindy gave her have quite a little kick -especially for a small town girl; and that foreign affairs didn't mean what she thought—You know makin' it with those dark skinned Arab leaders.