Potential voters are challenged to take a shot at contemporary politics

Here is a test of common sense opinions on contemporary politics. Write true or false next to each item and, at the end, see how you scored,

1. A presidential candidate, such as Ross Perot, who continually fails to reach beyond 4 to 8 percent of the opinion polls and never would have been int he race in the first place if he hadn’t been rich, is not owed a position in the televised presidential debates. And he shouldn’t get one. True or false?
2. If Perot is invited to the debates, anyway, so should Harry Browne of the Libertarian Party and Ralph Nader of the Green Party. At least the show would be more entertaining. True or false?
3. Broad tax relief that allows people to spend more of their money according to their own priorities is better than targeted tax breaks that assume the government knows best how people should spend their money. Thus, Dole is right in his approach and Clinton is wrong. True or false?
4. Regardless, Dole, if elected, is more likely to follow through on his tax cuts than Clinton is with his. True or false?
5. In domestic affairs, the number one issue facing America is entitlement spending. Both parties know that the rate of growth in Medicare must be reduced if the integrity of the system is to be preserved, and that little or no damage will be done to seniors if modest steps are taken now. The actual legislation that the Republicans tried to pass was responsible and fair, despite the demagogic spin put on it by the current crop of Democratic and AFL-CIO ads. True or false?
6. Social Security takes roughly 12.5 percent of people’s payroll income. For the next few years, while the government takes in more from Social Security taxes than it pays out, it is possible to : a) assure the present recipients of exactly the Social Security payments they expect and b) allow young people to turn their future payment into a mutual fund savings instrument tied to the private economy and thereby save significantly more for their future. The proposal has wide support in think tanks and among economists. That this idea is not even being discussed so far by either Clinton or Dole is testimony to the threat of demagogy on this subject. True or false?
7. Clinton has a new spending proposal each campaign day. For example, he wants to fund more Americorps community volunteers, even though taxpayers pay $27,000 per volunteer, about twice what comparable volunteers cost private charities. If he is re-elected, Clinton’s statement that “the era of big government is over” will become one of the most ironic political pronouncements of all time, along with Herbert Hoover’s “Prosperity is just around the corner.” True or false?
8. Under the new federal so-called reform laws a lobbyist may not pay for a dinner for a senator anywhere within 35 miles of the Capitol. But he can take the senator on an “inspection trip” to Paris and have his corporation or organization pay for the whole thing. The rule should be the opposite. No politician is going to be bought for the price of a dinner, while a glamorous, all-expenses paid trip may raise real questions. Congress–and the professional “reformers” that live off controversy–should get real. True or false?
9. Under the same new “reform” laws, members of Congress who may not receive a free meal from a lobbyist, constituents or almost anyone else, are quite free, however, to provide free meals for the lobbyist, constituents, or whomever. Later, the Congressmen also are free to ask the lobbyists for campaign contributions, and form those campaign contributions–pooled in their campaign funds–pay off all their meal chits. This is considered part of all the expense of doing business, and since it can’t be charged to the taxpayers, it can be charged to campaign funds. This shows again: a) that petty reform laws can almost always be circumvented, and b) that there’s no such thing as a free lunch. True or false?
10. It is wrong for the media to refer to Sherry Rowlands, the prostitute hired by presidential “family values” adviser Dick Morris, as a “call girl.” The proper terms should be “call person.” True or false?

Results: The correct answer for each question is “True,” except for the last, number 10-, which is definitely false (Tsk, tsk. Common sense must hold to standard English, even in vernacular speech–just assign standard morality.) Give yourself 10 points for each correct answer. If you scored under 50, you seriously need to re-examine your prejudices, although the same is true for many of your fellow citizens and most of the media.

A score of 60-90 shows that you have a common-sense understanding of the American political scene. Congratulation! A perfect score puts you in perfect harmony with the author and cannot be admired too highly.