Survey

Today I'm playing with a survey that I'd like one of the big pollsters to use. The answers to these questions would give us a really good idea both of where most people in the country stand, but also just how informed or uninformed on today's issues.

So, here's the survey:

Choose the answer that best describes your opinion on the topic:

1. The Iraq War

1. Was dreamed up by Bush and Cheney simply to make Halliburton rich, and we should get the soldiers out of there immediately and but out of the middle east entirely.
2. Was a mistake based on bad intelligence, and we should withdraw as soon as possible.
3. Was an appropriate response to 9/11, but is being mis-managed. We need to replace Rumsfeld with somebody who can do a better job.
4. Was the right decision and has taken the war to the terrorists. We need to see it through, then go after Syria and Iraq if necessary.

2. The next Supreme Court Nominee

1. Should be bold in helping make rulings that the people want, like protecting and expanding abortion rights and affirmative action and protecting citizens from the fascist policies of the religious right.
2. Should fit the mold of Sandra Day O'Connor, whose moderate rulings came from neither political agenda but from the heart.
3. Should be fairly conservative in protecting constitutional rights and honoring precedent, but should not actively try to overturn the law of the land in Roe v. Wade.
4. Should be a strict constitutionalist who believes in interpreting law only through identifying the intent of the founding fathers. We need enough justices on the court to overturn bad decisions of the past like Roe v. Wade and Scopes and others like them.
   

3. Healthcare

1. Every American should be covered under a National Health Plan now. It's unfair that Insurance Companies, Drug Companies, and HMO's make obscene profits on the backs of sick people.
2. Every Employer should be forced to provide medical benefits to their employees, and the unemployed should be covered by the Government. Price controls should be placed on all medical services and prescription drugs.
3. Keep the system the same, but make it easier for the uninsured to get insurance for a price they can afford.
4. There's nothing wrong with the current system. Just stop giving free healthcare to all the illegal aliens and get people to stop smoking and lose weight, and everything will be fine.

4. Homeland Security

1. Repeal the Patriot Act now! We deserved what we got on 9/11, and if we want to stop the attacks we should get out of the middle east entirely and stop supporting Israel.
2. Keep the Patriot Act but make lots of revisions to protect citizens from unwarranted wiretaps and government meddling. Get out of Iraq and stop agitating Muslims against us. Let the UN take over the peace process in the Middle East.
3. Keep the Patriot Act as-is, but get serious about re-establishing friendships with our allies around the world. Negotiate with anyone willing to help us stop the cycle of violence.
4. Get more aggressive by sealing our borders and enforcing our immigration laws. Round up everyone in the country from terrorist nations who is not a citizen and send them home until the war on terror is over.

5. Gay Marriage

1. Gays should have the same rights as everyone else to marry and receive all the benefits available to married couples. Bigoted churches that refuse to perform marriage ceremonies for gay couples should lose their tax-exempt status and be subject to fines or jail time.
2. Gays should be able to establish domestic partnerships that give them all of the same benefits of marriage without specifically calling it marriage.
3. If gays want to act as if they are married, it's OK with me. Just don't give them the same ability to adopt children, get government survivor benefits, or force the state to sanction it as marriage.
4. There is no reason gays should be married or even get domestic partner benefits. What they do behind closed doors is none of my business, so I resent having their decadent lifestyle forced down my throat everywhere I turn.

6. Church and State

1. Religion has a long history of being the root cause of all evil in the world, from the Inquisition up to today's radical Islamic terrorism. If religion were outlawed, our country and the world would be a better place.
2. Separation of Church and State means that the state should leave religion alone as long as religion leaves the state alone. Let religion stay in the churches, synagogues, and mosques for whoever finds it useful. But keep it out of the public square.
3. We should respect religion as long as it doesn't cross the line into unlawful activity. Let the religious express themselves in public, but do not let public schools or government bodies hold up any one religion over another.
4. America was established as a Christian nation, with tolerance for other religions encoded in the constitution. There is no constitutional restriction on religious expression anywhere, including government, as long as it does not establish a specific state religion or trample an individual's right to another faith.

7. The Environment

1. We must immediately adopt the Kyoto treaty, shut down all of our coal-burning power plants, raise the required mileage standards for vehicles, and replace the internal combustion engine with bicycles and solar/electric power. We also must end logging and confiscate all unpopulated lands as wildlife refuges.
2. We should aggressively move toward alternative fuels like electric and hydrogen for our vehicles, build more mass transit systems, and protect as much of our wilderness as possible.
3. We should continue to incent companies to find alternative clean energy sources and encourage conservation without forcing such a dramatic timetable that it damages our economy.
4. There's nothing wrong with what we're already doing for the environment. Many endangered species are endangered no longer, our lakes and rivers are cleaner than they've been in 100 years, and alternative energy is under development and is already appearing. Let the market take its course.

8. Welfare

1. We must increase benefits and reduce work requirements for single mothers. The government isn't doing enough to make sure poor families have a decent home and enough food.
2. We should target welfare improvements toward the most needy, but combine benefits with programs that help them receive education and training that will help lift them out of poverty.
3. Drugs and crime are the bigger issues that are keeping people poor, plus a minimum wage that hasn't been increased in many years. Raise the minimum wage to something people can actually live on and work hard to help people overcome their drug addictions while taking the criminals off the street.
4. There are more than enough programs in place now. There's something wrong with a system that has people on the public dole better off than hard-working people making close to minimum wage. Continue the "workfare" approach, which has proven hugely successful in getting people off welfare and into the workforce.

9. Social Security

1. Keep the system intact for everyone. If necessary to keep it funded, raise the amount the rich have to pay in and reduce their benefits at retirement.
2. Make some minor "tweaks" but don't do wholesale changes. Raise the annual limit for social security taxes and raise the retirement age, and the system should stay solvent much longer.
3. Stop the government from stealing the surplus from the social security trust fund. Instead, invest that surplus in government-issued interest-bearing securities so it can grow to help offset shortages projected in the future.
4. Gradually change social security into what it was originally sold to America. An individual account for retirement with disability insurance and a death benefit. Gradually transition the program so that every dollar that goes into social security is invested on behalf of every American paying into it, and they can retire on the annuity from the proceeds of their account as well as leave whatever might be left to their survivors at death.

10. Taxes

1. I don't pay enough taxes. Everyone should pay more, especially the rich. We should go back to the days when the marginal rate for earnings over $100K are at 70 or 80 percent.
2. I pay enough taxes. So does everyone who makes in the same range as I do or less. But those in the higher tax brackets should pay more. I'm not sure how much more, but they can afford to contribute a little extra.
3. I pay enough taxes, but there are too many loopholes and the tax code is outrageous. We should simplify the tax code so everyone has to pay their fare share, with no exceptions.
4. I pay too much in taxes. My taxes and everyone else's should be lowered, because that will result in more investment in the economy, which in turn results in more taxable earnings from everyone. Everybody wins when taxes are low.

So, to score yourself, add up the total from your answers, using the number preceding each answer.

If your total score is between 10 and 15, you are an ultra-liberal. You and Karl Marx and Vladimir Lenin would get along famously.

If your total score is between 15 and 25, you are what is now called a moderate liberal. You lean toward a liberal point of view, but not to the extremes of the ultras.

If your total score is between 25 and 35, you are a moderate conservative. You have mostly conservative leanings, but aren't totally sold on 100% free market capitalism and hands-off government.

If your total is above 35, you are a great example of what they call a right-wing conservative. You believe in free markets and capitalism, freedom of religion, personal responsibility, and small government. On the other hand, people in the ultra-liberal category would probably call you a nazi.

What I really wonder is whether after taking the survey, anyone's mind could be changed with some education. Not from an idealogue slanting facts to support their predetermined conclusion, but just education about the facts behind each issue, for example, the historical facts about the minimum wage or the observable effect of government-controlled healthcare or what happened to the education system when the courts said there could be no mention of religion in the public schools.

It could be a fun experiment to run, if only I had the time and resources.