| 1. I generally
approve of the way my tax money is spent. |
Agree
Disagree |
|
| 2. Taxes and
spending are issues that affect my selection of a political party. |
Agree
Disagree |
|
| 3. Taxes and
spending are issues that affect my selection of a specific candidate. |
Agree
Disagree |
|
| 4. Social
Security money should be invested in the stock market. |
Agree
Disagree |
|
| 5. An example of
what a 10% tax cut means is:
A person's tax rate will: |
Go from 30% to 27%
Go from 30% to 20%
I don't know |
|
6. For
the budget areas listed to the right, my tax dollars should be allocated
as follows:
Use this ranking
for budget categories:
1 meaning
"Important & worthy"
2 meaning
"Somewhat O.K."
3 meaning
"Not very worthy"
|
Defense
Medical research
Welfare
for able-bodied
Welfare
for disabled
Environmental
protection
OSHA
Education
Special
interest 'pet' projects
Other: |
|
7. Once upon a time we
paid taxes to build infrastructure and maintain national security.
Today we pay taxes to support a redistribution of wealth. |
Agree
Disagree |
|
| 8. What do you
think: Instead of taking money from successful people in the form of taxes and
having the government redistribute that money, we do the following: Let's decrease the gap between the rich and the
poor by encouraging the poor to get educated, get jobs and get wealthier. |
I like that idea
I don't like that idea
And here's why: |
|
| 9. Russia
implemented socialism in 1917. The experiment failed and its economy is in
shambles. Today it is estimated that it will require 15 years of consistent 8%
growth to bring Russia up to the standard of living of today's Portugal. Why are Americans against a tax cut in the US and
desirous of more big government implementing socialist-type policies? |
US is complacent.
US does not realize the
long-term impact of socialism.
Other: |
|
| 10. Who would be
foolish enough to expect even the U. S. to run a budget surplus while fighting a major war
such as the War Against Terrorism? |
The under-educated
Rabid liberals
Those who do not
understand economics
No one |
|
11. Why do you
think it is so difficult for people to understand the following fact?
"When taxes are cut, people have more money left in
their pockets so then they can buy more stuff, and then businesses can hire more people to
make more stuff to sell. Businesses then make more money and pay more in taxes to
the government."
|
People aren't smart enough to understand
People don't think about these things
Some politicains have
convinced people that taxes are good |
|
12. Some details on the U. S. budget surplus:The New York Times, October 20, 2000
Taxes thrown off by the soaring stock
market contributed handsomely to the surplus. So did higher
tax rates on the rich, enacted just before their incomes surged ahead of other
Americans' in the booming economy of the 1990's. Cutbacks in
military spending after the cold war also helped significantly. Without these three
windfalls, the budget would be in deficit today.
The bull market and the surge in tax revenue from the rich by
themselves brought the budget out of deficit. If the market had risen more slowly in the
1990's, or income had been distributed more evenly across the work force, then the current
surplus of $81 billion would instead be a deficit approaching $100 billion, according to
government estimates. And if military spending had simply held steady at the 1990 level of
$289.8 billion, instead of falling, then an additional $261 billion would have been
subtracted over the decade from the surplus. The nation, in sum, would have been
struggling today with an annual budget deficit of more than $300 billion, about as high as
the annual deficit has ever been for federal government operations other than Social
Security.
Do you have any thoughts on the surplus? |
|
| 13. I am: |
Female
Male |
|
| 14. My age group is: |
Under 20
20-29
30-39
40-49
50-59
60-69
70
& older |