Test Your Civics

YamiB · Jan 8, 2007

OnTheWay said:
Have to say if you're an American and those are difficult questions it's not a good thing. Even worse if you look at the percentage of high school seniors that answered them correctly.

It is amazing how stupid highschool seniors can be in this country. In my 11th grade Lit class there were many people who had trouble telling apart Verbs, Nouns, and Adjectives.

I'm not sure how Saddam Hussein's political party is part of American Civics, though.

Since we went to war twice against the man I think he has become an important figure in modern US history.

OhhJim · Jan 9, 2007

YamiB said:
Since we went to war twice against the man I think he has become an important figure in modern US history.

U.S. History, yes.
Current Events, yes.
U.S. Civics, not really.

It's a quibble, of course, but I suggest that a person could be an expert on American Civics and have no idea what Hussein's political party was. And it certainly isn't a basic question. It's like asking who held the homerun record before Babe Ruth, and claiming Americans know nothing about baseball, when nobody gets it right.

For the record, I got that question right.

Zimfan · Jan 16, 2007

I got 100%, but then, it'd be incredibly sad if a political science major failed it.

Zimfan · Jan 16, 2007

A flat tax is applied equally, a progressive tax is applied more heavily to those with higher incomes(this is what we have in the U.S.). A Regressive tax would be applied more heavily to those with lower incomes. I'm not sure any country in the world has that kind. Certainly not the U.S., where someone with a low income like me(under $20,000 a year) pays an abusrdly low percentage of my income in taxes while my much better off Uncle pays something like 38% or so(or whatever that tax cut a few years back lowered it to for the highest income bracket).

Edit: I was mistaken on one point, while income tax in the U.S. is progressive, Social Security taxes are regressive.

EmbracingHim said:
Historian,

Thanks for this thread. My college education was not wasted afterall! lol.

In college I learned that immigrants knew more about civics than others (probably the testing required for citizenship).

A progressive tax is one that is applied equally amongst the income table (to the poor, middleclassed and wealthy). There are few of these in the U.S. **Sandi ducks. lol. (sorry but the middleclass seems to carry more than it's share).

For 100 blessings who can tell me the regressive tax in the United States that has a suggested religious underpinning? (tee, hee).

Zimfan · Jan 16, 2007

To answer EmbracingHim's question, sin taxes perhaps? Taxes like those and sales taxes are often considered regressive.

OhhJim · Jan 19, 2007

Zimfan said:
Social Security taxes are regressive.

Yes, so is the California State Disability tax, since it, like FICA, has an upper limit.

Lottery tickets are probably the most regressive "tax".

Selznak · Jan 20, 2007

Ooooh yeah! 8/8

stillcrazy · Feb 20, 2007

50% I expected better

Norseman · Feb 20, 2007

The answer that they provide for the last question is wrong.
http://www.warresisters.org/piechart.htm

We spend more on our military than the rest of the world combined, yet we have old people who have to choose between medication and food. That alone should let you know which answer is correct.

Zimfan · Feb 22, 2007

The Iraq war has certainly spiked Defense Department spending, but Social Security still trumps the military for federal spending. http://www.federalbudget.com/

Zimfan · Feb 22, 2007

Spent more on Social Security last year, as well.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/fy2007/

Warning, lots of rather dull charts to dig through to get the information.

Adding 80% of the payments towards the national debt to the total for military spending is absurd, especially under the reasoning that "most (if not all) of the national debt would have been eliminated." Congress has always shown a great ability to waste all of our money rather than pay down the debt.

I think the Iraq war has been a huge waste of money, and I think we could save a lot of money closing down many of the cold war era bases in Europe. Countries like Germany are certainly rich enough to defend themselves now, and not under the risk of invasion from Russia. But fudging numbers isn't the best way to make a point.

MercuryAndy · Feb 23, 2007

Zimfan said:
Spent more on Social Security last year, as well.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/fy2007/

Warning, lots of rather dull charts to dig through to get the information.

Adding 80% of the payments towards the national debt to the total for military spending is absurd, especially under the reasoning that "most (if not all) of the national debt would have been eliminated." Congress has always shown a great ability to waste all of our money rather than pay down the debt.

I think the Iraq war has been a huge waste of money, and I think we could save a lot of money closing down many of the cold war era bases in Europe. Countries like Germany are certainly rich enough to defend themselves now, and not under the risk of invasion from Russia. But fudging numbers isn't the best way to make a point.

Germany has realy been rich enough to defend itself. Its more of a if we get destroyed we are launching our nukes from germany incase our ones in america get blown up.

Joykins · Apr 19, 2007

I got 88% for mentally conflating welfare and social security--that'll lead me to read the answers.

Photios · Apr 22, 2007

Other than that I made the assumption that the military absorbed more of our money than social security, I got them all right.

Douger · Apr 22, 2007

100%
Fun test.

Nottingham40 · May 28, 2007

100% This was a Joke. But I do read 10 books a week, so whatta ya expect.

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