Citizens of many countries would envy us for having the right to vote, the right to express our opinions, the right to practice whatever religion suits us, and the right to say, do and think pretty much whatever we want.
Yet many of us take these freedoms for granted. Many people neglect to vote. Others vote, but shouldn’t because they don’t know what they’re voting for. While “get out the vote” efforts have become popular, it’s unlikely that anyone who won’t make the effort to cast a ballot is going to make an effort to know what the issues are and where the candidates stand on those issues. Voting when you don’t know the issues dilutes the democratic process.
So take this simple quiz. Maybe it will help to inform you. Maybe you’ll decide after taking it that you shouldn’t vote. And maybe it will just reinforce what you already believe.
True or false. The Affordable Care Act (aka Obamacare) is making healthcare more affordable.
False. Health insurance is becoming increasingly unaffordable and, shortly after the November election, the new open enrollment period will bring double-digit rate increases for many. Healthcare costs jumped 1% just in the month of August, which was the largest increase in 32½ years.
True or false. After eight years of Obama Administration policies, we have less income inequality today that we previously had.
False. While the Congressional Budget Office reported that as of 2013 (the latest data available) household net worth has increased to a record $89 trillion, almost all of the new wealth has gone to a small number of very wealthy people. The poorest 50% of Americans account for only 1% of the country’s wealth, down from 3% in 1989, while America’s poor have never been more in debt.
The unemployment has dropped to just 4.9% because:
a. The Obama Administration’s stimulus program created millions of new jobs
b. The economy has improved tremendously and corporate America is hiring again
c. New tax laws create an incentive to hire those who are out of work
d. Millions of Americans have dropped out of the workforce
The correct answer is d. As we’ve frequently reported, the labor force participation rate is at an anemic 62.6%, which is close to a four-decade low. The unemployment rate is low, because Americans who give up looking and leave the workforce aren’t counted. The greater the number of people who stop working, the lower the unemployment rate goes.
The economy has been growing slowly for the past eight years because:
a. Barack Obama has been president
b. Businesses have been using the low cost of credit to buy back stock, instead of investing in growth
c. New regulations are crimping productivity
d. The U.S. has the world’s highest business taxes
e. All of the above
The answer is e., all of the above. As Zero Hedge notes, the Fed’s easy money policy was designed to lower the price of business investment, which would allegedly increase economic growth. While corporate America took advantage of near-zero interest rates to borrow money, “Rather than initiating productive domestic investments, a significant amount of those funds went to dividends, buybacks and foreign capital investment. None of which hit on the Fed’s objective for easing monetary policy.”
The Obama Administration has set a record for:
a. Creating new regulations
b. Increasing the federal debt
c. Flying flags at half mast
d. Releasing convicted criminals
e. All of the above
The answer, again, is “all of the above.” As previously noted, the Obama Administration has created more than 600 major rules, with a major rule being one that costs at least $100 million to implement. His administration also nearly doubled the federal debt. Of course, President Obama has claimed that he’s been shrinking the federal deficit, but maybe sequestration and a Republican Congress have something to do with it. You think?
The Federal Reserve Board bought trillions of dollars worth of bonds because:
a. Board members really, really, really like bonds
b. The Fed wanted to lower interest rates
c. The Fed wanted to prevent the Chinese government from buying all of our bonds
d. The Fed wanted to manipulate both the stock and bond markets
The official answer is b., but the real answer seems to be d. You decide. Full credit for either.
The Federal Reserve Board has followed zero interest rate policy for:
a. One year
b. Three years
c. Seven years
d. Since the beginning of recorded history
The answer is c., seven years, although d. feels like the right answer.
“Macroprudential supervision” is:
a. A new craze in child rearing
b. A form of incarceration practiced successfully in Europe
c. A catch-phrase meaning, “we can’t practice quantitative easing forever, but using this phrase should keep the markets up until we come up with something else.”
d. No one really knows
The correct answer is c., but we suspect that d. is correct as well. The term was being bandied about by the Fed a couple of years ago as an alternative to quantitative easing, but was abandoned when it was determined that no one, including Ms. Yellen, could stay awake long enough to pronounce the term.
True or false. The number of Americans employed by the government (state, local or federal) now outnumbers the number of Americans employed in manufacturing.
True. In fact, as of 2015, there were 21,995,000 government employees and 12,329,000 manufacturing employees, or 1.8 government employees for each manufacturing employee.
So, how did you do on our quiz? If you answered every question correctly, you’re an informed voter and can vote with confidence in November. If you answered every question wrong, you haven’t been reading my blog closely enough.
It’s America. You have the freedom to exercise your vote, regardless of what you believe or how informed you are. Cherish that freedom and use it wisely.