Usually I oppose an unfair fight. Such a contest is after all, well just basically un-American. Not the McCarthy era un-American, but the kind of thing that goes against that deep in your soul John Wayne, Clint Eastwood, Bruce Willis stereotype of American sense of what’s right.
But there are exceptions to every rule, even this one. Besides, it is not empirically clear which side the unfairness statement would be made against. If we are pitting Congress against the rest of Americans, we are faced with the fundamentally question: which group has the greater proportion of idiots, imbeciles and morons in it?
So this test is a variant of the previous ones. Unlike those tests, this one requires you to not only answer the questions for yourself, but to also make a decision about how you think Congress would answer as a collective body. You can choose to expand the basic challenge of the test by adding an additional set(s) of answers that you think your favorite politician or your direct representative would choose.
The basic rules:
1. You have to score the answers yourself and in this case that of your counter-part(s).
2. You have to depend on your own honesty, integrity and honor in regard to your answers and those you make for anyone else, and thus both answers are a vital part of the test. [How intelligent can you be if you lie to yourself or about others?]
3. Passing the test is no indication of valid answers. So agreement between your and Congress’ answers are no assurance of that you are any more correct.
This test generally is on how important a Health Care Reform bill is to the United States.
Question 1: U.S. Health Care reform not required. The existing private and public systems provide adequate support for Americans’ needs, is affordable, and is managed and run effectively for both the industry and consumers.
True or False or FTU (Failed To Understand)?
Being a very broad question you are expected to answer not solely in terms of just your own circumstances but are expected to consider the general state of health care for the populace as a whole. Of course, it is expected that your own situation will influence your decision; so remember that the answer you are providing for your Congress counter-part, who doesn’t know you or doesn’t think about you, may very likely answer differently.
Question 2: The investment of 1 out of every 6 dollars of our economy into Health Care related costs is a reasonable and productive investment for the United States’ economy?
True or False or FTU (Failed To Understand)?
Think about the amount of your income that gets directed toward Health Care. This not only includes any insurance premiums that you pay, it also counts employer contributions if applicable, any deductible amounts that come out of your pocket, medicine not covered by a plan you already pay for; but in addition you are also pay through your income taxes, Social Security, and other various taxes where portions of those funds are used to support Health Care services offered under existing programs.
So given all this, do you think that these dollars are better used for the current Health Care system than could be used in some other public arena that would improve the overall economy and thereby also consequentially make Health Care more affordable?
Question 3: Do you think that religious leaders should be playing a direct role in drafting provisions of the Health Care Reform bill?
Yes or No or FTU (Failed To Understand)?
Your answer on this question will supposedly reflect whether you think that a Health Care bill is an appropriate place for representatives of non-tax paying religious sects to propose how the laws of the United States should be crafted? Laws by the way, that will apply to all members of the society both those belonging to the same or similar religious orientations and to those who are members of very diverse religious groups or not religious at all. Note: Nothing in the bill restricts members of any faith from following their own beliefs as it applies to their own lives; nor does it give anyone else the right to impose their religious practices upon you.
Question 4: Who is responsible for a watered-down, compromised and lobbyist influenced Health Care Reform bill: the endorsing party that contorted the bill to garner sufficient votes to get something rather than nothing, or the party that did nothing but resist and hinder the bill?
Endorsing Party or Resisting Party or FTU (Failed to Understand)?
Assume for the purpose of this question that you agree that a Health Care Reform bill is a vital need for the United States. If you cannot do this, then your answer should be blank and scored as wrong.
Question 5: Which is greater?
A. The cost of providing universal Health Care
B. The cost of allowing between 15% to 30% of the population to not
have Health Care coverage
C. Failed To Understand
Consider in your answer that you have to include all consequential costs to the society and economy from your answer. Granted that this is hard to do, because the experts are not able to do this either. But I cannot exempt you from the responsibility of your decision, so you will just have to man/woman up and be held accountable for your answer, even if you do not understand those consequences. You know how they say “ignorance is no excuse” with respect to the law; well, in life, ignorance absolutely will punish you as surely as death for being wrong.
You’re done! It’s over. You can relax and contemplate your score and that of Congress (or others).
For the voyeuristic among you, here are my answers.
--------- SELF --- CONGRESS
Question 1: F --- FTU
Question 2: F --- FTU
Question 3: N --- FTU
Question 4: R --- FTU
Question 5: B --- FTU
I guess you can all see that I fail to understand the ability of Congress.
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