For me, the TARP thing is merely that I’ve almost never heard it called that. That may be the official name, but I’ve been hearing it mostly called “the bailout.”
If I were voting, I’d assume it was talking about the bailout. But I’d also assume it was a trick question, so I’d say Bush, thinking that maybe the stimulus was a type of bailout.
These polls remind of some in my country were two questions are asked:
In 1 the guy gets creames 62% disapproval, in 2, 85% can’t even name the hated guy.
I don’t believe that more than 10% of Americans know exactly what TARP is.
The intent of the question was not to ask if people wanted changes to Medicare. The question was asked because some people were observed carrying signs at political rallies that said (something like), “Keep the goverment’s hands off of Medicare.” In other words, they actually believed that Medicare wasn’t a government program and that they were woried that the government might mess it up by taking it over. The pollsters asked the question to see how common this belief was.
Not necessarily. One of the things the health care bill did was to cut Medicare advantage and other Medicare programs to help fund some of the new health programs. So a sign like “Keep the government’s hands off Medicare” might just mean that the sign holder doesn’t want the government to make Medicare cuts.
August 2009, North Carolinians:
Was Obama born in the US?
54% Yes
26% No
20% Not sure
Is Hawaii part of the US?
92% Yes
5% No
3% Not sure
That 3% may have been answering a question not asked. "Was Hawaii a part of the US, when Obama was born. Since most people know Hawaii became a state in 1959, and that Obama was born ‘sometime around then’ (1961 & 1959 are only 2 years apart) the 3% could be saying they are not sure if Hawaii was part of the US when Obama was born. The 5%, I can only hope, were thinking contiguous United States.
75% of American believe that TARP has too high a mercury content to be safe.
38.1% of Americans reported that they never respond to polls.
Most of the campaign money spent is in trying to muddy the waters about what the two (or rarely, three) candidates believe and plan to do. Is it any wonder that most people are confused?
Candidate A says candidate B eats babies. Candidate B denies this (he would, of course!) The various media outlets do in-depth interviews with party members from both sides who all explain how those words “eat” and “babies” and be interpreted. Plus they get in some experts on baby eating, perhaps including a visit by chef Gordon Ramsey on the Today show with some recipes that candidate B may have used. Then the pollsters go out asking either how we feel about candidate B’s baby eating or about candidate A’s lying. The system is working like normal.
And we need to solve “simple quadratic equations” in our real life?:dubious: Of course, he could do that, so *he *thought it was a good test.
I have a better one- fill out a 1040EZ tax return.
My answers:
What is Obama’s religion?
34% Christian
18% Muslim
2% Other
43% Don’t know
I personally think the man is an agnostic/atheist. I have never seen him as President going into a church. Jeremiah Wright was someone that Obama looked to for guidance. His father and stepfather were members of the Islamic faith and Obama lived in an Islamic nation for several years as a child.
July 2010, Americans:
Was TARP enacted under Bush or Obama?
34% Bush
47% Obama
19% Don’t know
What’s a TARP? Oh, the Troubled Asset Relief Program.
Has Obama administration raised, lowered, or kept income taxes about the same?
24% Increased
53% About the same
12% Lowered
Has Obama increased taxes? I know that he has spent money like Rick James on crack, which leads to this monsterous deficit that devalues the American dollar here at home and overseas. So, yes, taxes have been increased.
Should Government stay out of Medicare?
39% Yes
46% No
15% Not sure
Medicare should be there for senior citizens, children under the age of 13, and mentally/physically disabled people (including veterans). Everyone else should be responsible for their health care. Problem again is, with the monsterous federal debt and the decling value of the dollar, healthcare has gotten more expensive with the government playing catch up. Of course, every American wants their free health checkup but they refuse to pay the taxes on it.
If the United States spend as much money on education and health instead of blowing up little brown people in the Middle East, we could have the best of both on the Planet. Oh well.
Was Obama born in the US?
54% Yes
26% No
20% Not sure
I really don’t know. As far as I am concerned, he was born of an American mother and it is irrelevant where he was plopped out of, Hawaii, Kenya or the Moon.
Is Hawaii part of the US?
92% Yes
5% No
3% Not sure
No. Hawaii is a Japanese Province called Hikkihoko Du (which makes Obama oriental and not eligible to be President or drive a car).
Google would probably be able to remedy that. He doesn’t appear to be a regular churchgoer, but I don’t think Bush went to church that much either when he was in office.
Uh, I notice you omit that Wright’s title. (Hint: Reverend.) Atheists and agnostics can get guidance from ministers, of course, but this doesn’t support your view.
This is false.
That’s a pretty important thing not to know.
That’s a nonsense definition of raising taxes.
96% of Americans agree that Captain Midnight’s post is really, really stupid.
Count me in.
Ninety-seven percent.
Jeremiah Wright is a Christian. Also not so much on the father-stepfather thing.
I like having a financial system.
Are you aware we are in a huge and gnarly recession? The money that was spent needed to be. For instance, without the Auto Bailout upwards of a million people might have lost their jobs as cascade failures of businesses radiated from the auto companies to their suppliers. Since the Auto Bailout is nearly paid back, do you think that’s a good thing or a bad thing? The Stimulus was seen as necessary by economists across the board. What exactly has he been spending so much on? If you’re on fire and your wife spends a dollar on a bottle of water to put it out that money isn’t wasted. It’s necessary spending.
Also he lowered taxes.
The HCR law actually saves us money. The Medicare cuts are to a private “Medicare Advantage” business that actually costs more and does no better than Medicare. The government was paying a private business to administrate Medicare Advantage. The money cut is the profit and overhead that the businesses added to the system without providing any benefit.
He was born in the US. There is a birth certificate and everything. I’ve actually seen it on the internets.
Having been brought up in Hawaii I can say that this is indeed true. 
But see, but Midnight’s tax logic, Obama is responsible for raising the wages of all of us who still have jobs.
How? Easy.
See, there’s a million people still working because of the dreaded Obama Auto Bailout. Had the American auto companies failed, there would be even more people out of work. That means that even more people would be able to compete with your for your job. Therefore, your pay would go down (unless you want it to go down to zero, ya dig?).
But it didn’t happen, those people still have jobs, and therefore we should all thank Obama for our higher paychecks.
The fact that my check is the same it was before is totally irrelevant against the white hot intensity of logic such as that.
-Joe
Saying something “devalues” the dollar is equivalent to saying it’s causing inflation. So even if the nominal dollar value of taxes paid had remained constant, a person would be paying effectively less in taxes than they would otherwise.
Yes, but inflation, if it leads to a rise in wages, can cause “bracket creep,” i.e., you’re paying Uncle Sam a higher percentage of what amounts to the same income in buying power. At least, I remember old Ronald Reagan calling attention to that, and in the wake of the 1970s hyperinflation it seemed to make sense. Don’t know if it’s still a problem.