Tom McGee's Blog

For much the same reason as I sometimes read The Wall Street Journal’s editorial page (i.e., for laughs) I’m on the RNC Chairman’s mailing list. Today’s comedy routine was an invitation to take a survey.

Leading in to the survey was a humorous jab at the polling methods of the major media

even though the liberal media would have you believe the American people are 100% behind the Obama Democrats’ tax, spend and appease agenda.

So presumably the survey I’m about to take will be scientific, and provide proof positive that the American people are not behind the agenda?

Here are some of the more objectively worded queries they post:

4. Are you in favor of the Obama Democrats’ proposal for a National Value Added Tax (VAT) on all goods and services sold?

I don’t think there actually is such a proposal. It’s been tossed around for years, but it’s still just something being talked about.

6. Do you support amnesty for illegal immigrants?

YES OR NO! YES OR NO!

9. Do you agree with Barack Obama that empathy, and not impartiality and the rule of law, should be a judge’s guiding factor when deciding a case?

Well if he said that I wouldn’t agree with him. He said “We need somebody who’s got the heart, the empathy, to recognize what it’s like to be a young teenage mom. The empathy to understand what it’s like to be poor, or African-American, or gay, or disabled, or old. And that’s the criteria by which I’m going to be selecting my judges.” Which is not the same thing.

12. Do you believe that the quality and availability of healthcare will increase if the federal government dictates pricing to doctors and hospitals?

Again with the “YES OR NO!!” But really, is that the only thing that’s in the healthcare plan — dictating prices? Or are there other measures that will also play a role in the quality and availability of healthcare?

Maybe it’s part of that authoritarian personality disorder, but there is almost never just one factor that affects a result. But in the conservative mind, Obama urges empathy, therefore empathy is the only factor; Amnesty is on the table, and there are absolutely no qualifications or conditions.

Or, you can present a false choice:

14. Are you in favor of restraining health care costs with stronger tort reform as an alternative to rationing care?

So those are my only two choices? It’s really a simpleminded way to look at the world.

16. Are you in favor of a Cap-and-Trade system on greenhouse gas emissions that will lead to a National Energy Tax that could cost American businesses and families up to $2 trillion and cause massive job losses?

It seems like only yesterday the most-horrible number Republicans could dream up was $646 billion. I guess they’ve gone back and sharpened their pencils.

And let me think … am I in favor of massive job losses? Of course once again, we’re only seeing the negatives. They certainly don’t want to talk about the offsetting jobs created in conservation-related industries, or the money consumers will save in heating, lighting and transportation costs as more efficient technologies come on line.

17. Do you believe that the federal government should allow unionization of Department of Homeland Security employees who serve in positions critical to the safety and security of our nation?

Well why not? Cops and firemen are unionized. This is one of those knee-jerk reactions, bash a union.

Question 19 is an essay question. Here’s what I had to say:

19. Complete this sentence (500 characters maximum):
I would like Republicans to better lead on domestic policy by…

“by honestly engaging in issues. Stop the namecalling, enough with the loaded questions, stop saying “no” to everything.

“All of the issues above are complicated, with lots of moving parts to be adjusted. You insult my intelligence by boiling them all down to simple buzzwords.

“If you’re going to bait voters by only presenting the “cons,” and never dealing honestly with the “pros” that balance them, you’re going to enlarge your base beyond the low-forehead Rush Limbaugh crowd.”

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If you’d like to take the survey too — and weigh the answers towards the liberal side a bit — be sure to ignore the misleading phraseology. Meanwhile, I’m eager to see how their results stack up against the liberal media’s.