If You Know the GOP Just Won the House, You'll Beat the Average American Poll

[DearAbby]

If You Know the GOP Just Won the House, You'll Beat the Average American at This Political Quiz



A new survey from the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press finds that less than half of Americans know that Republicans won the House majority in the recent midterms. About 75% have some vague notion that Republicans beat Democrats -- they just don't know what that means.

That's in line with how Americans answered the survey in general -- they have some sense of what's going on in politics, but are fuzzy on specifics. Among the survey's other findings:

--Only about half of Americans know that the national unemployment rate is approaching 10%

--Only 38% know John Boehner is the incoming House Speaker

--A mere 39% know that the government spends more on national defense than on education or Medicare (among Republicans, it's only 28%)

On average, Americans got 5 out of 12 answers correct. You can take the quiz yourself to see how your political knowledge stacks up.


http://www.alternet.org/newsandviews/article/341582/if_you_know_the_gop_just_won_the_house,_you%27ll_beat_the_average_american_at_this_political_quiz/

[DearAbby]

1. At a loss for words...

:wow:

[Enrique]

2. mandate! n/t

[Hosnon]

3. WTF? That's amazing. nt.

[DearAbby]

4. Republicans claim they are speaking for the American people

It's just that the American people have no clue what to say or do. Can you believe this sheeyit?

[Ozymanithrax]

5. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United Dumbshits of America...

Or...

I could come up with a joke that begines...

Americans are so dumb that...

[LibDemAlways]

6. TV quiz shows like Jeopardy and Who Wants to Be a Mllionaire always

bring home to me how little attention people pay to politics and government. On Millionaire a question about the incoming speaker of the house with 4 choices including Boehner, and say Barry Goldwater, Ed Koch, and Ann Richards would stump many of the contestants. And these are people who had to pass some sort of test to be there.

Americans generally get the government they deserve, which is truly unfortunate for the minority paying attention.

[littlewolf]

7. However they know ...

anything you want to know about American Idol ...

whos ahead on DWTS ....

who is going to win the Amazing Race ...

etc etc etc ...

:mad:

:banghead:

[spin]

17. They are obedient little sheep ..

docile and well fed.

The wolves are circling and they happy nibble at the pablum on their TV.

[okieinpain]

21. exactly.

[dalaigh lllama]

8. I got 10 out of 12 right

I missed the smart phone question and how much the TARP beneficiaries had paid back. Still, with that score I did better than 94% of Americans.

[Spirochete]

19. I missed the same two.

Hard to believe so many people did so bad on this quiz.

[JitterbugPerfume]

20. that is the same two I missed!

[subterranean]

9. I got 11 out of 12 right.

I missed the one about TARP.

Interestingly, young people (18-29) did better than older people on only two questions: the one about which activity the government spends the most money on (national defense), and, unsurprisingly, the one about the Google smartphone.

The question about government spending was also the only one on which college graduates did not do much better than people with only a high school education (41% vs. 38%).

[spin]

10. No wonder the people in Congress feel they are smarter than the voters ...

and they may be right in most cases.

[subterranean]

11. I'm not so sure about that...

Some of the members of Congress (particularly on the R side) display a surprising level of ignorance about current events in the world, and even basic facts about U.S. history.

[okieinpain]

23. and they are PROUD of it. n/t.

[Monique1]

12. Geez

the dumbing of America

[spin]

15. I remember years ago I found a high school test from the early 1900 time frame ...

I was amazed at how difficult it was. I showed it to a number of people, many who had college educations, and all agreed that it extremely difficult.

With the high level of education in those days, we became the most powerful nation in the world. Now many nations have far better education systems than we have and we export our jobs to them.

[Kennah]

13. 11 outta 12

I missed the one on inflation. I said 5%. At least one of the other options wasn't 35 PSI.

[Janeiro]

14. How many knew Democrats won the house in 2006?

For comparison purposes.

[leftstreet]

16. Maybe the 'average American' doesn't think it matters which party's in office?

:shrug:

[old mark]

18. The "Average American" deserves a beating every once in a while...

just to keep them alert. We got way to much dumbass in this country.

mark

[Bandit]

22. USA...USA...USA...

I would venture a guess the same results could be had on virtually any subject...Americans are not a well educated people..and it is getting worse rather than better....

[spin]

24. My daughter is a substitute teacher ...

today she had seventh graders. There was a question that involved calculating a 7% sales tax. Several students felt they should subtract the tax amount, not add it.

I hear terror stories from her on a regular basis. To be fair the school she subs at is a "D" rated school in Florida. She mentioned that a good number of the teachers are considering quitting.

[WillyT]

25. We're A Fairly Stupid People, Or As Said In 'Blazing Saddles'...

Jim: <consoling Bart> What did you expect? "Welcome, sonny"? "Make yourself at home"? "Marry my daughter"?

You've got to remember that these are just simple farmers.

These are people of the land.

The common clay of the new West.

You know... morons.

[Bill McBlueState]

26. and these are the people who vote

Sure, not everybody can keep up on everything, but how can the country possibly go in the right direction when so many people are so fundamentally ignorant of the basics?

[sally cat]

27. Not good. If things stay bad, they won't blame repugs since they don't know they control the House.

[butterfly77]

28. K&R..