New report shows elected officials don't know anything about the constitution or bill of rights

And ignorant. Most of them are.

Elected Officials Score Lower than the General Public

Those who have held elective office earn an average score of 44% on the civic literacy test, which is five percentage points lower than the average score of 49% for those who have never been elected.

Not all officeholders do poorly, of course. Some elected officials rank among the highest scorers. But the failure rate on the test among those who have won public office is higher (74%) than among those who have not (71%). Officeholders scored lower on all sub-themes of the test: political history, cultural institutions, foreign relations, and market economy.

A few specifics...

* Seventy-nine percent of those who have been elected to government office do not know the Bill of Rights expressly prohibits establishing an official religion for the U.S.

Those are probably fundies republicans.

* Thirty percent do not know that “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” are the inalienable rights referred to in the Declaration of Independence.

* Twenty-seven percent cannot name even one right or freedom guaranteed by the First Amendment.

That explains a lot.

* Forty-three percent do not know what the Electoral College does. One in five thinks it either “trains those aspiring for higher political office” or “was established to supervise the first televised presidential debates.”

That's just stupid...

* Fifty-four percent do not know the Constitution gives Congress the power to declare war. Thirty-nine percent think that power belongs to the president, and 10% think it belongs to the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

That explains a whole lot too...

* Only 32% can properly define the free enterprise system, and only 41% can identify business profit as “revenue minus expenses.”

Not a big surprise from these people... and now you know why the hell they can't fix the economy... they don't even know 1% of the basics...

That some stupid people right there... a basic test with those questions should be MANDATORY AND PUBLIC for every person running for office. If you fail the test, you can't run... try next election.

OMG I'm laughing so hard.
This thread title is the best one of the year!

(edit: wait... where did the "and are idiots" part go?!? You edited the title. Nooooo!)




[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/fb0b1a21524d.gif[/atsimg]

Weeeee~!

I'm R public officials.

Originally posted by Vitchilo

That some stupid people right there... a basic test with those questions should be MANDATORY AND PUBLIC for every person running for office. If you fail the test, you can't run... try next election.

No, but seriously,
I do take issue with that last sentence.
Forcing people to take a test before they can run
for office is similar to the repressive technique used
in the reconstructed south of requiring minorities to pass
a literacy test before they could vote. It seems like a good idea,
but usually turns into a tool of manipulation and repression when applied.

How about we blame the media for it's uneven coverage,
and not providing a complete list of all candidates
so we can do our own research on them.



David Grouchy

It's not and never has been about "what you know" it's about "who you know" when it comes to getting to a high position in politics. The proof of that is....

George W. Bush won the Presidential (s)election TWICE!

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/f3624719602e.png[/atsimg]

Besides,
all an elected official has to know
is how to stitch together diverse opinions
and then fill the whole thing up with hot air.

How is one going to test for that, really?


David Grouchy

Originally posted by davidgrouchy
OMG I'm laughing so hard.
This thread title is the best one of the year!

(edit: wait... where did the "and are idiots" part go?!? You edited the title. Nooooo!)

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/fb0b1a21524d.gif[/atsimg]

Weeeee~!

I'm R public officials.

Originally posted by Vitchilo

That some stupid people right there... a basic test with those questions should be MANDATORY AND PUBLIC for every person running for office. If you fail the test, you can't run... try next election.

No, but seriously,
I do take issue with that last sentence.
Forcing people to take a test before they can run
for office is similar to the repressive technique used
in the reconstructed south of requiring minorities to pass
a literacy test before they could vote. It seems like a good idea,
but usually turns into a tool of manipulation and repression when applied.

How about we blame the media for it's uneven coverage,
and not providing a complete list of all candidates
so we can do our own research on them.

David Grouchy

edit on 31-8-2011 by davidgrouchy because: (no reason given)

Would you hire a doctor that didn't know how to be a doctor? A mechanic that knows nothing about cars? Why not require politicians to be able to know whats in the constitution?

To me this is absolute proof that they don't run for office in order to serve the people.

Frankly I've been shocked when watching some of them on interviews or in public meetings - some of them are utter morons and soooooooooo ignorant it's unbelievable. How could anyone ever vote for them.

The appeal is money, status, prestige and power....not the well being of the people.

I wouldn't be surprised to see one of them ask 'The people, who are they?' I mean that's how thick and self-interested some of them are.

It is not a “new report” as it is from 2008 but is damning nonetheless. Yet, should we really declare this as unexpected? We all know the people in office are/were idiots who only got that position by lying to the public, relying on a guaranteed party vote, and cash from deep pocket donors. If anyone assumes it is because these morons in Congress are intellectuals or truly great in any field besides lying, cheating, secrecy, and questionable relations then I would like to have them psychologically evaluated before entrusting them with even the caretaking of my dog.

Perhaps it is worth noting this was for the last Congress, Democratically controlled, or maybe I am just being Mr. Partisan.

Originally posted by VitchiloThat some stupid people right there... a basic test with those questions should be MANDATORY AND PUBLIC for every person running for office. If you fail the test, you can't run... try next election.

No, but seriously,
I do take issue with that last sentence.
Forcing people to take a test before they can run
for office is similar to the repressive technique used
in the reconstructed south of requiring minorities to pass
a literacy test before they could vote. It seems like a good idea,
but usually turns into a tool of manipulation and repression when applied.

David Grouchy

edit on 31-8-2011 by davidgrouchy because: (no reason given)

This isn't for VOTERS... this is for people running. Want to run, you've got to know stuff. Basic stuff.

Mandatory test, THE SAME TEST FOR EVERYONE RUNNING, and the test is PUBLIC... so everyone know the questions and the answers that every candidate has given.

Therefore, it cannot be the same as the voting test that was used in the South till the 60s.

What do you expect, schools spend all of about 30 minutes teaching about The Constitution and the Bill of Rights. When these kids grow up and decide to run for office, how would they know about these items and what they stand for when the Department of Education has all but stripped it from the curriculum. I do not know if a test would be the way to go, but something does need to be done to ensure these people understand the basis for our way of life and what was intended.

All I can say is, thank you Jimmy Carter for the Department of Indoctrination.

Originally posted by Skewed
What do you expect, schools spend all of about 30 minutes teaching about The Constitution and the Bill of Rights. When these kids grow up and decide to run for office, how would they know about these items and what they stand for when the Department of Education has all but stripped it from the curriculum. I do not know if a test would be the way to go, but something does need to be done to ensure these people understand the basis for our way of life and what was intended.

All I can say is, thank you Jimmy Carter for the Department of Indoctrination.

What do I expect? I expect them to have put in personal time and effort to learn about the things that are essential if they are to be effective as public servants, and I expect them to have relevant experience and a good track record of serving the people.

reply to post by Vitchilo


The average scores they received are appalling. I just took the test myself to see how I'd do compared to the average and I scored "You answered 25 out of 33 correctly — 75.76 %".
It's scary to think people who hold an office would do far worse on the test than me.....a high school drop out.

Originally posted by ohioriver

Would you hire a doctor that didn't know how to be a doctor? A mechanic that knows nothing about cars? Why not require politicians to be able to know whats in the constitution?

Well that puts a different complexion on it for me.

If it is a high level of competence that we want, then
may I suggest that we pay them as follows.

Congress: $1,000,000 anually, per term, cumulative
Senate: $10,000,000 anually, per term, cumulative
President: $100,000,000 anually, per term, cumulative

Only then will we start to see some actual smart people running for office.
More rules and tests will only make the
incompetence we have now; worse.


David Grouchy

reply to post by davidgrouchy


Apparently you never learned why the salaries of those in office were never put high... the founders knew what they were doing.

They didn't put high salaries because they didn't want to attract those who wanted to be rich... the corrupt ones.

Being elected to office wouldn't be a place to get rich. It would be a place to serve the people. That's why the salaries, back in the founders days at least, were never high.

But yeah, at this point in time, it's kind of a moot point what their salary is... since they get kickbacks worth way much more than their salary.

reply to post by WildWorld


I decided to take the test again (I took it around a year ago) and was quite happy to see my results.

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/142eb5e4a3e7.png[/atsimg]

Anything less than a 90% would have been a serious disappointment.

Originally posted by Vitchilo

Apparently you never learned why the salaries of those in office were never put high... the founders knew what they were doing.

They didn't put high salaries because they didn't want to attract those who wanted to be rich... the corrupt ones.

Being elected to office wouldn't be a place to get rich. It would be a place to serve the people. That's why the salaries, back in the founders days at least, were never high.

But yeah, at this point in time, it's kind of a moot point what their salary is... since they get kickbacks worth way much more than their salary.

Vitchilo,
I defer to your judgement in the matter.
The quoted text above, taken in its entirety
covers most of the major points in my mind.


David Grouchy

reply to post by Misoir


Well done, Misoir

I'm listening to Ron Paul on Alex Jones right now (Aug. 31 12:37pm US Central) and Paul -- IS -- the knowledgeable 'politician', it would be an --egredgious-- shame --forever-- if we don't get him in as Prez.

Now if only we could get the names and scores of the representatives it would be perfect.

reply to post by wcitizen


This is absolute proof that they are truely representative of their constituency. I highly doubt most of America knows things either which is just as sad.

reply to post by simone50m


I would LOVE to see RP's results from this test against all the other fools on Capitol Hill. That would be priceless as he seems to be the only one there who has a clue about the Constitution/BOR.