European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - May 24, 1989, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 10 the stars and stripes columns James j. Kilpatrick loaded questions invite desired responses a questionnaire turned up in the mail the other Day Courtesy of an organization called Ash action on smoking and health. This purported National Survey is so dumb it is funny but it provides an Opportunity to say something about Public opinion polls generally. This particular Survey consisted of seven questions. Question no. I re viewed warnings from respected sources that tobacco smoke can and docs cause lung cancer in  therefore do you think government should ban All smoking in most Public places permit smoking Only in separate sections Only enforce decisions made by owners or do nothing question 2 offered the same alternative answers about smoking in private work places. This was no. 3 tobacco kills More people each year than alcohol guns aids and automobile and plane Acci dents combined. Vet As a society we spend far More Money educating the Public about each of these other prob lems. Do you feel it s time the govern ment should a spend More Money on anti smoking education b spend com parable Money on anti smoking Educa Tion c continue the same level of spending or d reduce or eliminate spending on anti smoking education this was no. 4 although tobacco is estimated to kill at least 350,000 people each year and to Cost you and me and every american taxpayer More than $100 billion our Federal government continues to spend millions to encourage the growing of tobacco and to subsidize the tobacco Industry. Therefore do you think the government should a immediately discontinue All Aid to tobacco b phase out All Aid to tobacco Over the next few years c phase out All Aid to tobacco Over a longer period of Lime or d continue to Aid tobacco growers and the to Bacco Industry at present Levels you get the general idea. Question 5 was cocked and loaded to gel answers favouring a ban or a drastic limitation on tobacco advertising. Question 6 asked if the government slum old require smokers to pay More for their health insurance or permit insurance companies to charge smokers More. Question 7 asked if the respondent would be willing to spend just a few cents a Day in support of Ash s efforts to fight Back against the six enormously powerful tobacco giants and Jim Fain smoking or no smoking to defend the rights of the non smoking  Hoo boy what a Survey. It recalls a Survey some years ago by a pro gun out fit. The question was to this effect do you believe agents of the government should have Power to crash into your Home seize and confiscate the guns you keep for Protection of your wife and Chil Dren and thus leave them at the mercy of rapists and robbers yes or no George Gallup is sufficient authority for the proposition that pollsters must be strictly impartial in presenting an Issue. In the sophisticated poll watcher s guide published in 1972, Gallup said nothing is so difficult nor so important As the selection and wording of  the loaded question he said is usually self defeating because it is obvious that it is  the Bias May not be obvious or at least not As brazenly obvious As the sur vey from Ash. Gallup cited possible questions about the War in Vietnam. This was one possibility do you feel the United states should have gotten involved in Vietnam in the first place this was another do you feel the United states should have helped South Viet Nam to defend itself the first question invites a no answer the second a yes answer. Such baited questions regularly come along. In order to improve the Quality of education in the United states should teachers be paid higher salaries Back in january a Survey inquired to this effect do you feel that members of con Gress who already receive expensive perquisites and a Lush retirement should vote themselves a 51 percent raise in pay the Art of Public opinion polling has been considerably refined and improved since Gallup published his Book but the essential elements have not changed. The wording of Survey questions remains the be All and end All. It will be interesting to see if the people at Ash release the questions along with the anticipated answers when they publish their findings. At least 92.7 percent of the respondents had bet Ter favor a ban on All smoking in Public places or they will have to try another poll. We await the data with bated breath. And anyone who fails to say yes to question no. 7 the fund Rais ing question May fairly be termed a Rotten egg. Universal press Syndicate increasing Gas fax Good Way to attack deficit the realistic Way to slice the deficit is by boosting the gasoline lax As Many of us have been saying for years but not As part of a Deal to Cut taxes on capital gains. That would be a travesty. We need More not less fairness for Middle class taxpayers. A hike of 50 cents a gallon at the pump would be a Good Start. Each Penny would net is billion a year. The Money should be used for debt reduction Only under pain of death to both Congress and White House. There would be Side benefits. A Gas tax would Cut consumption reducing Reliance on foreign Oil. We re guzzling a million barrels More a Day now than before the big Price drop in 1986. We re importing 43 percent of our Oil up from 31 percent then. Continue the trend and Well be Back in Gas lines before the year 2000. Higher prices would curb air pollution Speed re search on alternative fuels Spur automakers to in crease mileage and boost mass transit. Even so we d be paying half what gasoline costs in Japan. Only politics argues against an increase and there s evidence voters Are willing to bite the Bullet if assured the proceeds would go to Cut the deficit. The notion of trading a Gas hike for president Bush s pet project of slashing capital gains tax is outlandish however. Any sales tax is regressive in that it s paid equally by Rich and poor. The poor already have been pummel cd enough. By reducing the top income tax bracket from 70 percent to 28 percent and trimming services to the unfortunate Reagan widened the Gap Between the very Rich and the very poor beyond anything this country has seen since the Days of the robber Barons. Between 1979 and 1986, the poorest fifth of our people grew 6 percent poorer. In constant dollars their average family income shrank from $5,439 to $5,107 a year. The richest fifth s Rose ii percent from $61,917 to $68,775. In the same period the super Rich who would be the Only gainers if lacs on investment profits were Cut saw their incomes soar. The Reagan administration Deal Royce progressively in the system by limiting income taxes to Only two brackets 13.percent for the lowest and 28 percent for everybody else. Al the same time it dramatically in creased Ine social Security tax which Falls mainly on the Middle  Security payments now make up 34 percent of the total Revenue of the Federal government Only slightly less than individual income tax payments which account for 41 percent. Nor do those social Security payments go into a vault to be held separately for retirement As Many imagine. They go into one big Kitty with other taxes. Without social Security and other Trust funds the Defi Cit would be $ 120 billion higher. Instead of a capital gains Plum for millionaires in simple fairness we ought to create a higher bracket of 35 percent to 40 percent for the we ally and use the proceeds to repair the safety net Reagan dismantled. In particular we need to provide services for Chil Dren at which we now Are dead last among Industrial countries. We need to beef up education and protect the environment. The forbearance of the american Middle class in enduring actual declines in living standards while the few grew even Richer has been surprising. It is not inexhaustible however. Unless we Start moving Back toward fairness the next big recession could bring an explosion. Cox news service