Why governments' attempts to pick winners produce more losers than winners.





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Archive - Binary poll

Date
Type
Should the Environment Agency's executives
Never have been on a bonus scheme in the first place
79% (33 votes)
Keep their bonuses - they hit their targets
19% (8 votes)
Hand them back - they do not deserve them this year
2% (1 vote)
Total voters: 42

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Should Dave have gone to Rwanda?

David Cameron's trip to Rwanda while his constituency and much of Britain are under water is causing controversy, so we'll take the unusual step of running two polls simultaneously.

No
58% (7 votes)
Yes
42% (5 votes)
Total voters: 12

Syndicate

Should cannabis
Be legalised
59% (20 votes)
Be reclassifed as a Class B drug
29% (10 votes)
Kept as a Class C drug
12% (4 votes)
Total voters: 34

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Is the £20 marriage tax-credit
An insult to anyone who cares about broken marriages effect on society
44% (20 votes)
A good and effective promotion of marriage
31% (14 votes)
A waste of time - marriage is an old fashioned institution; societys ills rest elsewhere
24% (11 votes)
Total voters: 45

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Is Charlie

Charles Kennedy was recently caught lighting up on the 11.05 from Paddington. Despite being a smoker he voted for the ban - yet he clearly didn't understand the detail of the bill. He allegedly claimed he thought it was alright, so long as he blew the smoke out the window! Good on him, I say - let's not let them ban everything just yet!

An ignorant fool?
44% (22 votes)
A lying law breaker (allegedly!)?
34% (17 votes)
The last of the libertarians?
22% (11 votes)
Total voters: 50

Syndicate

Should the Tory party
Adopt more traditional Tory policies
33% (14 votes)
There is no saving them
28% (12 votes)
Continue its struggle to the centre ground
23% (10 votes)
Split in to two parties representing the centre and traditional right
16% (7 votes)
Total voters: 43

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Will the new Brown era be
A change for the worse
45% (22 votes)
No change - though I wish there was
41% (20 votes)
A positive change from Blair
8% (4 votes)
No change - we are heading in the right direction
6% (3 votes)
Total voters: 49

Syndicate

Is the government right to ban smoking in public places?

Is the government right to impose a smoking ban rather than let the premises owners (e.g. places of work, public houses) decide? Is this not setting a worrying precedent or should the government intervene where it sees fit?

No - they should not intervene
65% (26 votes)
Yes - it is their duty
35% (14 votes)
Total voters: 40

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Should Ruth Kelly

From August 1st, all sellers of 4 bedroom houses will need to have an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) and Home Information Pack (HIP). The hole the government digs with this scheme seems to get deeper and deeper....

Scrap HIPs and EPCs altogther
55% (21 votes)
Just scrap HIPs
26% (10 votes)
Go with implementation on August 1st as planned
18% (7 votes)
Total voters: 38

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The new logo for the 2012 olympics
If you haven't seen it, the original is here, and a couple of "variations" are here and here.
No logo would have been worth that amount of money
74% (26 votes)
Not good enough for the money
23% (8 votes)
Worth every penny of the £400,000
3% (1 vote)
Total voters: 35

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The biggest loser of the post Blair, pre-Brown era is...
NHS online recruitment system
46% (6 votes)
MP exemption from Freedom of Information
31% (4 votes)
Home Improvement Packs
15% (2 votes)
Chip and Bin / Fortnightly collections
8% (1 vote)
Total voters: 13

Syndicate

Is the solution to the railways to:
Completely privatise them with no subsidies for any lines
53% (9 votes)
Keep them the way they are
35% (6 votes)
Renationalise them
12% (2 votes)
Total voters: 17

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Should the NHS be given complete independence from political control?
No
53% (10 votes)
Yes
47% (9 votes)
Total voters: 19

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Is Boris an individualist or an interventionist?
He doesn't know
29% (2 votes)
Individualist
29% (2 votes)
Interventionist
14% (1 vote)
I don't know
0% (0 votes)
Total voters: 7

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Quotes

"Freedom, immunity of the economic life from political infection, clean principles, and peace - these are the non-materialist achievements of the pure market economy."

— Wilhelm Roepke



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