Straw Man Fallacy, english assignment help

Thinking Skills: The Straw Man Fallacy

Assignment
Having viewed the presentation, can you see what is wrong with the President’s responses? Write a brief analysis of his responses to each of the reporter’s questions.

Read the following fictional transcript of a fictional President’s press conference. Can you spot the fallacies in the President’s responses to the questions he is asked?

Reporter 1: Mr. President, many people are calling for a re-evaluation of our policies regarding Nova Zembla. They say that continuing with our policy is making matters much worse, and they say that if we do not change our course of action very soon, we could be creating a true catastrophe. Are you considering any changes in policy as a result of this?

President: I know there are people who want me to just go out and abandon the good people of Nova Zembla, leave them to fend for themselves without our help. I’m not going to do that. I’m not going to leave those poor people all alone to struggle against the forces of tyranny and oppression. That to me is the way of the coward, and I know the American people will not stand for cowardice. Next question.

Reporter 2: Your new tax plan is meeting with opposition from many of the top economists in the nation. They claim it will not be effective and will bring more harm than good. They say it brings new wealth to a handful of people while greatly increasing the deficit. How do you respond to that?

President: I have listened to the concerns of these economists, and I have considered them carefully. Let’s take the views of Dr. X. Streamist. Dr. Streamist wants to raise taxes on just about everyone in the nation, both the wealthy and the poor, in order to fund social programs. With all due respect to Dr. Streamist, but his views are the essence of socialism, and his beliefs have very little support among his fellow economists. So, yes, there are concerns, but I don’t believe they are valid, and I believe they will take America in the wrong direction. Next question.

Reporter 3: The American Senior Citizen Council has criticized your health care plan for the elderly. Can you explain how your policies can help the elderly?

President: I like to get out and meet the public whenever I can. I recently spoke with an elderly gentleman who told me that I ought to order the drug companies to sell their drugs to senior citizens at half the price it costs them to manufacture them. Now, I have great respect for our elder citizens, and I feel the pain that the high cost of prescription drugs has made for them, but a policy like that simply cannot work, and it reflects a lack of understanding of basic economics. We cannot ask a business to go into bankruptcy or to raise the price of drugs for the rest of the population to a level that they cannot possibly afford. It is simply not sound fiscal policy, and I cannot allow that to happen.