#17 - Politician: Some of my opponents have argued on theoretical grounds in favor of reducing

[Administrator]

Complete Question Explanation

Flaw in the Reasoning. The correct answer choice is (A).

Answer choice (A): This is the correct answer choice.

Answer choice (B):

Answer choice (C):

Answer choice (D):

Answer choice (E):

This explanation is still in progress. Please post any questions below!

[teezoTD]

I understand why A is right but while taking the test I couldn't rule out why C was wrong. Is it because by saying "main cause" the politician is implying that he believes there's more than one cause, and therefore C couldn't be right?

I may have been reading too fast and mistaken main cause to mean only cause. Please let me know if this is the right logic.

[Jeff Wren]

Hi teezo,

That's right!

The politician is not assuming that there is only one cause for deficit spending.

The politician is basically saying that, since the main cause of the deficit spending is the bloat (or excessive number) of bureaucrats and self-aggrandizing politicians, there is no reason to reduce social spending.

The problem with this argument is that, even if the main cause of the deficit spending is the number of bureaucrats and politicians, there could still be valid reasons for reducing social spending.

In other words, two things can be true at once. They may be spending too much on social spending even if it is not the largest part of the budget.