Candidate for governor: The outgoing governor and his administration

Question

Candidate for governor: The outgoing governor and his administration have made a mess of our state’s tax laws. Although they have offered necessary tax cuts to small business, they have so complicated and increased personal income taxes that it is almost better financially to be unemployed than to own a business.

Incumbent governor: On the contrary, the changes to the tax code my administration and I have made have undoubtedly brought new business to our state, thereby increasing overall prosperity. In fact, last year alone three major new manufacturing plants began operations.

The incumbent governor’s response to the candidate’s criticism is flawed because it .

A. assumes that new manufacturing plants will contribute significantly to revenues in the state.
b. does not assign a dollar amount to the relationship between tax incentives and the attraction of new business.
C. fails to address the candidate’s concern about the tax burden placed on the individual.
D. denies the candidate’s accusation without providing evidence for an alternative conclusion.
E. perpetuates the unfounded assumption that the state will prosper if new business is encouraged.

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OA is C
I understand why C is correct.
But what is wrong with D? Do the words On the contrary (underlined in the argument above) not indicate that candidate's accusation is denied? And evidence for alternative conclusion would deal with personal taxes on individuals . does this not make D acceptable too?

Please provide explanation, not just an answer choice. OA has been mentioned already

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Official Answer

C

arzad · Answer

I picked C because:
The candidate for governor talked about 2 issues:
1-Previous administration provided tax cuts for small business
2-Personal income tax laws are a mess
And the incumbent governor only addressed point No.1 and provided evidence that the tax cuts for small business worked.

nikhilsamuel89 · Answer

IMO D is incorrect because, Although the present governor denies the other candidate's accusation, he still does provide evidence for an alternate conclusion by saying that "I have made have undoubtedly brought new business to our state, thereby increasing overall prosperity. In fact, last year alone three major new manufacturing plants began operations."

D. denies the candidate’s accusation without providing evidence for an alternative conclusion.

D. denies the candidate’s accusation without providing evidence for an alternative conclusion.

saikarthikreddy · Answer

I choose C.
It cannot be D because the incumbent governor provides an evidence for an alternative conclusion by saying that his policies have attracted new businesses etc..

sagarsangani123 · Answer

Candidate for governor: The outgoing governor and his administration have made a mess of our state’s tax laws. Although they have offered necessary tax cuts to small business, they have so complicated and increased personal income taxes that it is almost better financially to be unemployed than to own a business. 
Incumbent governor: On the contrary, the changes to the tax code my administration and I have made have undoubtedly brought new business to our state, thereby increasing overall prosperity. In fact, last year alone three major new manufacturing plants began operations.

The incumbent governor’s response to the candidate’s criticism is flawed because it:

Narrowing down to C) and D) seems to be a not-so-difficult task, since other answer choices do not cater to the question asked.
Between C) and D):

C. fails to address the candidate’s concern about the tax burden placed on the individual - The candidate for governor does mention two problems: tax cuts to small business &  complicated & increased personal income tax . The incumbent governor just focuses on the business aspect of the problems stated by the candidate and does not pay attention to the increased personal tax that, in fact, makes the candidate conclude that  'it is almost better financially to be unemployed than to own a business'

D. denies the candidate’s accusation without providing evidence for an alternative conclusion - Does the incumbent governor deny? No. Had the governor denied the candidate's accusation, the governor would have stated so using language of denial. For example, 'You are not correct in your accusation about changes in tax code causing the problems you describe. On the contrary.....'

Thus (C) wins!

bhalashreya · Answer

Hey,
i didnot understand why is E not the ans. E is something which only the incumbent governor is saying. Its not said by the candidate for governor, so is it not showing the flaw which is present in incumber governor's statement - that it is supporting an unfounded assumption (an assumption that was baseless and not supported by candidate governor argument)?
Also the candidate governor is saying that its better to be unemployed than to own a business because of the complex laws, whereas incumbent governor is saying that owning buisness is not a problem since 3 new business came in which, as per him, is evidence of good tax law; he is undermining the fact that the complexity of tax law might have messed with more business (hence candidate governor's claim) than have helped (only 3 small business).
So that should be the point of flaw or point of difference

Candidate for governor: The outgoing governor and his administration

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Candidate for governor: The outgoing governor and his administration

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