Since governor Wilson is a member of the Liberal Party

Question

Since governor Wilson is a member of the Liberal Party which endorses higher aid to other countries for social programs, he will surely raise taxes.

The argument above depends on which of the following Assumptions ?

A. Elected Officials always enact policies endorsed by their parties.

B. Unlike the conservatives, the liberals spend more on foreign aid.

C. The only way to increase foreign aid for social programs is to raise taxes.

D. The liberal party has a majority in the legislature.

E. An increase in foreign aid always leads to an increase in taxes.

pa1deep91 · Accepted Answer

IMO C.

C is smooth.

E is a trap because '  foreign aid for social programs  ' is being discussed here, but not '  foreign aid  ' as a whole.

surendrasaini1 · Answer

Since governor Wilson is a member of the Liberal Party which endorses higher aid to other countries for social programs, he will surely raise taxes.

The argument above depends on which of the following Assumptions ?
Given : Governor Wilson is member of the liberal party which endorses higher aid for social programs in other countries.
Conclusion : Governor Wilson will surely raise taxes.

Pre thinking : is raising the taxes the only solution to fund the social programs in other countries?

A.) Elected Officials always enact policies endorsed by their parties.( True but how would the elected officials fund the program?)

B.) Unlike the conservatives, the liberals spend more on foreign aid.( Can't be assumed)

C.) The only way to increase foreign aid for social programs is to raise taxes.( Correct goes with our pre thinking)

D.) The liberal party has a majority in the legislature.( If Liberal party has majority in the legislature then it will become easier to pass any bill, resolution etc, but how would he fund the program is important)

E.) An increase in foreign aid always leads to an increase in taxes.( We can't assume)

Will go with choice C

Thanks

gmat1393 · Answer

Pre-thinking
What is the falsification condition here?

In what scenario Governor wont raise taxes.
given that governor endorses higher aid to other countries for social programs

Falsification condition : Taxes wont be utilized in any manner to help foreign countries.

Assumption: The taxes will be used to provide help aid for foreign countries.

Option C matches this and is the correct answer.

sony1000 · Answer

I agree with pa1deep91, E which is a strong contender to C does not mention foreign aid for social programs, only refers to foreign aid in general.

dcummins · Answer

E is definitely a trap.

E is the opposite effect- TAXES increase foreign aid, not the other way around, so E definitely isn't assumed.

The assumption needs to support the argument that TAXES WILL 100% be INCREASED.

Why? 
Liberal party supports foreign aid

So? Can't they get money elsewhere?
No --> (C) The only way to increase foreign aid for social programs is to raise taxes

egmat227 · Answer

Since governor Wilson is a member of the Liberal Party which endorses higher aid to other countries for social programs, he will surely raise taxes.

The argument above depends on which of the following Assumptions ?
Prethink: This question will help if we prethink. Wilson-> Liberal Party(endorses high)er aid ->will raise Tax.
After we read this, first thought comes is, is raising tax the only way here? Now this thought is important to eliminate few answers(A)

A.) Elected Officials always enact policies endorsed by their parties.
-> Negate it: officials do not always act, does this break the argument? Not so much.

B.) Unlike the conservatives, the liberals spend more on foreign aid.
-> Irrelevant what other party does

C.) The only way to increase foreign aid for social programs is to raise taxes.
-> Exactly what we thought while reading argument. Negate it, raising taxes are not the only way, then Wilson will be able to help others and will not be raising taxes

D.) The liberal party has a majority in the legislature.
->Irrelevant to argument

E.) An increase in foreign aid always leads to an increase in taxes. 
->Trap. Foreign aid for social program in question not just Foreign aid. Also negating it -> Foreign aid not always ...-> if that's the case the argument still stands as sometime taxes might increase(not always)

SwethaReddyL · Answer

Hi  Bunuel  &  GMATNinja 
could you please give your views on why 'A' is wrong

djangobackend · Answer

A is about that wilson will also enact policies as other liberals but that's given only. since he is a member of the party and if party does that then probably he will also do that but we do not have to analyse this aspect i.e., we do not need to question or analyse whether he will endorse or not. we need to work on why higher aid will SURELY lead to increased taxes which C covers.

E - negation - in some cases this doesn't happen still it weakens but very mildly while C just demolishes the argument when negated.

agrasan · Answer

Hi  KarishmaB   MartyMurray

E. An increase in foreign aid always leads to an increase in taxes.

Can we eliminate (E) with the logic that it is giving us reverse relationship i.e.,  increase in foreign aid --> increase in taxes  whereas the argument says  increase in   taxes --> increase in foreign aid  ?

KarishmaB · Answer

(C) and (E) are saying the exact same thing except for the sneaky "for social programs" missing in (E).

MartyMurray · Answer

Actually, the argument suggests that governor Wilson's support for "higher aid to other countries for social programs" means that taxes will be increased. So, it suggests basically the following:

foreign aid for social programs --> increase in taxes.

So, (E) goes in the same direction as the argument.

The reason (E) is incorrect is that it's too broad.

The argument doesn't assume that "An increase in foreign aid  always  leads to an increase in taxes."

Rather, it assume something more specific, which is that, as (C) basically says, increased foreign aid  for social programs  leads to an increase in taxes.

Since governor Wilson is a member of the Liberal Party

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Since governor Wilson is a member of the Liberal Party

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