Scoring Arlington’s Members of Congress
Arlington County taxpayers will need to vote differently if they want to be represented by Defenders of Economic Freedom. That’s certainly one observation from a review of the 2008 Congressional Scorecard, which was released yesterday by the defenders of economic freedom at the Club for Growth.
They awarded 53 members of Congress with the Defender of Freedom award because they “scored 90 or above on the Club’s scorecard.” According to Club for Growth president Chris Chocola:
"A lot of members of Congress talk about fiscal responsibility and limited-government, but many of them fail to live up their campaign promises. The Club for Growth scorecard allows taxpayers to see how their senators and representatives are performing in Congress and find out who is truly fighting for pro-growth, limited-government policies. It allows taxpayers to hold these congressmen accountable."
According to the Club for Growth, “The ratings are based on a comprehensive examination of votes in the House and Senate pertaining to key economic issues, including taxes, wasteful spending, entitlement reform, free trade, and regulation. Each lawmaker is given an economic growth score ranging from 0 to 100, with a score of 100 indicating the highest support for pro-growth policies."
Arlington County taxpayers’ representatives in Congress in 2008 did not score very high. In the Senate, now retired Sen. John Warner (R) scored 31% and ranked #47 while Sen. Jim Webb (D) scored 3% and ranked #84. In the House of Representatives, Rep. Jim Moran (D) scored 8% and ranked #263 out of 435 members of the House.
According to some number-crunching by Andy Roth:
“Republicans are still the party that respects economic liberty the most. This is evidenced by the fact that most Republicans occupy the top half of the Club's scorecard while Democrats occupy the bottom half. But the really interesting part of the scorecard is where members of both parties mingle together in the middle.”
For example, the lowest scoring GOP senators ranged from 48% (Sen. Elizabeth Dole, NC) to 12% (Sen. Olympia Snowe, ME) while the top scoring Democrat senators ranged from 33% (Sen. Mary Landrieu, LA) to 15% (Sen. Claire McCaskill). In the House of Representatives, the same pattern emerged where the lowest scoring GOP members’ scores ranged from 32% (Rep. T. Murphy, PA) to 18% (Rep. Gilchrest, MD) while the top rated Democrat members’ scores ranged from 46% (Rep. Lampson, TX) to 21% (Rep. McIntyre, NC).
After crunching the numbers, Andy wonders:
“Did you figure it out? The uniting factor among all 40 of these "moderate" lawmakers is that they have failing grades. By any reasonable interpretation of the scores, they are not supportive of economic liberty. So when you hear someone praise a lawmaker for being a "centrist" or a "moderate", think twice before assigning them any real merit on economic issues.”
For more information about the Scorecard’s methodology and previous Scorecards, check here.