Yesterday the Club for Growth released its 2012 Congressional Scorecard, which ranks the voting behavior of members of Congress based on issues relating to limited government and economic growth. As I have said in prior years, I commend every FlashReport reader to look at this scorecard as a key indicator of how their Member of Congress is voting on Capitol Hill.  It’s important that you take the time to review this because there are a lot of Republicans in Congress who talk a good game, but when it comes to casting the key, tough votes — well, you’d be surprised to see who is and who is not.  Oh yes, the Club for Growth, both by direct giving, and by helping to connect up its members with pro-growth candidates, is responsible for millions upon millions of dollars going to great candidates endorsed by the Club.

“2012 was a difficult year for economic freedom,” said Club for Growth President Chris Chocola. “Whether it was the GOP’s support of massive tax increases or the constant assault on liberty by the Obama administration, the pro-growth caucus in Congress has a lot of work to do in 2013. The Club’s scorecard is intended to help our members and the general public understand who talks a good game on limiting government and passing pro-growth policies, and who backs up their words with votes. We urge the next generation of conservative leaders to keep up the fight in the 113^thCongress.”

Highlights Nationally from the Club for Growth’s 2012 Congressional Scorecard:

— Three United States Senators received perfect scores in 2012: Jim DeMint (SC), Rand Paul (KY), and Mike Lee (UT) – all of whom also qualify for the Defender of Economic Freedom Award.
— Senators Pat Toomey (PA), Marco Rubio (FL), and Ron Johnson (WI) had 2012 scores and LifeScores high enough to qualify for the Defender of Economic Freedom Award.
— Two current United States Senators will receive Defender of Economic Freedom Awards for their voting record in the U.S. House of Representatives in 2012: Senators Jeff Flake (AZ) and Tim Scott (SC).
— 18 current House members who received scores of 90 percent or better in 2012 also had LifeScores of 90 or better to qualify for the Defender of Economic Freedom Award. Two former House members qualified as well (Quayle, Walsh).
— Three members of Congress received 100 percent ratings in 2012. Of those, two also have 100 percent LifeScores: Congressmen Justin Amash (MI-03), and Tim Huelskamp (KS-01). In addition, Congressman Paul Broun (GA-10) received a 100 percent rating in 2012 and has a LifeScore of 99%.
— One Senate Democrat scored zero in 2012: Senator Jay Rockefeller (WV). 13 House Democrats scored lower than ten percent.
— Republican Leadership scores in 2012 were: Boehner: N/A, Cantor: 66%, McCarthy: 66%, McMorris Rodgers: 70%, Lankford: 80%, Ryan: 71%
— Democratic leadership scores in 2012 were: Pelosi: 17%, Hoyer: 17%, Clyburn: 18%, Becerra: 18%, Van Hollen: 17%.

Below you can see the Club for Growth Scorecard ratings and rankings for California’s Senators and Members of Congress.  You can see the entire scorecard online here, which includes detailed information on what votes were used to score the card.

Some general observations:

–  Needless to say California’s two very liberal U.S. Senators scored very poorly, at 10% and 5% for Feinstein and Boxer, respectively.
–  The Republicans who scored the highest – Tom McClintock, John Campbell, Dana Rohrabacher, Wally Herger and Ed Royce.
–  Only Tom McClintock scored high enough to garner the Club’s Defense of Economic Freedom Award for 2012.
–  The Republicans who scored the lowest – Ken Calvert, Elton Gallegly, and Brian Bilbray.
–  The Democrats who scored the highest (understand this is relative) – Jim Costa and Jerry McNerney.
–  The Democrats who scored the lowest – Dennis Cardoza, Grace Napolitano, Joe Baca and Bob Filner.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 26th, 2013 at 11:28 pm and is filed under Blog Posts.