WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Council for Citizens Against Government Waste (CCAGW) today released its 2010 Congressional Ratings, highlighting the voting records of all 535 members of Congress. The report identifies members whose stellar voting records protecting taxpayers and saving money have won them the moniker of Taxpayer Hero or Super Hero. CCAGW’s 2010 Congressional Ratings also name hundreds of members who consistently voted against the fiscal interest of taxpayers. This year is the twenty-second year that CCAGW has published its ratings.
CCAGW’s 2010 Congressional Ratings scored 46 votes in the House and 62 votes in the Senate. By comparison, in 2009, CCAGW rated 120 votes in the House and 74 votes in the Senate. The average rating for the entire House was 40 percent; a 9 percentage point increase from 2009, while the Senate averaged 42 percent, a 3 percentage point increase from 2009. Republican members in both chambers averaged a rating of 90 percent, up 9 percentage points from their 81 percent score in 2009, while Senate Democrats averaged a score of 8 percent, down 2 percentage points from 2009.
The 2010 Congressional Ratings cover the voting year 2010, the second session of the 111th Congress. CCAGW rates members on a 0 to 100 percent scale. Members are placed in the following categories: 0-19 percent Hostile; 20-39 percent Unfriendly; 40-59 percent Lukewarm; 60-79 percent Friendly; 80-99 percent Taxpayer Hero; 100 percent Taxpayer Super Hero. CCAGW’s website, www.ccagwratings.org, features the complete 2010 Congressional Ratings, including vote descriptions, scorecards for the House and Senate, and averages by chamber, party, and state delegation.
There were a total of six House “Taxpayer Super Heroes,” with a grade of 100 percent: Reps. Paul Broun (R-Ga.), Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), Tom Graves (R-Ga.), Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas), Pete Hoekstra (R-Mich.), and Sam Johnson (R-Texas). In 2010, there were 144 “Taxpayer Heroes” with a grade of 80 percent or above, 62 percent greater than the 89 in 2009. The number of House Democrats who received an abysmal rating of zero in 2010 was 30, down from a whopping 105 in 2009. That list still includes Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), Assistant Democratic Leader James Clyburn (D-S.C.), and House Ways & Means Committee Ranking Member Sander Levin (D-Mich.).
In the Senate, Sens. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) and James Risch (R-Idaho) all earned the coveted Taxpayer Super Hero status. There were a total of 35 Taxpayer Heroes, 21 percent greater than the 29 in 2009. While there were no senators with a score of zero in 2009, there were 18 Democratic senators and one Independent senator who scored zero in 2010.
“Since members achieved only four victories for taxpayers in the House and three in the Senate amidst a host of failed opportunities to cut spending and reduce the deficit, CCAGW has dubbed 2010 the ‘Year of Living Expensively,’” said CCAGW President Tom Schatz. “On behalf of taxpayers, we thank and applaud the Taxpayer Heroes and Super Heroes for their votes to cut wasteful spending, reduce taxes, and make government more accountable to taxpayers. Unfortunately, far too many members demonstrated little regard for the consequences of failing to reduce the record $1.3 trillion deficit and $14.7 trillion debt, and constituents should admonish them for their poor ratings.”
The Council for Citizens Against Government Waste is the lobbying arm of Citizens Against Government Waste, the nation’s largest nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to eliminating waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement in government.