TheMiddleClass.org 2007 Congressional Scorecard
Chuck Sheketoff
Since 2003, the non-partisan Drum Major Institute for Public Policy (DMI) has issued annual scorecards analyzing the impact of domestic legislation on America’s current and aspiring middle class and evaluating members of Congress based on their votes.
According to DMI, the 2007 scorecard "grades members of Congress based on their votes on ten pieces of legislation in the House and ten in the Senate that would have the most significant impact on the squeezed middle class and the aspirations of low-income Americans who want to join the middle class. Of the ten House votes considered, the middle-class position prevailed nine times: the harmful Peru trade bill was the only exception. In the Senate, however, the ability of a minority of Senators to filibuster pro-middle-class legislation took its toll. The middle-class position prevailed just four out of ten times, although some of the Senate’s damage was undone through subsequent or amended legislation."
Recognizing that once a year isn’t often enough to hold members accountable, DMI created themiddleclass.org, a dynamic site that is updated throughout the year as members of Congress vote on legislation of significance to the current and aspiring middle class. So you will see votes to date in 2008, as well.
Here's how Oregon's delegation is scored in 2007:
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Mar 14, '08
So if the Peru trade bill was so harmful, and was the only time that the middle-class position did not prevail, why is it that Oregon representatives who voted wrong on this got grades of A? Seems to me that the Peru vote was pretty critical, and a real test of legislators' allegiance to big business vs. the middle class. I would have dropped Blumenaeur's grade to a B or less. We should expect much more of him.
Mar 14, '08
I figured Smith would be worse than Walden. Smith got over twice the score of Walden? 83%? Really??
If this is true, then Smith is going to win by double digit difference against either Novick or Merkley. Especially since the DPO is fighting like cats and dogs over the two. Oh, well....
8:08 p.m.
Mar 14, '08
Smurf-
I was confused by this too at first until I took another look. Smith's 2007 grade of "D" is the notable score (as opposed to Wyden's "A", and even worse than Walden's "C").
The 2008 score is less important because we are only 3 months into the year, and presumably there will be many more bills in the coming months that will factor into his final grade. I'm sure we will see that score steadily drop over the course of the year.
Mar 15, '08
Plus, it's an election year, so we can expect to see Sen. Smith make his customary -- temporary -- move toward the middle. Remember, once every six years, he's a moderate.