In full disclosure, I make a living as a designer in print and for the web. And a certain percentage of my clients are politically related—candidates, think tanks, etc. One client I’m very proud to have had for several years is the National Taxpayers Union. They are the watchdogs of federal spending.

Every session NTU meticulously rates every member of Congress with a letter and percentage grade based solely on fiscal issue votes with their NTU Rates Congress scorecard. This year I redesigned the NTU ratings handout with a fresh full color look that will go to every member.

One stat that may surprise Minnesotans is that Erik Paulsen is the highest rated representative in the state rating an 89%, just shy of an A rating by one point. Strong conservatives both: Michele Bachmann(87%) and John Kline(88%) follow closely behind.

The criteria is always asked about when their favorite or most disliked member of congress does not rate the way they want. To them I offer this brief synopsis from NTU ( more details here):

Every year National Taxpayers Union (NTU) rates U.S. Representatives and Senators on their actual votes--every vote that affects taxes, spending, and debt. Unlike most organizations that publish ratings, we refuse to play the "rating game" of focusing on only a handful of congressional votes on selected issues. The NTU voting study is the fairest and most accurate guide available on congressional spending. It is a completely unbiased accounting of votes.

 

NTU assigned weights to the votes, reflecting the importance of each vote's effect on federal spending.

NTU has no partisan axe to g

 rind. All members of Congress are treated the same regardless of political affiliation. Our only constituency is the overburdened American taxpayer. Grades are given impartially, based on the Taxpayer Score.

Moving on quickly down the ladder, we find Colin Petersen is out of the shame territory of all other national Minnesota Democrats, but still way below a reaspectable grade: C- 41%

All other Democrats rated solid failures:

Starting with the Senate.  NTU gave:
Al Franken     F            5%
Klobuchar      F           15%
State Average         A miserable  10%     Minnesota deserves much better.

And the House Democrats:
Ellison           F                6%
McCollum     F                6%
Oberstar       F               7%
Peterson      C-              41%
Walz             F               9%
State Average                41%

Interesting to see that with the rock stars form CD2, 3, and 6; and the rock bottom scores from CD1, 4, 5, and 8, the state averages out exactly at Colin Petersen's 41%

Some other interesting statistics from other national players can be found in this press release from NTU's Pete Sepp and Doug Kellogg. Let's just say Arizona is VERY well served:

For the eighth consecutive year, Representative Jeff Flake (R-AZ) had the best finish in the House with a 97 percent rating – adding to his record streak of the most consecutive years as NTU’s top scorer.  “Throughout his tenure in Congress, Jeff Flake has demonstrated consistent and effective leadership on behalf of taxpayers, both with his own votes and in inspiring his colleagues to work harder for fiscal discipline,” Parde observed. “Jeff has definitely lived up to NTU’s name for its number one scorer, ‘Taxpayers’ Best Friend.’”

Yet, 2010 was a year for other superlatives: the highest score NTU has ever recorded in either chamber. Senator John McCain (R-AZ) earned an incredible 99.5 percent, besting the 99 percent mark that Representative Ron Paul (R-TX) reached in 1983. Right behind McCain by a few hundredths of a percentage point was Senator Sam Brownback (R-KS), whose score likewise rounded to 99.5 percent.

On the other end of the scale, Representative Jim Clyburn (D-SC) had the absolute-lowest House score, rounding to 2 percent. Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-CA) and Gary Ackerman (D-NY) also came in at 2 percent on a rounded basis. In the Senate, Patrick Leahy (D-VT) had the rock-bottom score at 2 percent, followed by Carl Levin (D-MI), whose rounded score was also 2 percent.

The improvement in overall averages can generally be attributed to the performances of Republican lawmakers, who seemed chastened by losses dealt to them in 2008 from an electorate that was skeptical of their fiscal record. Between 2008 and 2010, House GOP Members boosted their average score by 21 percentage points; GOP Senators gained an even bigger 37-point jump in their average over those two years.

If I can close with this one note. Thank God for Chip Cravaack. With any luck, next session he will bring Minnesota's House average into the 50% area. And just maybe our Democrats will even vote for the interests of American prosperity for once.

Cross-posted at Freedom Dogs