(Washington, D.C.) – The Council for Citizens Against Government Waste (CCAGW) this week released its 2001 Congressional Ratings examining key votes in Congress to determine which members are for the waste status quo, and which are fighting for taxpayers.                                                                         

CCAGW rated 27 votes in the House and 20 votes in the Senate.  Votes on the estate tax, marriage tax, capital gains tax, the $1.35 trillion Bush tax cut, and on whether to implement a Constitutional Amendment to require a 2/3 majority to raise taxes were included.                 

Other votes determined how members feel about enabling the nation and individuals to be more independent.  For example, drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge would enable the United States to be less dependent on Middle Eastern oil.  Allowing families to move their children out of dysfunctional public schools would improve educational opportunities and reduce federal expenditures.  Lifting restrictions on medical savings accounts would allow individuals and families to be discerning consumers and participate in a true healthcare insurance market.

Finally, there are several votes that show who truly supports “freedom to farm” and who would rather have huge government subsidies that raise costs for everyone, especially taxpayers and the consumers.                       

In 2001, there was only one “Taxpayer Superhero” in the Senate, John Ensign (R-Nev.) with a 100 percent rating.  The House did a little better.  In that body, there were four Superheroes.  They were Steve Chabot (R-Ohio), Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.), John Shadegg (R-Ariz.) and Pat Toomey (R-Pa.).

And who were the knaves, those who scored a big goose egg in CCAGW’s ratings?  In the Senate there were four:  Sens. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.), Kent Conrad (D-N.D.), Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) and Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.).  In the House, there were eight representatives who scored zeros: Reps. Patrick Kennedy (D-R.I.), Steven Lynch          (D-Mass.), Patsy Mink (D-Hawaii), John Olver (D-Mass.), Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-Calif.), Diane Watson (D-Calif.), Robert Wexler (D-Fla.) and Lynn Woolsey (D-Calif.).                            

CCAGW also recognized Taxpayer Heroes, those who score 80 to 99 percent.  In the Senate there were 22 – all Republicans, while the House had 78, also all Republicans.  The highest scoring Democrat in the Senate was Georgia’s Zell Miller with 50 percent, while the highest in the House was Texan Ralph Hall with 78 percent.

Overall, the average score for Republicans in the House was 76 percent.  Democrats scored 18 percent.  In the Senate, Republicans scored an average of 77 percent and Democrats were at 15 percent.  In the Senate, Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) scored 5 percent, while his counterpart Minority Leader Trent Lott (R-Miss.), had a score of 80 percent.  In the House, Speaker Hastert scored 100 percent, while Minority Leader Dick Gephardt (D-Mo.) scored 7 percent.

CCAGW  congratulates all of our elected leaders who scored 80 percent or more.   Taxpayers who are unhappy with their representative’s or senators’ score should tell them to do better.  For more on the ratings, go to: http://www.cagw.org.           

The Council for Citizens Against Government Waste is the lobbying arm of Citizens Against Government Waste, the nation's largest (one million members and supporters) nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to eliminating waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement in government.