- Washington, D.C. — According to the widely-anticipated annual Rating of Congress released today by the non-partisan National Taxpayers Union (NTU), the average lawmaker still voted less than half the time to reduce or control the federal burden on taxpayers.
During 2004, 59 lawmakers attained Taxpayer Scores sufficient for a grade of "A" (78 percent in the Senate and 74 percent in the House), and hence were eligible for the "Taxpayers' Friend Award" -- a major improvement over the 29 who earned top grades in 2003. However, the trend worsened on the other end of the scale -- 230 Senators and Representatives captured the title of "Big Spender" for posting "F" grades in 2004 (versus 185 the year before). For 2004, the "F" threshold in both chambers was a score of 19 percent or lower.
Among the recipients this year was Congressman Jeff Miller (R-Fl-01), who ranked number 10 out 435 Members of Congress, based on his support of responsible tax and spending policies. Miller also ranked number 1 among the 25 Florida Members of Congress.
Unlike those of other organizations, NTU's annual Rating does not simplistically focus on only a handful of equally-weighted "key votes." For this reason, it has received praise from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, including former Senator (and "Golden Fleece Award" creator) William Proxmire (D-WI). The Rating is based on every roll call vote affecting fiscal policy (182 House and 93 Senate votes for 2004), and assigns a "Taxpayer Score" to each Member of Congress that indicates his or her commitment to reducing or controlling federal spending, taxes, debt, and regulation.
The 350,000-member NTU is a non-partisan citizen organization working for lower taxes, less wasteful spending, and accountable government at all levels.
Note: The 2004 Rating, along with a searchable Rating database from the years 1992-2004, are both available online at www.ntu.org.
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