All 6 Democrats on Deficit-Reduction Panel Earned 'F's From Taxpayers’ Union

[Geee]

CNSnews:

(CNSNews.com) - All six Democrats that have been assigned to the special joint congressional committee that will recommend means for cutting the nation’s anticipated spending by $1.5 trillion over the next ten years compiled voting records last year that earned them grades of “F” from the National Taxpayers Union (NTU).

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) announced today that she has assigned Assistant Democratic Leader James E. Clyburn (S.C.), Democratic Caucus Vice Chairman Xavier Becerra (Calif.) and Budget Committee Ranking Member Chris Van Hollen (Md.) to serve on the panel. Previously, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid had named Sen. Patty Murray (Wash.), Sen. John Kerry (Mass.) and Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus (Mont.) to serve on the committee.

None of these Democrats had voting records that scored even as high as 10 percent in the NTU’s annual rating of Congress for last year. Among the six, Rep. Clyburn earned the lowest score of 2 percent and Sen. Baucus earned the highest score of 9 percent. Rep. Van Hollen earned a score of 4 percent and Rep. Becerra and Senators Murray and Kerry earned scores of 6 percent.

In NTU's rating system, all members of Congress who score below 20 percent for their voting record are given a grade of “F” and named a “Big Spender.”

Members who score 90 percent or higher are given a grade of “A” and named a Taxpayers’ Friend.

Of the 3 Republicans named to the special joint committee by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.), two—Senators Pat Toomey (Pa.) and Rob Portman (Ohio)—were not in Congress last year so they did not get an NTU rating for 2010. The third McConnell appointee, Sen. Jon Kyl (Ariz.), earned an “A” with a score of 97 percent and was named a “Taxpayers’ Friend.”