A NEW TOY-- MEASURING WHO'S THE WORST AND WHO'S THE BEST IN CONGRESS

Sometimes it goes beyond just voting, of course. I mean Joe Lieberman votes with the far right and with corporate interests an awful lot-- but not as frequently as Ben Nelson or Mary Landrieu. So why is he so much worse than they are? Well, they lay low and rarely slam Democratic ideals and values and don't overtly plot with Republicans. Lieberman (who would lose a re-match with Ned Lamont if it were held today) can never run to Fox fast enough so that he can get his mug on TV denouncing Democrats and spewing GOP talking points. He lives to give Bush the false cover of "bipartisanship." But, over all, the best way we have to judge is by how someone votes. I was angry with the NY Times last week because they were insinuating Lamar Alexander is a moderate on Iraq because he sometimes whispers hints that he might oppose Bush; but his voting record is clear: he never does. Never; he's a classic rubber stamp.

Anyway, I was looking at Congressional Quarterly today and I came across a chart that looks at how frequently members of Congress have rubber stamped Bush's policies. I thought it might be fun to list the dozen worst rubber stamps and the dozen members least likely to back Bush-- in each party.

First the Republicans. The Republicans most likely to toe the line are:
Patrick McHenry (NC), the Ernst Röhm of the Republican Party- 97%
Doug Lamborn (CO)- 97%
John Boehner (OH)- 96% (down from 100% in 2004)
John Campbell (CA)- 96%
Trent Franks (AZ)- 96%
John Shadegg (AZ)- 96%
Mike Pence (IN)- 95%
Jim Jordan (OH)- 95%
Jeb Hensarling (TX)- 95%
Marsha Blackburn (TN)- 95%
Joe Pitts (PA)- 95%
Nathan Deal (GA)- 95%

The few Republicans who occasionally stand up to Bush, although rarely:
Wayne Gilchrest (MD)- 14%
Christopher Shays (CT)- 32%
Jo Ann Davis (VA)- 33% (down from 87% in 2004 when she noticed which way the wind was blowing in her district)
Michael N. Castle (DE)- 34%
Mark Kirk (IL)- 39% (down from 80% last year, when he was less frightened about voter anger)
Frank LoBiondo (NJ)- 43%
Walter Jones (NC)- 44%
Christopher Smith (NJ)- 44%
Timothy Johnson (IL)- 45%
Jo Ann Emerson (MO)- 45%
James Walsh (NY)- 45%
Mike Ferguson (NJ)- 47%

And now the Democrats. Half a dozen can boast to have never supported the Bush agenda, not even once:
Nancy Pelosi (CA)- 0
Danny K. Davis (IL)- 0
Julia Carson (IN)- 0
Tom Allen (ME)- 0 (You see why we're so excited to get him into the Senate?)
Peter A. DeFazio (OR)- 0
Darlene Hooley (OR)- 0

Then there were dozens who voted with Bush 1% of the time. Here's a list of the freshmen who did:
Keith Ellison (MN)- 1
John Hall (NY)- 1
Dave Loebsack (IA)- 1
Steve Kagen (WI)- 1
John Yarmuth (KY)- 1
Joe Courtney (CT)- 1
Hank Johnson (GA)- 1

And the Democrats most likely to have voted with the Republicans in rubber stamping Bush's proposals? Here are the worst of the lot:

Dan Boren (OK)- 38% (supports Bush more than several Republicans)
Jim Marshall (GA)- 37%
Gene Taylor (MS)- 33%
Charlie Melancon (LA)- 27%
Mike McIntyre (NC)- 26%
Lincoln Davis (TN)- 25%
Joe Donnelly (IN)- 24%
Heath Shuler (NC)- 24%
John Barrow (GA)- 22%
Brad Ellsworth (IN)- 22%
Nick Lampson (TX)- 21%
Jim Matheson (UT)- 21%

And I'll end this with 5 freshmen well on their way to making a name for themselves as the most reactionary members of the caucus:

Jason Altmire (PA)- 18%
Christopher Carney (PA)- 17%
Charlie Wilson (OH)- 14%
Tim Mahoney (FL)- 13%
Zack Space (OH)- 13%