Revisiting Democratic Voting Records 6 Months Into The Term

There are only 5 freshmen with perfect voting records-- here are 3 of them

In March we decided to take a first look at how the new House members were getting started in the voting department. At the time, 24 freshmen still had 100% perfect scores-- and only 23 had "F" ratings. Today 11 freshmen are still graded "A" and just 5 have perfect scores and-- tragically-- there are now 42 with "F"s-- 42!

Thursday, just before they went home, the House voted on HR 582, Bobby Scott's Raise the Wage Act, which would-- if McConnell allowed it to be voted on it the Senate and Trump signed it-- gradually raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour. McConnell won't and Trump will never have to decide whether or not to-- but the House vote is valuable for our purposes. It was the last voted included in the scores and ratings we're about to look over. The Republicans tried killing the bill with a Motion to Recommit, which was barely defeated, 218-210 How did that happened! Easy! 14 Democrats voted with the Republican zombies to kill the bill. These were the 14, basically, all Blue Dogs and New Dems from the Republican wing of the Democratic Party:

• Anthony Brindisi (Blue Dog-NY)
• Henry Cuellar (Blue Dog-TX)
• Joe Cunningham (Blue Dog-SC)
• Sharice Davids (New Dem-KS)
• Josh Gottheimer (Blue Dog-NJ)
• Alcee Hastings (Corrupt-FL)
• Kendra Horn (Blue Dog-OK)
• Ben McAdams (Blue Dog-UT)
• Collin Peterson (Blue Dog-MN)
• Kurt Schrader (Blue Dog-OR)
• Elisse Slotkin (New Dem-MI)
• Abigail Spanberger (Blue Dog-VA)
• Jefferson Van Drew (Blue Dog-NJ)
• Susan Wild (New Dem-PA)

Add to that Xochitl Torres Small (Blue Dog-NM) who then voted against the bill itself and you have a good list of garbage Democrats. Except for Alcee Hastings, who is graded "B" by ProgressivePunch, everyone else who voted so badly on Thursday earned an "F" since January. None of them had "A" grades in March but most of them have gone down, down, down since then.

First off, the 24 freshmen with perfect scores have now, as I said above, been whittled down to just 5:

• Andy Levin (D-MI) D+4
• Joe Neguse (D-CO) D+9
• AOC (D-NY) D+29
• Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) D+33
• Ayanna Pressley (D-MA) D+34

Michigan wins! Actually... Andy Levin wins, in one way. He may not be as famous as members of The Squad but he's the only freshman-- the only member of Congress in fact-- with a perfect score who represents as difficult a district electorally. The five above are arranged from least blue to most blue districts (according to PVI scores). There are also 11 non-freshmen members with perfect 100% scores so far this cycle, also listed here from less blue to most blue districts:

• Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR) D+9
• Alan Lowenthal (D-CA) D+13
• Grace Meng (D-NY) D+16
• Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) D+18
• Mark Pocan (D-WI) D+18
• Mark DeSaulnier (D-CA) D+21
• Sheila Jackson-Lee (D-TX) D+27
• Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) D+33
• Yvette Clarke (D-NY) D+34
• Nanette Barragán (D-CA) D+35
• Barbara Lee (D-CA) D+40

Technically one anti-progressive is on this list too, Nancy Pelosi. But as Speaker, she cherry-picks the votes she wants to take and skips any tough vote she wants to, making her score is completely meaningless. So what about the worst Democrats this cycle-- what you would call the Democraps, the Republican wing of the Democratic Party? Ladies and gentlemen... the garbage of the cycle, so far, starting with 3 freshmen tied for last place-- a total of the 15 worst Democrats in Congress, each voting less than half the time for progressive initiatives (with raw scores... and arranged from reddest to least red district):

• Ben McAdams (Blue Dog-UT)- 30.0% R+13
• Collin Peterson (Blue Dog-MN)- 35.0% R+12
• Joe Cunningham (Blue Dog-SC)- 20.0% R+10
• Kendra Horn (Blue Dog-OK)- 30% R+10
• Xochitl Torres Small (Blue Dog-NM)- 37.5% R+6
• Abigail Spanberger (Blue Dog-VA)- 37.5% R+6
• Anthony Brindisi (Blue Dog-NY)- 20.0% R+6
• Elaine Luria (New Dem-VA)- 35.0% R+3
• Conor Lamb (D-PA)- 40.0% R+3
• Josh Gottheimer (Blue Dog-NJ)- 25.0% R+3
• Elissa Slotkin (New Dem-MI)- 42.5% R+4
• Jared Golden (D-ME)- 32.5% R+2
• Angie Craig (New Dem-MN)- 42.5 R+2
• Jefferson Van Drew (Blue Dog-NJ)- 20.0% R+1
• Cindy Axne (New Dem-IA)- 37.5% R+1

No one "decides" on ratings. It's done by a ProgressivePunch algorithm which uses the votes of a panel of 33 proven progressives to come up with progressive scores by taking ANY VOTE in which a majority of those 33 members voted in opposition to a majority of the Republican caucus; that vote then qualifies for the database. Now that Democrats have taken back control of the House, ProgressivePunch classifies as Crucial any vote in which the progressive side was on the losing side, in addition to all close votes as defined above. "Crucial" votes are votes in which there was strong progressive cohesion and at the same time a significant defection on the part of more conservative Democrats to the Republicans. It's important to remember that raw scores aren't the be-all and end-all to judging a member. The scores do not take into account anything other than votes. It doesn't matter, for example, that Pramila Jayapal wrote and introduced the new Medicare For All Act or that some people co-sponsored it and others didn't. Nor are examples of leadership, courageousness, Twitter abilities or any other non-vote factors part of the scores. Let's take Katie Porter. Her crucial vote score is pretty awful but her spectacular work on the House Financial Services Committee means way more than that in the real world. On top of that, she's in a Republican-leaning district-- PVI is R+3-- and is a top 5 NRCC target for 2020 and still came out for impeachment while dozens of members in safe blue districts still haven't. So... don't over-emphasize the scores out of context. Meanwhile, though, people often ask me if I advocate wiping out the Blue Dogs. The answer is yes-- AND, see that thermometer above... that will take you to a list of vetted progressives-- not better of two evils candidates-- who are running against genuinely terrible conservative Democrats in primary races. Please consider contributing.

VoteThemOut2014.net Has A Scorecard

Vote Them Out is decidedly nonpartisan. They claim to have only one goal: "to vote Congress out in 2014. Hold both sides accountable," they write, "and let's get this country back on course." They offer a voting record that emphasizes half a dozen House votes, although two of those votes were in 2008 before many current members of Congress had been elected. Those are their 6 votes and their description of each:

• Amash-Conyers Amendment- end funding for NSA to monitor and store phone calls of U.S. citizens (2013)

• To gradually increase minimum wage to $10.10 per hour by 2016 (2013)

• NDAA- indefinite detention without trial (2008)

• Monsanto Protection Act (2013)

• Vote to raise student loan rates from 3.4%

• Bank Bailout (TARP)- $700 billion tax funds to banks (2008)

Only 13 Members of Congress had perfect scores, although if you don't penalize current Members for not having been in the House in 2008, that rises to 29. These are the 29 Members who probably shouldn't be voted out by followers of this group's scorecard:

Karen Bass (D-CA)
Xavier Becerra (D-CA)
Bruce Braley (D-IA)
Tony Cardenas (D-CA)
Matt Cartwright (D-PA)
Judy Chu (D-CA)
John Conyers (D-MI)
Marcia Fudge (D-OH)
Alan Grayson (D-FL)
Raul Grijalva (D-AZ)
Janice Hahn (D-CA)
Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY)
Barbara Lee (D-CA)
John Lewis (D-GA)
Ben Lujan (D-NM)
Stephen Lynch (D-MA)
Grace Napolitano (D-CA)
Rick Nolan (D-MN)
Chellie Pingree (D-ME)
Mark Pocan (D-WI)
Cedric Richmond (D-LA)
Jose Serrano (D-NY)
Lucille Royball-Allard (D-CA)
Bobby Rush (D-IL)
Eric Swalwell (D-CA)
John Tierney (D-MA)
Paul Tonko (D-NY)
Peter Welch (D-VT)
John Yarmuth (D-KY)

So, if you're using this as a voting guide... no Republicans at all. Not one. Most Democrats would have to be defeated as well. It's kind of uncompromising. To get a perfect score, a Member would not only have to be very progressive, he or she would also have to be independent enough to go against their own party leadership. There were no Republicans who fit that profile, of course. But these are the 70 Members who voted wrong on every single item (including Members who weren't around in 2008):

Andy Barr (R-KY)
Dan Benishek (R-MI)
John Boehner (R-OH)
Jo Bonner (R-AL)
Kevin Brady (R-TX)
Susan Brooks (R-IN)
Ken Calvert (R-CA)
David Camp (R-MI)
Eric Cantor (R-VA)
Tom Cole (R-OK)
Chris Collins (R-NY)
Doug Collins (R-GA)
Paul Cook (R-CA)
Tom Cotten (R-AR)
Ander Crenshaw (R-FL)
Jeff Denham (R-CA)
Renee Ellmers (R-NC)
Bill Flores (R-TX)
Bob Gibbs (R-OH)
Kay Granger (R-TX)
Brett Guthrie (R-KY)
Richard Hanna (R-NY)
Gregg Harper (R-MS)
Vicky Hartzler (R-MO)
Joe Heck (R-NV)
George Holding (R-NC)
Richard Hudson (R-NC)
David Joyce (R-OH)
Mike Kelly (R-PA)
Peter King (R-NY)
Adam Kinzinger (R-IL)
John Kline (R-MN)
Leonard Lance (R-NJ)
James Lankford (R-OK)
Billy Long (R-MO)
Blaine Lutkemeyer (R-MO)

Tom Marino (R-PA)
Buck McKeon (R-CA)
David McKinley (R-WV)
Pat Meehan (R-PA)
Luke Messer (R-IN)
Kristi Noem (R-SD)
Alan Nunnelee (R-MS)
Pete Olson (R-TX)
Steven Palazzo (R-MS)
Erik Paulsen (R-MN)
Robert Pittenger (R-NC)
Mike Pompeo (R-KS)
Tom Reed (R-NY)

Jim Renacci (R-OH)
Scott Rigell (R-VA)
Martha Roby (R-AL)
Hal Rogers (R-KY)
Mike Rogers (R-AL)
Tom Rooney (R-FL)
Austin Scott (R-GA)
Pete Sessions (R-TX)
Jon Runyan (R-NJ)
Paul Ryan (R-WI)
Steve Stivers (R-OH)
Fred Upton (R-MI)
David Valadao (R-CA)
Ann Wagner (R-MO)
Greg Walden (R-OR)
Jackie Walorski (R-IN)
Daniel Webster (R-FL)
Brad Wenstrup (R-OH)
Frank Wolf (R-VA)
Steve Womack (R-AR)
Todd Young (R-IN)

Like any scordcard, it's an imperfect way of deciding how to vote. You're always better off paying close attention and making an informed decision based on a Member's behavior over time on a broad range of policy and character issues. But this can be used as a start. I do like the idea of voting to oust every single Republican and every single Blue Dog. It does penalize a number of Democrats who, upon a closer examination might, might deserve reelection but, you might feel, as Cistercian abot Arnaud Amaury advised a soldier worried about killing orthodox Catholics along with the heretics during the sack of Cathar stronghold of Béziers in 1209, Caedite eos. Novit enim Dominus qui sunt eius." ("Kill them. For the Lord knew those that are His own.")

Midterm Report: The Best and the Worst Democratic Freshmen

Time to grade the Democratic freshmen-- or at least to pick out the 10 best and the 10 worst. Which ones lived up to what Alan Grayson laid out in his little monologue above? And which served the interest of careerism and corporate special interests above the interests of their own constituents? Short version-- for people in a hurry-- here are two lists (alphabetized), the 10 best, followed b the 10 worst:

THE BEST:

• Tony Cardenas (D-CA)
• Matt Cartwright (D-PA)
• Alan Grayson (D-FL)
• Jared Huffman (D-CA)
• Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY)
• Joe Kennedy (D-MA)
• Alan Lowenthal (D-CA)
• Grace Meng (D-NY)
• Rick Nolan (D-MN)
• Mark Pocan (D-WI)

THE WORST:

• Cheri Bustos (D-IL)
• Pete Gallego (Blue Dog-TX)
• Joe Garcia (New Dem-FL)
• Ann Kirkpatrick (D-AZ)
• Dan Maffei (New Dem-NY)
• Sean Patrick Maloney (New Dem-NY)
• Patrick Murphy (New Dem-FL)
• Scott Peters (New Dem-CA)
• Raul Ruiz (D-CA)
• Kyrsten Sinema (New Dem-AZ)

The other day, Obama seemed to help justify the Egyptian military coup by declaring that democracy is about more than just elections. Eric Cantor liked that. The Washington Post didn't. You decide. Meanwhile, though, figuring out which congressmen did best and did worst is about more than just raw voting. Voting on bills that come to the floor is very, very important, of course, but there are other factors as well, like courageousness, leadership, behavior on committees, integrity. Example: freshmen who voted in the House Financial Services Committee-- so somewhat privately-- to gut Dodd-Frank Wall Street reforms and then piled onto a plane with Democratic corruptionist Joe Crowley to celebrate with Wall Street banksters, are never going to get on a 10 Best list. Freshmen with the guts and smarts to sign the Grayson-Takano No Cuts letter, however, have a leg up on any 10 Best list.

The 10 freshmen who signed that letter are a mixed bag though, including really excellent Members like Grayson himself, as well as Matt Cartwright and Rick Nolan and really awful sellouts looking for another way to bash Obama, like Ann Kirkpatrick, or for a cheap way to burnish progressive credentials for the folks back home, like Juan Vargas. These are the freshman signers (in order of date signed):

• Alan Grayson (D-FL)
• Mark Takano (D-CA)
• Rick Nolan (D-MN)
• Matt Cartwright (D-PA)
• Joyce Beatty (D-OH)
• Ann Kirkpatrick (D-AZ)
• Tony Cardenas (D-CA)
• Donald Payne (D-NJ)
• Dan Kildee (D-MI)
• Juan Vargas (D-CA)

The best freshman and the worst freshman each comes from Florida. Overall best is Alan Grayson, more than just a good voter-- a real leader and organizer. And please do watch that video up top. Ironically, the worst freshman, Patrick Murphy, is also a leader and an organizer-- he's leading other freshmen, really dumb ones, astray and organizing to help push through Boehner's toxic agenda. But let's get to the roll calls that we counted in assessing each freshman. We're listing them in chronological order, starting with a typical cheap trick by the GOP threatening that Members wouldn't get paid 'til a budget was passed. H.R. 325 passed on January 23, 285-144 with 86 Democrats joining most of the Republicans to pass it. It was the first big bill showing that most of the conservative New Dem freshmen would side with the GOP on their agenda. The freshmen who crossed the aisle: Ami Bera (CA), Julia Brownley (CA), Cheri Bustos (IL), Joaquin Castro (TX), John Delaney (MD), Suzan DelBene (WA), Tammy Duckworth (IL), Bill Enyart (IL), Elizabeth Esty (CT), Bill Foster (IL), Pete Gallego (TX), Denny Heck (WA), Steven Horsford (NV), Derek Kilmer (WA), Ann Kirkpatrick (AZ), Ann Kuster (NH), Alan Lowenthal (CA), Michelle Lujan Grisham (NM), Dan Maffei (NY), Sean Patrick Maloney (NY), Grace Meng (NY), Patrick Murphy (FL), Rick Nolan (MN), Beto O'Rourke (TX), Scott Peters (CA), Raul Ruiz (CA), Brad Schneider (IL), Kyrsten Sinema (AZ), Mark Takano (CA), Dina Titus (NV), and Filemon Vela (TX). Chief New Dem Ron Kind and DCCC chair Steve Israel also voted with the Republicans on this and strongly urged the freshmen to do likewise. It helped established a very bad pattern, a pattern that some have since seen through and have broken free of-- like Lowenthal, Nolan, and Takano-- but one that has ensnared too many freshmen in the quicksand of false bipartisanship. Every one of the 10 worst freshmen voted with the GOP on this early bill.

H.R. 444 passed on February 6 and it was another gimmicky GOP balanced budget bill. 26 Democrats joined 227 Republicans to pass it 253-167. The freshmen aisle crossers were Ami Bera (CA), Cheri Bustos (IL), Ann Kirkpatrick (AZ), Ann Kuster (NH), Dan Maffei (NY), Sean Patrick Maloney (NY), Patrick Murphy (FL), Scott Peters (CA), Raul Ruiz (CA), Kyrsten Sinema (AZ), and Dina Titus (NV). So here we were in February and the lines between the good freshmen and the bad freshmen were already starting to become very clear. Most of these would go on to back Boehner and Cantor from then right up until now.

H.R. 273 is intended to freeze the pay of federal employees. It passed 261-154, on February 15, Boehner and Cantor able to claim a bipartisan victory because of these largely worthless freshmen: Julia Brownley (CA), Cheri Bustos (IL), Suzan DelBene (WA), Bill Enyart (IL), Bill Foster (IL), Pete Gallego (TX), Joe Garcia (FL), Ann Kuster (NH), Dan Maffei (NY), Sean Patrick Maloney (NY), Patrick Murphy (FL), Scott Peters (CA), Raul Ruiz (CA), Brad Schneider (IL), Kyrsten Sinema (AZ) and Filemon Vela (TX). You should be starting to recognize the repeat offenders now.

H.R. 933 passed 267-151 on March 6 and the intention was to soften the blow of the sequester for the Pentagon while leaving all the other victims in the lurch. 53 bad Democrats went along with the GOP, including 28 freshmen, these freshmen: Ami Bera (CA), Julia Brownley (CA), Cheri Bustos (IL), Joaquin Castro (TX), Suzan DelBene (WA), Bill Enyart (IL), Elizabeth Esty (CT), Bill Foster (IL), Tulsi Gabbard (HI), Pete Gallego (TX), Joe Garcia (FL), Steven Horsford (NV), Ann Kirkpatrick (AZ), Ann Kuster (NH), Alan Lowenthal (CA), Michelle Grisham Lujan (NM), Dan Maffei (NY), Sean Patrick Maloney (NY), Patrick Murphy (FL), Gloria Negrete McLeod (CA), Beto O'Rourke (TX), Scott Peters (CA), Raul Ruiz (CA), Brad Schneider (IL), Kyrsten Sinema (AZ), Mark Takano (CA), Dina Titus and Marc Veasy (TX).

H.R. 890, meant to prevent the federal government from giving states greater flexibility when complying with a welfare program’s work requirements, passed 246-181 on March 13. Only 18 Democrats crossed the aisle on this one, including 8 freshmen: Ami Bera (CA), Joe Garcia (FL), Ann Kirkpatrick (AZ), Dan Maffei (NY), Sean Patrick Maloney (NY), Patrick Murphy (FL), Scott Peters (CA), and Kyrsten Sinema (AZ), the ones Boehner and Cantor were coming to depend on pretty consistently to make their awful bills "bipartisan."

H Con Res 25 on March 20 was the budget bill. There were a lot of alternatives, starting with a proposal to pass the budget the Senate had already passed, not a great budget, but not nearly as bad as the Ryan budget the House was about to vote on. The Senate budget was defeated in the House 154-261 with 35 Democratic defectors including the 17 worst freshmen: Ami Bera (CA), Julia Brownley (CA), Cheri Bustos (IL), John Delaney (MD), Bill Enyart (IL), Bill Foster (IL), Pete Gallego (TX), Joe Garcia (FL), Ann Kirkpatrick (AZ), Ann Kuster (NH), Dan Maffei (NY), Sean Patrick Maloney (NY), Patrick Murphy (FL), Scott Peters (CA), Raul Ruiz (CA), Brad Schneider (IL) and Kyrsten Sinema (AZ).

When Raul Grijalva introduced the Progressive Caucus budget alternative-- the only budget that would have solved the problems plaguing America-- it lost 84-327. Only 13 freshmen voted FOR it, the better freshmen: Joyce Beatty (OH), Tony Cardenas (CA), Matt Cartwright (PA), Alan Grayson (FL), Jared Huffman (CA), Hakeem Jeffries (NY), Alan Lowenthal (CA), Rick Nolan (MN), Don Payne (NJ), Mark Pocan (WI), Mark Takano (CA), Juan Vargas (CA), and Marc Veasy (TX).

The House Democratic Caucus budget wasn't as good as the one Grijalva proposed but it was still way better than Ryan's. It lost 165-253 and really did encompass a vision for what the House Democrats would like to accomplish. 28 bad Democrats voted against it including 17 freshmen: Ami Bera (CA), Julia Brownley (CA), Cheri Bustos (IL), Suzan DelBene (WA), Bill Enyart (IL), Bill Foster (IL), Pete Gallego (TX), Joe Garcia (FL), Ann Kirkpatrick (AZ), Ann Kuster (NH), Dan Maffei (NY), Sean Patrick Maloney (NY), Patrick Murphy (FL), Scott Peters (CA), Raul Ruiz (CA), Brad Schneider (IL) and Kyrsten Sinema (AZ)-- all the worst garbage in the caucus.

H.R. 624, CISPA, was a domestic spying bill that passed 288-127 on April 18. The Democratic caucus was very split-- 98 against and 92 for. The bad freshmen should be very predictable for you by now, although a few weak links among usually not-as-bad-Democrats went along with it as well: Joyce Beatty (OH), Ami Bera (CA), Julia Brownley (CA), Cheri Bustos (IL), Tony Cardenas (CA), Tammy Duckworth (IL), Bill Enyart (IL), Bill Foster (IL), Loius Frankel (FL), Pete Gallego (TX), Joe Garcia (FL), Denny Heck (WA), Steven Horsford (NV), Hazeem Jeffries (NY), Robin Kelly (IL), Derek Kilmer (WA), Ann Kirkpatrick (AZ), Ann Kuster (NH), Michelle Lujan Grisham (NM), Dan Maffei (NY), Sean Patrick Maloney (NY), Grace Meng (NY), Patrick Murphy (FL), Don Payne (NJ), Scott Peters (CA), Raul Ruiz (CA), Brad Schneider (IL), Kyrsten Sinema (AZ), Eric Swalwell (CA), Dina Titus (NV), Juan Vargas (CA), Marc Veasey (TX) and Filemon Vela (TX).

H.R. 1062 was another conservative initiative to weaken regulations on Wall Street. It passed 235-161 on May 17 with 17 Democrats voting with the Republicans, including 9 freshmen-- Ami Bera (CA), Tony Cardenas (CA), Pete Gallego (TX), Dan Maffei (NY), Sean Patrick Maloney (NY), Scott Peters (CA), Raul Ruiz (CA), Brad Schneider (IL) and Kyrsten Sinema (AZ).

H.R. 3 was a big one-- the Keystone XL Pipeline bill on May 22. It passed 241-175 with 19 Democrats going along for the ride, including 5 anti-environment freshmen: Cheri Bustos (IL), Bill Enyart (IL), Sean Patrick Maloney (NY), Patrick Murphy (FL) and Filemon Vela (TX).

H.R. 1911 was also a big one-- the GOP bill to double the rate on student loans. Only 4 Democrats were stupid enough to vote for that one and 3 are New Dem freshmen with terrible records: Joe Garcia (FL), Dan Maffei (NY) and Scott Peters (CA).

H.R. 1947 was the failed Farm Bill that shredded food stamps for the most needy Americans. Only 24 Democrats voted for it, including 8 freshmen: Ami Bera (CA), Julia Brownley (CA), Cheri Bustos (IL), Bill Enyart (IL), Joe Garcia (FL), Patrick Murphy (FL), Kyrsten Sinema (AZ), and Filemon Vela (TX). There were a ton of amendments that showed how bad some of these freshmen are including one to defund farmers markets by Tom McClintock that drew exactly one "Democratic" vote: New Dem Patrick Murphy (FL). 8 Democrats voted against Jim McGovern's amendment to reinstate the SNAP food stamp funding and 2 of them were freshmen-- Cheri Bustos (IL) and Sean Patrick Maloney (NY).

H.R. 1613 and H.R. 2231 passed June 27 and 28, the two most recent Republican travesties. Both bills, written by Oil and Gas lobbyists, were big giveaways for offshore drilling businesses. The only Democratic freshmen to go along with either or both of them were Ami Bera (CA), Cheri Bustos (IL), John Delaney (MD), Pete Gallego (TX), Joe Garcia (FL), Patrick Murphy (FL), Scott Peters (CA), Raul Ruiz (CA), Kyrsten Sinema (AZ) Marc Veasey (TX) and Filemon Vela (TX).

Don't forget, this report card is only for freshmen. We didn't count Ron Barber (New Dem-AZ) as a freshman and he's literally worse than any of the freshmen. So are 4 other more senior Democrats, the worst of their party in the House, by far. From bad to worse (with their ProgressivePunch scores):

• Collin Peterson (Blue Dog-MN)- 40.00
• Bill Owens (New Dem)-NY)- 33.33
• John Barrow (Blue Dog/New Dem-GA)- 28.33
• Jim Matheson (Blue Dog-UT)- 26.67

This year, six Republicans have voted more frequently with the Democrats on crucial roll calls than Matheson and Barrow. The DCCC will spend an estimated $4 million in a desperate and pointless attempt to reelect both of them.

Watch the Grayson video up top again-- and keep it in your mind the next time the DCCC asks you for money. Virtually all of it that doesn't wind up their cronies' pockets, goes to reelect these Democrats who vote most frequently with the GOP. In the clip, Grayson reminds Democratic candidates running for office that "If you have two Republicans running against each other, one with an 'R-e-p' next to his name and one with a 'D-e-m' next to his name, it's a tremendous disservice to the public. The public can't choose that way. And if you run as a Democrat, then there are certain things you should stand for. You should stand for Justice. You should stand for Equality. You should stand for Peace... We need more Democrats who are Democrats... You can't beat a Republican by BEING a Republican."