National Taxpayer's Union Ranks North Carolina's Congressional Delegates

The National Taxpayer’s Union has released their 2011 rankings for fiscal responsibility, and North Carolina’s congressional delegates have nothing to brag about. The following is their criteria and guidelines:

Every year National Taxpayers Union (NTU) rates U.S. Representatives and Senators on their actual votes--every vote that affects taxes, spending, and debt. Unlike most organizations that publish ratings, we refuse to play the "rating game" of focusing on only a handful of congressional votes on selected issues. The NTU voting study is the fairest and most accurate guide available on congressional spending. It is a completely unbiased accounting of votes.

NTU assigned weights to the votes, reflecting the importance of each vote's effect on federal spending.

NTU has no partisan axe to grind. All members of Congress are treated the same regardless of political affiliation. Our only constituency is the overburdened American taxpayer. Grades are given impartially, based on the Taxpayer Score.

Taxpayer Score

The Taxpayer Score measures the strength of support for reducing spending and opposing higher taxes. In general, a higher score is better because it means a member of Congress vote to spend less money.

Here are the delegates and their rankings:

1st District G.K. Butterfield (D) 11% #424
2nd District Renee Elmers (R) 73% #150
3rd District Walter B. Jones (R) 58% #239
4th District David Price (D) 12% #379
5th District Virginia Foxx (R) 82%
6th District Howard Coble (R) 84%
7th District Mike McIntyre (D) 43% #243
8th District Larry Kissell (D) 21% #269
9th District Sue Myrick (R) 78%
10th District Patrick McHentry (R) 84%
11th District Heath Shuler (D) 28% 258th
12th District Mel Watt (D) 11% 405th

And here are the scores for our two senators:

Senator Richard Burr (R) 87%
Senator Kay Hagan (D) 12%

When is Kay Hagan up for reelection? It can’t be soon enough.


Source: http://www.carolinajournal.com/exclusives/display_exclusive.html?id=8973
http://www.ntu.org/on-capitol-hill/ntu-rates-congress/