The US National Taxpayers Union Slams Congressional Tax-Friendliness

by Mike Godfrey, Tax-News.com, Washington

13 April 2004

Even though last year saw major tax cuts voted through, the NTU's annual rating of the voting patterns of members of Congress shows that they voted less than half the time to reduce or control the overall federal burden on taxpayers in 2003.

Despite Major Tax Cuts, Fiscal Voting Records Showed Only Minor Improvement, Non-Partisan Congressional Rating Finds

Says the non-partisan NTU's President John Berthoud: "Last year most Members of Congress left the job of providing relief from high taxes and wasteful deficit spending only half-finished. A session that enacted one of the best tax cuts in recent memory but also created one of the worst new entitlement programs in recent history deserves mixed reviews from overburdened taxpayers."

In 2003, the average pro-taxpayer score in the House of Representatives rose to 45 percent -- four points higher than 2002's level. Averages took an upswing in the Senate as well, to 47 percent in 2003 versus 40 percent the year before. The worst averages during 2-1/2 decades of the comprehensive NTU scorecard were posted in 1988, when they plummeted to 27 percent and 28 percent, respectively, for the House and Senate. The highest marks were reached in 1995, when House and Senate averages were 58 percent and 57 percent, respectively.

In a curious twist, says the NTU, two North Dakotans bottomed out the Rating for their respective chambers. Byron Dorgan (D), who chairs the Senate's Democratic Policy Committee, earned the dubious distinction of being the lowest-scoring Member of the Senate in 2003, with a total of 11 percent. Earl Pomeroy (D) nabbed the "prize" for biggest spender in the House, by scoring 16 percent. On the other end of the pro-taxpayer scale, the highest scorer in the House was Jeff Flake (R-AZ), with 90 percent. In the Senate, John Ensign (R-NV) set the highest mark for 2003, with 87 percent.

Despite a small rise in averages, true "high performers" in Congress became even rarer - just 29 lawmakers attained scores sufficient to win the "Taxpayers' Friend Award" (at least 74 percent in the House/80 percent in the Senate). In 2002, 36 Members received this top honor. However, 185 Senators and Representatives posted 2003 scores that were so low they were tagged "Big Spenders" (25 percent or less in the House or Senate).

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 (287 House and 269 Senate votes, a 25-year high), 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.

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