A Compilation of Various Ratings of the Voting Records of the Utah Legislature. A listing of other ratings may be found under links at the bottom of the blog.

Friday, December 08, 2006

Presidential Aspirant Voting Records

With the field of Potential Presidential candidates for 2008 now being formulated here's a composite of the voting records from two diverse "interest group" categories, as reported by Project Vote Smart

(A VERY rough estimate = Average of first 10 ratings in either category.)

Republicans:
  • Sen John McCain votes 70% "conservative" 26% "liberal"
  • Sen Sam Brownback votes 80% "conservative" 6% "liberal"
  • Gov Mitt Romney not rated
  • Rep Duncan Hunter votes 49% "conservative" 5% "liberal"

Democrats:

  • Sen Barack Obama votes 23% "conservative" 97% "liberal" (If he gets the nod from the Demos would that be an Obamanomination)
  • Sen Hillary Clinton votes 19% "conservative" 96% "liberal"
  • Sen Evan Bayh votes 30% "conservative" 91% "liberal"
For comparison:

Rep Ron Paul votes 88% "conservative" 32% "liberal" (That last number is a little surprising)

Sen John Kyl (AZ) votes 88% "conservative" 4% "liberal"
Rep Nancy Pelosi votes 22% "conservative" 98% "liberal"

Sen Orrin Hatch votes 66% "conservative" 7% "liberal"
Rep Jim Matheson votes 45% "conservative" 70% "liberal"
Sen Ted Kennedy votes 13% "conservative" 98% "liberal"
Rep Tom Tancredo votes 85% "conservative" 7% "liberal"
Sen Joe Biden votes 16% "conservative" 90% "liberal"
Sen Joe Lieberman votes 22% "conservative" 86% "liberal"

Tuesday, May 09, 2006

Conservative Liberal Index 2006

The Conservative - Liberal Index
"by their Fruits shall ye know them"

2006 Voting records of the Utah Legislature indicate once again there is a difference between Republicans and Democrats.

For simplicity, Conservatives may be defined as in favor of LIMITED Government and PROTECTION of INDIVIDUAL rights and Liberals as in favor of ACTIVIST Government and PROVISION of GROUP rights.

Individually, ALL Republicans achieved a CLI higher than ALL Democrats. The Most Conservative Award for the second consecutive year goes to Rep. Morley at 85.1; with Honorable Mention to Representatives Dayton, Tilton, Hughes, Lockhart, Frank, Newbold and Donnelson and Senators Stephenson and Madsen at the top of the Senate list. (All were above 75)
The Most Liberal Award goes to Rep. Litvack at 17.5, with several Democrats vying for the position.

All told, we might count 41 Conservatives (above 60), 31 Liberals (below 40) and 33 Mugwumps. (2005 showed 47/27/30) Some might declare that a balanced, moderate group, others might yearn for stronger principles.
There was a change in 2006 of groups "rating" our Utah legislators. Voice for Moderation ratings were not available online. The Deseret News "effective legislator" was added as a replacement, but NOT used as a viable determinant in the CLI rating. The idea of the most effective legislator being the one passing the most bills goes against the grain of logic of limited government.
Rating groups used:

GrsRts = GrassRoots ( www.utahgrassroots.com ) claims: "Grass Roots is committed to the Principles of Limited Government, the State and U.S. Constitutions, Representative Government, Participatory Democracy, a Free Market Economy, Separation of Powers, and Family."

UEA = Utah Education Association ( www.utea.org ) declares their "mission is to advance the cause of public education by promoting quality teaching and learning and advocating effectively for the rights and interests of its members."

Gay = Gay Rights ( www.actwin.com/eatonohio/gay ) grades on the basis of hate crimes, same-sex marriage and "gay rights."

UTA = Utah Taxpayers Association (www.utahtaxpayers.org ) deals mainly with tax issues and "is a non-profit, non-partisan association working for greater efficiency and effectiveness in government."

DNews=Deseret News (www.deseretnews.com/photos/0326bigxgr.pdf) "Effective Legislator" NOT used in ratings, presented as information only.

UAR = Utah Association of Realtors (www.utahrealtors.com ) reports on issues dealing with real estate on property issues. Ratings used were from 2002 (or estimated) as 2003 is not yet available on the website.

AccUT = Accountability Utah (www.accountabilityutah.com ) "promotes government that is restrained, fair, open, and representative; an economy based on free market principles; and strong individuals and families."
Each have different criteria for their ratings, based on votes that those groups consider favor or oppose "their" particular issues. Please refer to the individual websites for bills considered and rating considerations which were used.

















2006 Utah Senate Conservative Liberal Index



GrsRts

GrsRts

UEA

Gay

UTA

Dnews

UAR

AccUT

CLI

Senator

Dist

Life

2006

2005

2006

2006

2006

2004

life2005

REPUBLICANS

80

Stephenson

11

R

74

75

20

0

100

80

84

-21

75.0

Madsen *

13

R

72

75

30

0

100

24

?

-64

76.1

Peterson *

24

R

74

61

44

0

100

75

100

-57

73.0

70

Jenkins

20

R

71

75

44

40

100

45

100

-31

68.2

Hatch

28

R

65

47

50

0

91

67

100

-40

67.0

Thomas

18

R

49

50

45

0

100

72

84

-55

63.6

Hickman

29

R

56

21

0

40

91

25

100

-38

61.8

60

Buttars

10

R

56

64

44

40

83

22

100

-52

60.7

Mansell

9

R

48

54

29

40

89

90

100

-57

59.8

Bramble

16

R

59

47

44

40

92

69

100

-60

58.6

Valentine

14

R

55

44

44

40

92

0

100

-48

57.4

Waddoups

6

R

57

47

50

40

92

68

100

-48

57.3

55

Killpack

21

R

51

47

38

40

92

72

84

-57

56.8

Hellewell

15

R

58

44

56

40

92

48

100

-57

55.6

Bell

22

R

40

44

33

40

85

53

100

-62

48.6

Christensen *

19

R

56

53

56

40

92

50

?

-64

53.7

Eastman

23

R

46

35

40

40

82

74

100

-57

53.3

Hillyard

25

R

43

38

33

60

100

80

100

-62

51.6

50

Walker

8

R

47

53

56

60

100

80

100

-57

51.3

45

Evans, B

26

R

38

27

43

60

91

81

88

-57

45.3

Knudsen

17

R

35

22

44

70

92

77

100

-64

42.1

average

54.8

48.7

40.1

34.8

93.1

59.6

87.6

-52.8

59.1

DEMOCRATS

30

Dmitrich

27

D

24

17

75

80

77

59

100

-64

29.8

Mayne

5

D

28

6

67

80

69

39

71

-55

28.2

Davis

3

D

21

17

75

80

77

27

80

-69

27.7

25

Goodfellow

12

D

18

6

56

80

77

60

63

-67

27.4

Hale

7

D

19

24

100

80

58

40

63

-62

21.8

20

Fife *

1

D

19

11

78

80

69

0

?

-79

21.0

McCoy *

2

D

11

11

78

70

62

0

?

-71

20.6

15

Arent

4

D

20

11

100

80

58

92

63

-67

19.4

average

20.0

12.9

78.6

78.8

68.4

39.6

55.0

-66.8

24.2


2006 Utah House Conservative Liberal Index



SCALE

REPUBLICANS

GrsRts

GrsRts

UEA

GAY

UTA

DNews

UAR

AccUT

Representative

Life

2006

2005

2006

2006

2006

2004

life2005

CLI

85

Morley

66

R

91

81

31

0

100

64

78

40

85.1

Dayton

61

R

82

70

29

0

100

33

100

9

81.6

80

Tilton *

65

R

84

78

31

0

100

13

?

-43

80.4

Hughes

51

R

78

70

38

0

100

45

100

8

78.9

Lockhart

64

R

83

58

33

0

93

65

100

11

78.5

Frank

57

R

84

60

31

0

100

30

78

0

78.2

Newbold

50

R

73

67

31

0

100

67

100

-14

77.7

75

Donnelson

7

R

81

69

46

0

93

11

78

1

75.9

Ure

53

R

75

59

38

0

83

54

100

-24

74.0

Dougall

27

R

70

61

36

0

100

45

78

-17

73.4

Alexander

62

R

78

50

36

0

77

64

100

-22

73.1

Oda *

14

R

78

60

46

0

100

62

?

-50

71.9

70

Ferrin

58

R

77

67

31

40

100

36

100

-22

70.9

Harper

43

R

67

55

38

0

93

62

78

-14

70.8

Urquhart

75

R

64

39

23

0

83

50

100

-36

69.9

Painter *

67

R

68

55

38

0

100

50

?

-50

69.9

Barrus

18

R

58

58

31

0

93

67

78

-41

69.6

Daw *

60

R

71

50

38

0

82

29

?

-57

68.2

Noel

73

R

59

58

54

0

93

27

100

-29

67.3

Kiser

41

R

65

44

33

0

64

38

78

-23

67.1

65

Christensen

48

R

66

45

50

0

77

44

78

-7

65.7

Wheeler *

68

R

68

50

46

0

93

67

?

-86

65.6

Curtis

49

R

52

47

40

0

91

0

100

-43

65.5

Clark, D

74

R

59

35

38

0

92

60

100

-46

65.4

Snow, G

54

R

63

56

50

0

67

86

?

-26

64.9

Ferry

2

R

57

40

42

0

87

83

100

-41

64.9

Walker *

45

R

56

40

31

0

93

44

?

-57

64.4

Hutchings

38

R

64

50

62

0

86

19

78

-36

63.5

Adams

16

R

55

29

42

0

92

77

100

-38

62.8

Buttars

3

R

66

59

45

40

79

60

100

-37

62.3

Mathis *

55

R

59

50

54

0

93

60

?

-71

62.1

60

Last

71

R

51

42

54

0

93

45

100

-36

62.1

Aagard

15

R

61

55

67

0

67

90

78

-24

61.9

Johnson, B

70

R

64

50

36

40

69

75

100

-34

61.3

Buxton

12

R

43

32

42

0

80

45

100

-44

59.4

Gibson *

6

R

55

50

69

0

85

64

?

-50

58.2

Dunnigan

39

R

54

47

73

0

73

89

78

-26

57.9

Wallace

42

R

53

35

31

40

87

44

100

-53

57.2

Clark, S

63

R

56

35

38

40

79

54

100

-38

56.6

55

Fisher *

17

R

50

33

54

0

87

50

?

-86

55.4

Ray *

13

R

54

37

60

0

73

38

?

-79

55.4

Hardy

20

R

39

22

54

0

73

78

100

-36

54.1

Dee

11

R

46

22

69

0

85

79

100

-39

53.7

Cox, D

56

R

53

50

62

40

56

27

100

-36

52.8

Hunsaker *

4

R

50

40

69

0

60

71

?

-71

52.5

Mascaro

47

R

45

26

37

40

69

0

100

-43

51.5

50

Wyatt *

5

R

46

33

33

40

93

50

?

-100

50.5

Bowman

72

R

38

44

69

40

86

25

100

-48

48.1

Fowlke *

59

R

54

50

77

40

80

47

?

-57

47.8

45

Murray

8

R

44

39

69

40

67

73

100

-38

47.8

Bigelow

32

R

54

35

85

40

75

100

78

-44

46.8

Menlove *

1

R

40

32

85

0

64

80

?

-100

44.3

Lawrence

36

R

38

32

67

40

60

88

78

-56

42.9

40

Hogue

52

R

46

21

77

40

60

12

78

-39

41.5

Allen

19

R

34

21

77

40

67

57

78

-58

38.4

Holdaway

34

R

42

18

85

40

47

50

78

-34

37.8

Average

60.0

46.6

49.1

11.4

82.8

52.6

66.9

-38.0

62.2





Representative

GrsRts

GrsRts

UEA

GAY

UTA

Dnews

UAR

AccUT

DEMOCRATS

Life

2006

2005

2006

2006

2006

2004

life2005

CLI

35

Morgan

46

D

28

28

85

40

50

23

56

-75

33.7

Hendrickson

33

D

35

25

100

60

47

25

100

-36

32.1

Gowans

21

D

39

20

100

70

50

33

89

-36

29.8

Duckworth

22

D

34

26

100

80

60

0

78

-31

27.9

30

Shurtliff

10

D

22

22

93

70

53

23

67

-58

25.4

Romero *

25

D

24

20

92

70

67

23

?

-43

24.4

Fisher

29

D

26

26

100

80

53

0

67

-75

23.4

Hansen

9

D

26

26

100

80

36

7

67

-41

23.4

Wheatley *

35

D

25

30

100

70

53

0

?

-71

23.2

25

King

69

D

23

11

92

80

36

25

94

-48

22.8

Bourdeaux

23

D

21

5

86

80

43

0

67

-66

20.5

Wiley *

31

D

18

20

92

70

47

33

?

-77

20.3

Jones

40

D

15

5

90

70

50

17

67

-78

20.2

Cosgrove *

44

D

17

15

92

70

47

23

?

-71

19.2

20

Biskupski

30

D

20

10

100

80

50

38

67

-63

19.1

Spackman - Moss

37

D

15

20

100

80

47

23

67

-81

19.0

McGee

28

D

15

10

92

80

43

33

67

-78

18.4

Becker

24

D

17

17

92

80

31

0

39

-61

18.3

Litvack

26

D

15

5

92

80

36

21

67

-64

17.5

Average

22.9

17.9

94.6

73.2

47.3

18.3

55.7

-60.7

22.8