Assessments of Smith’s Performance in Congress

Today I will highlight the evaluations done by 3 different organizations with regards to how members of Congress are performing. As has continued to be shown, Adrian Smith receives very low marks.


POWER RANKINGS

The Congress.org's Power Rankings have been updated with the information from the 2007 session in Congress.

From last year's post on this matter, here were the previous rankings:

State: 3 out of 3
House: 429 out of 439 (this include the At-large Reps).
House Republicans: 190 out of 202
Class of 2006: 42 out of 53
House Agriculture Committee: 45 out of 46
House Budget Committee: 38 out of 38
House Science Committee: 44 out of 44

Here are the new rankings for 2008:

State: 3 out of 3
(stayed the same)
House: 425 out 435
(remained basically the same, maybe one up 1)
House Republicans: 191 out of 200
(Dropped 1 even though the number of Republicans dropped by 2)
Class of 2006: 51 out of 57
(Even though there were 4 more freshmen added, Smith's rank dropped by 9 points).
House Agriculture Committee: 44 out of 45
(basically the same)
House Budget Committee: 39 out of 39
(even with adding one to the mix, he stayed in last place)
House Science Committee: 41 out of 43
(gained a couple spots)
House Natural Resources: 47 out of 48
(new ranking, as he is new to the committee

CHILDREN’S DEFENSE FUND

The Children’s Defense Fund Action Council released their 2007 Nonpartisan Congressional Scorecard. They looked at who was best representing the children in this nation, and who were the worst representatives.

They based their score on votes cast for bills that had a direct affect on children. None of the representatives in Nebraska showed up on the “best” list, but 2 showed up on the “worst”:

The Worst Representatives for Children Scored 30 Percent or Below
- Rep. Adrian Smith (R-NE) 20%
- Rep. Lee Terry (R-NE) 20%

Nebraska’s representation as a whole ranks 46 out of 50.



THE MIDDLE CLASS

A sited called The Middle Class was set up to score member’s of Congress on how well their votes support the middle class. The non-partisan Drum Major Institute for Public Policy has issued annual scorecards for a few years now.

All three of Nebraska’s Representatives received failing grades in 2007, and 2008 is looking no different:


Adrian Smith

2007 - F
Smith voted against the middle class on 12 out of 16 bills considered.

2008 - 40% year to date
Smith has voted against the middle class on 3 out of 5 bills so far.

Of the 3, Smith had the worst score in 2007.


Jeff Fortenberry

2007 - F
Fortenberry voted against the middle class on 9 out of 12 bills considered.

2008 - 33% year to date
Fortenberry has cast 2 votes against the middle class, and missed 2 votes, out of 5 bills so far.

He also received an “F” in 2005.


Lee Terry

2007 - F
Terry voted against the middle class on 11 out of 16 bills considered.

2008 - 40% year to date
Terry has voted against the middle class on 3 out of 5 bills so far.

Terry also received an “F” in 2003, 2004 and 2005.


Here are the bills that were considered and how Smith, Fortenberry and Terry voted on each:

2008

Smith and Terry voted AGAINST, Fortenberry FOR:

HR 5351 - Renewable Energy and Energy Conservation Tax Act of 2008

Smith, Fortenberry and Terry voted AGAINST:

HR 3963 - Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2007 (Revised Bill)
HR 1424 - Paul Wellstone Mental Health and Addiction Equity Act of 2008

Smith and Terry voted FOR, Fortenberry DID NOT VOTE:

HR 5140 - Recovery Rebates and Economic Stimulus for the American People Act of 2008
HR 4137 - College Opportunity and Affordability Act of 2008

2007

Smith, Fortenberry and Terry voted FOR:

HR 4040 - Consumer Product Safety Modernization Act of 2007
HR 3580 - FDA Amendments Act of 2007
HR 1429 - Improving Head Start Act of 2007
HR 1362 - Accountability in Contracting Act of 2007

Smith, Fortenberry and Terry voted AGAINST:

HR 3996 - Temporary Tax Relief Act of 2007
HR 3688 - United States-Peru Trade Promotion Agreement Implementation Act of 2007 (Voted for, which is felt to be against the middle class).
HR 2831 - Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2007
HR 976 - Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2007
HR 800 - Employee Free Choice Act of 2007
HR 6 - Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (first vote)
HR 2 - Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2007
HR 4 - Medicare Prescription Drug Price Negotiation Act of 2007

Smith and Fortenberry voted AGAINST, Terry voted FOR:

HR 2895 - Affordable Housing Trust Fund Act of 2007


Smith and Terry voted AGAINST, Fortenberry voted FOR:

HR 2669 - College Cost Reduction Act of 2007
HR 1257 - Shareholder Vote on Executive Compensation Act of 2007
HR 6 - CLEAN Energy Act of 2007 (last vote)

Nebraska’s Senators were also given grades:

Ben Nelson

2007 - B
Nelson voted against the middle class on 2 out of 13 votes considered.

2008 - 67% year to date
Nelson has voted against the middle class on 3 votes, missed one voted, out of 10 bills so far.

He also received a “B” in 2003, a “C” in 2004, and an “F” in 2005.


Chuck Hagel

2007 - F
Hagel voted against the middle class on 8 out of 13 bills considered.

2008 - 11% year to date
Hagel has voted against the middle class on 8 bills, missed one vote, out of 10 bills so far.

He also received a “D” in 2003, and an “F” in 2004 & 2005.