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Edited on Sat Feb-25-06 01:54 PM by papau
The ratings system was first devised in 1981 under the direction of William Schneider, a political analyst and commentator, and a contributing editor to National Journal, who continues to guide the calculation process - and Schneider is a conservative - and the system is screwed up
Kennedy, Edward, D-Mass. 96.7 3.3
Reed, Jack, D-R.I. 95.2 4.8
Boxer, Barbara, D-Calif. 94.3 5.7
Sarbanes, Paul, D-Md. 91 9
Lautenberg, Frank, D-N.J. 89.3 10.7
Harkin, Tom, D-Iowa 89.2 10.8
Durbin, Richard, D-Ill. 86.8 13.2
Kerry, John, D-Mass. 86.7 13.3
Stabenow, Debbie, D-Mich. 86.3 13.7
Mikulski, Barbara, D-Md. 85.8 14.2
Corzine, Jon, D-N.J. § 85.7 14.3
Levin, Carl, D-Mich. 85.5 14.5
Leahy, Patrick, D-Vt. 85.3 14.7
Feingold, Russell, D-Wis. 85.2 14.8
Dayton, Mark, D-Minn. 83.5 16.5
Obama, Barack, D-Ill. 82.5 17.5
Murray, Patty, D-Wash. 81.3 18.7
Wyden, Ron, D-Ore. 80.8 19.2
Biden, Joseph, D-Del. 80.2 19.8
Clinton, Hillary Rodham, D-N.Y. 79.8 20.2
Rockefeller IV, Jay, D-W.Va. 79.8 20.2
Dodd, Christopher, D-Conn. 79.7 20.3
Akaka, Daniel, D-Hawaii 78.8 21.2
The votes in each issue area were subjected to a principal-components analysis, a statistical procedure designed to determine the degree to which each vote resembled other votes in the same category (the same members tending to vote together). Nine of the 186 votes (five in the Senate and four in the House) were dropped from the analysis because they were statistically unrelated to others in the same issue area. These typically were votes that reflected regional and special-interest concerns, rather than general ideology.
The analysis also revealed which yea votes correlated with which nay votes within each issue area (members voting yea on certain issues tended to vote nay on others). The yea and nay positions on each roll call were then identified as conservative or liberal.
Each roll-call vote was assigned a weight from 1 (lowest) to 3 (highest), based on the degree to which it correlated with other votes in the same issue area. A higher weight means that a vote was more strongly correlated with other votes and was therefore a better test of economic, social, or foreign-policy ideology. The votes in each issue area were combined in an index (liberal or conservative votes as a percentage of total votes cast, with each vote weighted 1, 2, or 3).
Absences and abstentions were not counted; instead, the percentage base was adjusted to compensate for missed roll calls. A member who missed more than half of the votes in any issue category was scored as "missing" in that category (shown as an "N/A" in the vote-rating tables).
Members were then ranked from the most liberal to the most conservative in each issue area. These rankings were used to assign liberal and conservative percentile ratings to all members of Congress. The liberal percentile score means that the member voted more liberal than that percentage of his or her colleagues in that issue area in 2005. The conservative figure means that the member voted more conservative than that percentage of his or her colleagues.
Economic Issues (41 votes)
7/S5: Grant additional authority to federal judges to decide whether state consumer protection laws apply in class-action lawsuits. February 9. (38-61) C-3
9/S5: Give federal courts jurisdiction over most class-action lawsuits. February 10. (72-26) C-2
13/S256: Exempt members of the military, their spouses, and veterans from the new limits for bankruptcy filers. March 1. (38-58) C-3
26/S256: Increase the minimum wage to $7.25 per hour. March 7. (46-49) C-3
44/S256: Reform federal bankruptcy laws to impose stricter requirements for most individual filers. March 10. (74-25) C-2
49/SConRes18: Express the sense of the Senate that Congress should reject any Social Security reform plan that requires deep benefit cuts or a massive increase in debt. March 15. (50-50) C-3
58/SConRes18: Strike $14 billion in proposed Medicaid cuts over five years. March 17. (52-48) L-3
59/SConRes18: Strike provision in the fiscal 2006 budget resolution giving procedural protection to proposed tax cuts. March 17. (49-51) C-3
81/SConRes18: Approve the fiscal 2006 budget resolution. March 17. (51-49) C-3
98/HR1268: Limit debate on a proposal to give temporary resident status to certain farmworkers who are in the United States illegally. April 19. (53-45; 60 votes required to invoke cloture) C-2
114/HConRes95: Approve the conference report on the fiscal 2006 budget resolution. April 28. (52-47) C-3
115/-: Limit debate on the nomination of Stephen Johnson to head the Environmental Protection Agency. April 29. (61-37; 60 votes required to invoke cloture) C-3
118/HR3: Waive procedural objection to providing $295 billion to fund highway and mass transit programs through 2009. May 11. (76-22; 60 votes required to waive the Budget Act) L-1
137/HR6: Table a proposal to strike a provision providing liability protection to ethanol manufacturers. June 14. (59-38) C-2
140/HR6: Require the president to develop a plan to reduce U.S. imports of petroleum by 40 percent. June 16. (47-53) C-3
141/HR6: Require by 2020 that 10 percent of electricity sold by electric utilities is produced from renewable-energy sources. June 16. (52-48) L-3
143/HR6: Strike a requirement that the Interior Department inventory oil and natural gas resources on the Outer Continental Shelf. June 21. (44-52) C-2
147/HR6: Table a proposal to require the daily release of 1 million barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. June 22. (57-39) C-3
148/HR6: Limit greenhouse-gas emissions by 2010 through the trading of emission allowances. June 22. (38-60) C-2
149/HR6: Table a proposal expressing the sense of the Senate that Congress should limit greenhouse-gas emissions. June 22. (44-53) L-3
157/HR6: Require increases in automobile fuel-efficiency standards. June 23. (28-67) C-2
164/HR2361: Bar funds for planning or building new roads in Alaska's Tongass National Forest. June 29. (39-59) C-3
198/-: Confirm Thomas Dorr as undersecretary of Agriculture. July 21. (62-38) C-3
213/HR6: Approve the conference report on energy reform. July 29. (74-26) C-1
225/SJRes20: Disapprove an Environmental Protection Agency regulation removing specified power plants from Clean Air Act coverage. September 13. (47-51) C-3
261/HR3058: Waive procedural objection to adding $3 billion for the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program. October 20. (53-46; 60 votes required to waive the Budget Act) C-3
268/HR3010: Waive procedural objection to increasing the maximum Pell Grant award for college students. October 25. (48-51; 60 votes required to waive the Budget Act) C-3
285/S1932: Waive procedural objection to increasing Medicaid assistance for Hurricane Katrina victims. November 3. (48-51; 60 votes required to waive the Budget Act) C-3
288/S1932: Strike a provision to permit oil and gas leasing in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. November 3. (48-51) C-3
303/S1932: Approve fiscal 2006 budget reconciliation legislation to curb federal entitlement spending. November 3. (52-47) C-3
331/S2020: Waive procedural objection to imposing a "windfall profits" tax on oil companies. November 17. (35-64; 60 votes required to waive the Budget Act) C-3
332/S2020: Waive procedural objection to repealing tax deductions for oil companies. November 17. (48-51; 60 votes required to waive the Budget Act) C-2
334/S2020: Waive procedural objection to penalizing price gouging on energy products and services. November 17. (57-42; 60 votes required to waive the Budget Act) C-3
338/S2020: Waive procedural objection to creating a trust fund designed to eliminate child poverty. November 17. (36-62; 60 votes required to waive the Budget Act) C-3
342/S2020: Waive procedural objection to extending the enrollment period for Medicare prescription drug coverage. November 17. (51-47; 60 votes required to waive the Budget Act) C-3
347/S2020: Approve fiscal 2006 tax reconciliation legislation to extend certain tax cuts and provide incentives for post-Katrina reconstruction. November 18. (64-33) C-2
350/HR3010: Instruct Senate conferees to insist on a $1 billion increase for the National Institutes of Health. November 18. (58-36) L-2
351/S1932: Instruct Senate conferees to oppose provisions revising the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program. December 14. (64-27) L-2
357/S1932: Instruct Senate conferees to insist on approving $2.9 billion for the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program. December 15. (63-28) L-2
363/S1932: Approve, with revisions, the conference report on the fiscal 2006 budget reconciliation legislation to curb federal entitlement spending. December 21. (50-50; Vice President Cheney broke the tie) C-3
364/HR2863: Limit debate on the conference report to the fiscal 2006 Defense appropriations bill, which included approval for oil and gas drilling in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. December 21. (56-44; 60 votes required to invoke cloture. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., voted no so that he could subsequently move to reconsider the vote.) L-3
Social Issues (16 votes)
28/S256: Prohibit abortion protesters from declaring bankruptcy to avoid paying court-imposed fines for violence at clinics. March 8. (46-53) C-3
83/S600: Rescind the prohibition on U.S. aid to international organizations that perform or promote abortions. April 5. (52-46) L-3
127/-: Limit debate on the nomination of Priscilla Owen to be a federal judge for the 5th Circuit. May 24. (81-18; 60 votes required to invoke cloture) C-2
128/-: Confirm Priscilla Owen as a federal judge for the 5th Circuit. May 25. (55-43) C-3
130/-: Limit debate on the nomination of Janice Rogers Brown to be a federal judge for the D.C. Circuit. June 7. (65-32; 60 votes required to invoke cloture) C-3
131/-: Confirm Janice Rogers Brown as a federal judge for the D.C. Circuit. June 8. (56-43) C-3
132/-: Limit debate on the nomination of William Pryor to be a federal judge for the 11th Circuit. June 8. (67-32; 60 votes required to invoke cloture) C-3
133/-: Confirm William Pryor as a federal judge for the 11th Circuit. June 9. (53-45) C-3
136/-: Confirm Thomas Griffith as a federal judge for the D.C. Circuit. June 14. (73-24) C-2
179/HR2360: Add $368 million for the Homeland Security Department to hire additional border agents. July 14. (38-60) L-2
207/S397: Prohibit gun manufacturers and dealers from selling handguns without a child-safety lock. July 28. (70-30) L-2
208/S397: Table a proposal to permit liability claims against gun manufacturers and dealers for grossly negligent practices. July 28. (62-37) C-2
217/S397: Expand the prohibition on armor-piercing ammunition. July 29. (31-64) C-3
219/S397: Prohibit certain lawsuits that seek to hold manufacturers and dealers of firearms and ammunition liable for gun violence. July 29. (65-31) C-2
245/-: Confirm John Roberts as chief justice of the Supreme Court. September 29. (78-22) C-2
358/HR3199: Limit debate on the conference report to reauthorize the USA PATRIOT Act. December 16. (52-47; 60 votes required to invoke cloture. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., voted no so that he could subsequently move to reconsider the vote.) L-3
Foreign Policy Issues (13 votes)
2/-: Confirm Condoleezza Rice as secretary of State. January 26. (85-13) C-1
84/S600: Retain the cap on U.S. contributions to U.N. peacekeeping operations. April 6. (40-57) C-3
85/S600: Table a proposal prohibiting the use of funds for television broadcasts to Cuba. April 6. (65-35) C-2
93/HR1268: Delete $36 million for construction of a new prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. April 13. (27-71) C-2
129/-: Limit debate on the nomination of John Bolton to be U.S. representative to the United Nations. May 26. (56-42; 60 votes required to invoke cloture. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., voted no so that he could subsequently move to reconsider the vote.) L-3
151/HR6: Express the sense of the Senate urging the United States to participate in international climate-change negotiations. June 22. (46-49) C-3
167/HR2361: Waive procedural rule against a proposal to permit travel to Cuba for humanitarian purposes. June 29. (60-35; two-thirds of those present, or 64, required to suspend the rule) C-1
170/S1307: Approve the Central American Free Trade Agreement. June 30. (54-45) C-2
171/HR2419: Prohibit funds for the Robust Nuclear Earth Penetrator. July 1. (43-53) C-3
311/S1042: Cut $50 million from national missile defense accounts. November 8. (37-60) C-3
319/S1042: Deny access to the federal courts for most detainees at Guantanamo. November 10. (49-42) C-3
322/S1042: Require the president to provide a timetable for the withdrawal of U.S. military forces from Iraq. November 15. (40-58) C-3
324/S1042: Grant habeas corpus rights to the federal courts for detainees and enemy combatants. November 15. (44-54) C-3
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