As Dan mentioned last night, the Senate Democrats have selected their Super Committee representatives for the next round of debt-ceiling triggered talks. Their three candidates are Sen. Patty Murray, Sen. Max Baucus, and Sen. John Kerry.
Good or bad selections for the economy? Should conservatives be happy?
The National Taxpayers Union ranks congressional members based on "every vote that affects taxes, spending, and debt." Here's where Murray, Baucus, and Kerry fell in 2010 on a grading scale of A-F and 100%-0%, with A being a "taxpayer's friend" and F being a "big spender."
Murray-- 6%, F
Baucus-- 9%, F
Kerry-- 6%, F
The Club for Growth--whose philosophy on tax policy is "to raise the amount of money needed to fund legitimate functions of government while doing the least amount of damage to the economy and respecting the principle of treating taxpayers equally"--ranks senators based on their record regarding pro-growth policies. Here's how those three senators stack up on a scale of 0 to 100% (2010 was the most recent ranking available).
Murray -- 0% in 2010, 6% in lifetime
Baucus -- 8% in 2010, 13% in lifetime
Kerry -- 0% in 2010, 3% in lifetime.
The highest -ranking Democrat was Ben Nelson, with a 50% ranking in 2010 and 32% in the lifetime category.
The Club for Growth's web site says its goals are as follows:
- Reduce income tax rates
- Death tax repeal
- Limited government through limited spending (budget reform)
- Social Security reform with personal retirement accounts
- Expanding trade freedom (free trade)
- End abusive lawsuits through medical malpractice and tort reform
- Replacing the current tax code (flat tax, fair tax)
- School choice
- Regulatory reform and deregulation
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