If the middle class could give your Congressmember a grade, what would it be? Today, DMI releases grades [1] for every senator and representative, evaluating their votes on key legislation that affects the current and aspiring middle class.

2007 began as a year of great promise. Congress was flooded with dozens of new members, many elected with a pledge to address the middle-class squeeze and help more working people attain a middle-class standard of living. Important legislation—from expanding children’s health coverage [2] to bringing down the cost of college loans [3]—was introduced and brought to a vote. But, faced with Senate filibusters and a recalcitrant President, many bills died or were passed in watered-down form. Still, the bills that did become law represent concrete gains for current and aspiring middle-class Americans, including a higher minimum wage [4], expanded Pell Grants [5], a freeze on middle class tax hikes [6] and lower costs to fuel cars [7].

TheMiddleClass.org 2007 Congressional Scorecard [8] takes a closer look at the decisions made by Congress, from the one-year freeze to prevent the Alternative Minimum Tax [9] from hitting middle-class families to the filibuster that originally torpedoed a minimum wage increase [10] (later passed) and the trade bill [11] that put the interests of multinational corporations and large investors before the concerns of middle-class Americans.

After examining 13 bills in detail, the 2007 Congressional Scorecard [12] assigns a grade to each Member of Congress based on his or her support for the middle class. On the whole, Congress squeaked by with a passing grade in 2007, but there is considerable room for improvement. Just 62% of Representatives and 56% of Senators received a C or better. While this middle-class record is far better than the first term of the 109th Congress, the millions of Americans striving to attain—or hold onto—a middle-class standard of living deserve more from their elected representatives.

In an effort to hold Congress accountable to the middle class, DMI bought a Google ad for each and every member of Congress, which will show up on the right side of the screen. Each ad includes the legislator's letter grade and a link to their own personal page on TheMiddleClass.org [13].

But what can you do with this veritable treasure trove of information, you ask? The possibilities are endless. Create your own new-and-improved personal widget [14] for your blog, and feature the names of your state's senators and representatives or issues of importance. Bloggers can use the grades [15] when writing about any Congressmember and how they rank on middle class issues. Read about the best and worst bills [16] of the year, and find out how Congress stacked up. Link to analysis of the bills on the scorecard on TheMiddleClass.org [17].

Congress, we're watching you, and so are millions of Google-searchers who see the Google ads. So check out the grades [18], link to them, Google them, and do your part to hold Congress accountable.