Voter Guide

TheMiddleClass.org Voter Guide Rates Pennsylvania's Mike Fitzpatrick ZERO!

Dave Johnson — Sat, 20 Oct 2012 15:58:16 -0400

What is Pennsylvania Rep. Michael Fitzpatrick's score in TheMiddleClass.org Voter Guide? 0%. Zero. Nada. That'd be a 'no.' Zip. Nothing for the middle class. Negatory, good buddy.

Pennsylvania's Michael Fitzpatrick represents Pennsylvania's 8th District in Congress. He received a ZERO rating from TheMiddleClass.org Voter Guide. That's right, he votes with the middle class zero percent of the time!

Help us run ads that inform voters about Rep. Fitzpatrick 's record.

Rep. Fitzpatrick 's Record

Look at Rep. Fitzpatrick's entry in TheMiddleClass.org Voter Guide here.

The first two points in this Rep. Fitzpatrick's TheMiddleClass.org Voter Guide entry are:

Voted for the Republican FY 2013 Budget
Would slash domestic spending including converting Medicare into a voucher program,

Voted against the FY 2013 Progressive Caucus Budget for All
H.Con. Res. 112 amendment would reduce long-term federal debt through short-term job-creation measures, such as increased spending on rebuilding roads and schools.

Fitzpatrick's Campaign Website

While voting against middle class interests, what does Rep Fitzpatrick tell voters in his district?

From the website:

Much of Mike’s efforts in Congress have focused empowering Americans to kick-start our economy to put people back to work. He has worked to pass nearly 30 bills through the House of Representatives aimed at getting government out of the way of small business and fostering a predictable set of rules for businesses to grow. Ranging from closing tax loopholes to ensure everybody pays their fair share to keeping bureaucratic regulations are kept in check, Mike has focused on real world solutions that move us forward.

"30 bills" to "kick-start our economy to put people back to work"? As the Huffington Post reported, "House Republicans routinely beat the drum about the hard work they have done in passing 'more than 30 jobs bills' ... But there's a problem with their jobs bills: They don't create jobs. At least, they won't any time soon. In interviews conducted by The Huffington Post with five economists, most said the GOP jobs package would have no meaningful impact on job creation in the near term. Some said it was not likely to do much in the long term, either."

How about Medicare? Fitzpatrick voted to turn Medicare into a voucher plan, that doesn't even give seniors enough of as check to buy the private insurance they would have to go out and find -- on their own -- at the very time they need health care the most!

And get this trick, form his website: "Mike believes it is essential that those over 55 years old should not have their benefits changed." As President Obama said during the first debate, "If you're 54 or 55, you might want to listen." Fitzpatrick is telling you here that if you are 55 or younger, your Medicare benefits will change.

Help Us Inform Voters About Rep. Fitzpatrick's Record

Fitzpatrick's campaign rhetoric doesn't let voters know what he has actually done while in Congress. Campaign for America's Future is running an ad campaign that will help let voters know about this, when they go online to research candidates.

Campaign for America's Future is running an ad campaign telling voters about vulnerable conservative congresspeople who rate the worst on TheMiddleClass.org Voter Guide. You can help us to keep running these ads by clicking here.

You can help take back the Congress for the middle class and contribute to the ad campaign by clicking here.

One more time:
Help us run ads that inform voters about Rep. Fitzpatrick 's record.
---

Hey check out what happens when you click these:

Tom Reed: The Big "Zero" Who Fell Through a Crack and Landed on the Middle Class

Terrance Heath — Fri, 19 Oct 2012 10:53:47 -0400

Last summer, my family took what we would later decide was our favorite family vacation thus far. We packed the car and headed north of Washington, DC, to Chautauqua Institute in New York state. I didn't know it at the time, but our trip took us through New York's 29th congressional district, represented by Republican congressman Tom Reed — a big "zero" on middle class issues.

The 29th has an interesting history. It was a "packed" Republican district until 2002, when redistricting turned it into a "cracked" district where neither party had a significant voting bloc. The 2008 election reversed the "crack" in Democrats favor. An unfortunate series of events in 2010 opened the "crack" in the 29th again, and Tom Reed fell through it.

In other words, a big zero fell through the crack and landed on the middle class. Tom Reed (R, NY-29) is one of "worst of the worst," who never sided with the middle class on a single important vote in this congress. That record earned him a "zero" score on TheMiddleClass.Org 2012 Voter Guide, which looks at 10 votes in the 112 Congress that encompass the real-life concerns of middle class and low income Americans. Reed came down on the side of the 1% every time.

Tom Reed voted for the Republican FY 2013 Budget, aka "the Ryan Budget." As he fell into lockstep with the House GOP, Reed issued a statement claiming that the deficit and "Washington's spending" is "threatening critical programs like Social Security and Medicare" — even as he supported a "smoke and mirrors" budget that wouldgut Medicaid. end Medicare as we know it, and add $6.8 trillion to the federal debt.
Meanwhile, Reed voted against the FY 2013 Progressive Caucus "Budget For All." Instead of supporting a budget that would reduce the federal debt and boost employment by millions, Reed chose the "Budget for Billionaires."
Reed voted to extend the Bush tax cuts. As his reason for supporting a tax cut that would give millionaires a $106,000 bonus, Reed offered this: "Bottom line, the message is real clear: tax increases cost jobs." Here's a few things we know about taxes that Reed doesn't: Tax cuts for the wealthy don't stimulate the economy, and tax cuts don't create jobs, because the wealthy don't spend their tax cuts.
Reed voted to take student borrowers hostage. Student debt is a growing problem for families. Graduates struggle to find jobs amid grim job prospects, while saddled with massive debt that could follow them to the grave (and beyond). Reed and the rest of the GOP held student borrowers and their families hostage, with legislation that would keep student loans at their current levels — at the cost of ending a vital public health program.

The rest of Reed's record on the MiddleClass.Org Voters Guide fills in the rest of the picture. Reed sided with big banks when he voted to gut the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau — the agency charged with protecting consumers from the kind of predatory banking practices that caused the financial meltdown in 2009, and led to the economic crisis and recession. Reed put corporate interests ahead of the needs of working-class Americans, when he voted to lower tariffs on auto exports to Korea while maintaining incentives to outsource American jobs. Reed voted against the health and well-being of millions of Americans when he voted to repeal health care reform.

This year, voters have a unique opportunity to make sure there's one less "big zero" in Congress, voting against the needs and concerns of middle-class Americans. I mentioned earlier that Reed's district — New York's 29th congressional district — has an interesting history. Well, it has an even more interesting future: it's going away.

After the results of the 2010 Census, New York lost two congressional seats. After one of the hottest redistricting battles in the country, New York's 29th congressional district will be replaced by the 23rd congressional district — was redrawn to include 54% of of the 29th district. Incumbent Democrat Bill Owens is running in the 21st district instead, and Reed is facing off with Democratic challenger Nate Shinagawa — who promises to be a vote for health care reform, reproductive rights, pay equity, and preserving Social Security and Medicare.

According to BallotPedia, the 23rd is considered to be "leaning Republican." Perhaps with a strong enough push it might lean towards a candidate who will fight for the middle class, and away from another "big zero" for middle class Americans.

In Pennsylvania, Rep. Jim Gerlach Gets 0% From TheMiddleClass.org Voter Guide

Dave Johnson — Fri, 19 Oct 2012 00:53:42 -0400

Pennsylvania's Jim Gerlach, a Congressman representing the 6th Congressional District received a ZERO rating from TheMiddleClass.org Voter Guide. That's right, he votes with the middle class zero percent of the time! Help us run ads that inform voters about Rep. Gerlach's record.

Rep. Gerlach's Record

Look at Rep. Gerlach's entry in TheMiddleClass.org Voter Guide here.

The first two points in this Rep. Gerlach's TheMiddleClass.org Voter Guide entry are:

Voted for the Republican FY 2013 Budget
Would slash domestic spending including converting Medicare into a voucher program,

Voted against the FY 2013 Progressive Caucus Budget for All
H.Con. Res. 112 amendment would reduce long-term federal debt through short-term job-creation measures, such as increased spending on rebuilding roads and schools.

Gerlach's Campaign Website

While voting against middle class interests, what does Rep Gerlach tell voters in his district?

From the website:

It is critical that we get our economy moving and put Pennsylvanians back to work, and Jim has made the issue of jobs a key part of his legislative focus. During the current Congress, Jim has voted in favor of nearly 30 pro-jobs bills, all of which have been ignored in the Democrat-led Senate and by President Obama.

"30 pro-jobs bills"? As the Huffington Post reported, "House Republicans routinely beat the drum about the hard work they have done in passing 'more than 30 jobs bills' ... But there's a problem with their jobs bills: They don't create jobs. At least, they won't any time soon. In interviews conducted by The Huffington Post with five economists, most said the GOP jobs package would have no meaningful impact on job creation in the near term. Some said it was not likely to do much in the long term, either."

How about Medicare? Gerlach voted to turn Medicare into a voucher plan, that doesn't even give seniors enough of as check to buy the private insurance they would have to go out and find -- on their own -- at the very time they need health care the most!

Help Us Inform Voters About Rep. Gerlach's Record

Gerlach's campaign rhetoric doesn't let voters know what he has actually done while in Congress. Campaign for America's Future is running an ad campaign that will help let voters know about this, when they go online to research candidates.

You can help take back the Congress for the middle class and contribute to the ad campaign by clicking here.

---

Hey check out what happens when you click these:

How New Hampshire Republicans Are Trying To Hide From Their Anti-Middle Class Votes

Bill Scher — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 14:01:28 -0400

Two representatives from New Hampshire are among the members of Congress targeted by a Campaign for Americas Future ad campaign aimed at vulnerable conservative congresspeople who rate the worst on TheMiddleClass.org Voter Guide. (You can contribute to the campaign by clicking here.)

Of course, those conservatives are not bragging about their key votes against middle-class interests. How are they trying to misdirect voter attention? I looked at the campaigns of Reps. Charlie Bass and Frank Guinta.

Both campaign websites feature messages designed to appeal to middle-class interests.

Bass' homepage says that "strengthening NH's economy is Charlie's top priority" and he "helped to preserve and protect Social Security, and to strengthen Medicare."

Guinta's homepage touts an earlier promise that his "first priority will always be middle class job creation for Granite Staters," followed by "evidence" that its a "promise kept": "Frank has voted for over 30 jobs bills ... Sadly, a vast majority of those bills have yet to be voted on in the Senate."

But neither website brags that they both voted for the House Republican budget – and Guinta served on the Budget committee that drafted it – which if enacted was estimated to destroy up to 3 million jobs in the next five years, largely through devastating cuts to Medicaid, robbing low-income people of purchasing power, cutting off benefits that get spent in the private sector and sapping economic demand.

Bass claims to support Social Security, but does not mention he backed President George W. Bush's plan to partially privatize Social Security and put our retirement security in the hands of Wall Street. Further, his vote for the Republican budget was a vote to turn Medicare into a voucher system, gutting it, not strengthening it.

Guinta touts his votes for "30 jobs bills," but this is a standard Republican talking point that's been debunked.

As the Huffington Post reported, "House Republicans routinely beat the drum about the hard work they have done in passing 'more than 30 jobs bills' ... But there's a problem with their jobs bills: They don't create jobs. At least, they won't any time soon. In interviews conducted by The Huffington Post with five economists, most said the GOP jobs package would have no meaningful impact on job creation in the near term. Some said it was not likely to do much in the long term, either."

(One of those bills would have gutted the Consumer Financial Protection Agency; another would have limited the ability of unions to organize.)

Simply put, the campaign rhetoric doesn't square with the votes. That's the way these incumbents like it. But our ad campaign is designed to expose their votes to their constituents when they go online to research the candidates.

You can help take back the Congress for the middle class and contribute to the ad campaign by clicking here.

Another Voter Guide Flunks Congress On Serving The Middle Class

Isaiah J. Poole — Fri, 12 Oct 2012 15:39:21 -0400

TheMiddleClass.org Voter Guide is getting attention this week for its rating 200 members of Congress "zero" on a set of votes it deems reflective of the members' stands on middle-class concerns. It turns out it was not alone in taking a dim view of the performance of the 112th Congress on kitchen-table issues.

The Institute for Policy Studies has released its own "Congressional Report Card for the 99%" that took an even broader look at how well Congress served the interests of the middle class and low-income people. Its verdict: 48 representatives and 11 senators received an "F" grade, and another 112 representatives and 24 senators got a grade of "D." Sixty-four representatives and 14 senators received either an "A" or "A+."

The report is alternatively called an "inequality report card," and its intent is to look at Congress through the lens of whether votes on a particular bill served to either help eradicate or help worsen economic inequality. The guide's authors explain in its overview:

Our growing economic divide in America did not just “happen.” No natural disasters or unavoidable dips in the business cycle have created our contemporary top-heavy America. We have become a fundamentally more unequal nation over recent decades largely because those who write the economy‟s rules have rigged those rules — to ensure that wealth and income flow to the top, at the expense of everyone else.

Congress — more than any other institution in American life — has responsibility for the rules that determine how our economy operates. Our lawmakers define tax and trade policy. They decide who gains and who loses when budget dollars get spent. They approve and disapprove the regulations that shape every aspect of our marketplaces.

Members of Congress, in other words, have the capacity to make sure that all Americans, not just a privileged few, share in the wealth that we all together create.

Some of the votes in the IPS report card are also in the TheMiddleClass.org voter guide, such as the House and Senate votes on extending the Bush tax cuts for people earning more than $250,000. But the report card also adds such votes as an attempt to add to a transportation funding bill an amendment that would end abuse of offshore tax havens, a major issue in the presidential campaign because of Republican candidate Mitt Romney's extensive use of tax-avoidance strategies as the founder of the private equity firm Bain Capital.

"This new inequality report card offers America's voters a new lens for scoping out the handiwork of the lawmakers who represent us," the authors write. "Our hope: that Americans come to see the actions lawmakers take on our economic divide as a critically important indicator of our future well-being."

Why Paul Ryan Is A "Zero" For The Middle Class

Isaiah J. Poole — Thu, 11 Oct 2012 12:07:24 -0400

Don't be surprised if Republican Rep. Paul Ryan works hard at tonight's vice presidential debate to counter Vice President Joe Biden's Scranton, Pa. working-class roots with his own small-town roots in Janesville, Wis. But while both will invoke their middle-class roots, it is Ryan who in Congress has been in relentless opposition to the fundamental things that middle-class people want and need.

That opposition is reflected in Ryan's "zero" score in TheMiddleClass.org 2012 Voter Guide, released earlier this month. That voter guide looks at 10 votes during the 112th Congress that are symbolic of the kitchen-table concerns of middle-class and low-income families. Ryan is among 181 members of the House who received a score of zero, but of course Ryan stands out not only because he is the Republican Party's vice presidential candidate but because he is the intellectual leader of that band of 181 members who never sided with the middle class on a significant vote during this congressional session.

Arguably the most important vote we rate in the guide is on what has come to be known as the "Ryan budget," the fiscal 2013 budget resolution. It will—or at least certainly should be—the centerpiece of tonight's debate. TheMiddleClass.org offers a scathing critique of the budget resolution's impact on middle class households: "Supporters of this budget choose to be the tribunes of the 1 percent, willing to destroy basic elements of the American dream in service of that cause. ... [T]his legislation would dramatically lower taxes on the wealthiest Americans, while cutting programs vital to the security of middle-class families."

As the voter guide spells out, "Medicaid, which under the resolution would be turned into a block grant program, would be cut by $770 billion over 10 years; other entitlement programs would be cut by nearly $2 trillion, including the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly known as the food stamp program. Domestic discretionary programs, where spending levels are set based on annual congressional deliberations rather than eligibility formulas, would be cut by $38 billion in fiscal 2013 and more than $350 billion over 10 years."

At the same time, it would further cut taxes for millionaires and billionaires by lowering the top tax rate from 35 percent to 25 percent, eliminating the alternative minimum tax that is intended to keep wealthy individuals from piling up exemptions and deductions that cause them to evade paying tax altogether, and keeping in place the lower tax rate on capital gains that has the effect of allowing people like Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney to pay a lower tax rate than many of the hourly employees who have worked for him and his businesses.

That budget would also turn Medicare into a voucher program, which could be used to remain in the current Medicare system or shop for private plans. The voucher is designed to only cover a portion of health care cost increases over time, so that seniors bear a greater percentage of the costs on their own, and would ration their own care as a result.

This all embodies Ryan's "makers vs. takers" ideology, the backdrop for Romney's now-abandoned statement in a private fundraiser that 47 percent of Americans are people "dependent on government" who can't be convinced "to take personal responsibility for their lives." And while Ryan says that he is not opposed to all government assistance to those in need, he is far more generous when it comes to ensuring that wealthy so-called "makers" are even wealthier.

Consider his votes on some of the other bills highlighted in the voter guide, such as the Orwellian-named "Job Protection and Recession Prevention Act," which does not have as its primary purpose projecting jobs or preventing a recession, but was instead proposed by House Republicans to permanently enshrine into law the Bush tax cuts for people earning more than $250,000 a year. He also voted in favor of a bill that would allow corporate lobbyists to pressure Congress into overturning major health and safety regulations based on their costs to business, regardless of their benefits to ordinary people. He wanted to render the Consumer Financial Protection Agency toothless by allowing regulators who see their job as protecting the financial industry to trump decisions that would protect consumers. He voted for a bill that would make it harder for workers to fight for better wages and benefits. He would not support keeping government student loan rates from doubling this year without first killing funding for a community health care program. Then, of course, there are his repeated efforts to repeal health care reform.

Whether it is the need for federal intervention to create good-paying jobs rebuilding and revitalizing our public assets or to prevent the layoffs of state and local public workers, providing the funding necessary to allow public schools to succeed and to make higher education accessible, ensuring that ordinary people have some protection against corporate predators, providing basic economic security for families struggling to get back on their feet, Paul Ryan is a consistent and fervent opponent.

"Ryan has learned to look straight into the camera and exude a choir boy’s innocent sincerity while offering up a toxic brew of platitude, slur and deception," Robert Borosage wrote after Ryan's speech at the Republican National Convention in August. He went on to write that Ryan has been "an apostle of financial deregulation, ignoring the Wall Street excesses that blew up the economy. He touted the Bush tax cuts, the Iraq War and the prescription drug benefit without concern for paying for them. He voted for TARP with no demand of heads rolling on Wall Street. He pockets big bucks from Big Oil in denial of climate change. He’s a proud advocate of the corporate trade deals that continue to rack up foreign deficits of over $1 billion a day."

To put it simply, Paul Ryan does not stand with the middle class. He is a leading champion of the policies that have caused middle-class and working-class families to fall behind while the wealthiest continue to get a disproportionate share of what little economic growth there is. He is a lead obstructionist in the struggle to repair the middle-class economy and make things right again for working people. In that respect, he is worse than "zero."

The Ad Campaign That Will Take Back Congress For The Middle Class

Bill Scher — Fri, 05 Oct 2012 15:17:29 -0400

Today, the Campaign for America's Future unveiled TheMiddleClass.org Voter Guide which allows you to see how often your representatives in Congress vote for the middle class. A whopping 181 scored a big fat zero.

But we didn't want this data to just collect dust on the Internet shelf. We want to get this info to the people that need to know it. And you can help.

We're launching an online ad campaign targeting 10 of the worst opponents of the middle class, whom political analysts have determined are in danger of losing re-election and who are facing strong middle champions on Election Day.

When people go online to search for information about their representative, what they'll see is his or her pathetic score from TheMiddleClass.org Voter Guide, and ability to click and find out the disturbing details.

And you can help fund this campaign, to help make sure as many voters as possible in these key districts get the information they need to make an informed vote.

The target list is:

Rep. Jeff Denham CA-10
Rep. Mary Bono Mack CA-36
Rep. Mike Coffman CO-6
Rep. Frank Guinta NH-1
Rep. Charles Bass NH-2
Rep. Jim Gerlach PA-6
Rep. Michael Fitzpatrick PA-8
Rep. Tim Johnson IL-13
Rep. Tom Reed NY-23
Rep. Paul Ryan WI-1

And for every $10 you contribute, you'll help this campaign reach 1,000 voters.

For some of these races, that might be enough to make the difference. It might be enough to determine who controls Congress.

If these congresspeople don't want to share their voting record with their constituents, help us do the job for them.

Who Stands with the Middle Class?

Robert Borosage — Fri, 05 Oct 2012 07:41:23 -0400

The broad American middle class is in trouble. Working families have been struggling with stagnant wages and rising insecurity for over three decades. From 2002-2007, Americans witnessed the first “recovery” in which the typical household suffered declining income. Then came the collapse of the housing bubble and the Great Recession. Middle-class Americans suffered losses of wealth and savings, as the value of their homes plummeted. Incomes continued to decline. Coming out of the recession, the top 1% captured a staggering 93% of the nation’s income growth, while the middle class continued to struggle.

So who in the Congress stands with the middle class? To answer this question, the Campaign for America’s Future and TheMiddleClass.org are publishing its Middle Class Voting Guide. It grades every Senate and House member on the basis of 10 votes over the last session of Congress that we consider central to middle-class concerns. It is presented in a user-friendly web page -- themiddelcass.org/voterguide -- that allows voters to locate their legislators by zip code, see their total grades, and probe their votes on each of the 10 issues. Voters can also click on their state, and see how the state delegation ranks on these issues. We also offer a handy guide to the worst and the best of the legislators.

Creating the guide inevitably involves choices. We removed any partisan bias by picking the issues before recording the votes. With the House and Senate under different party leadership, we found it necessary to choose different votes for each body, since very few issues received a vote in both houses. We chose not to include the continuing resolutions, omnibus appropriations bills and other compromises necessary to keep the government running.

We focused on kitchen-table issues – the concerns that Americans struggle with at night over their kitchen tables: jobs and wages, affording health care for their families and college for their kids, wondering about how to afford a secure retirement.

The issues we’ve chosen reflect common sense. With 23 million Americans in need of full time work, and a faltering recovery, middle-class Americans have a direct stake in government action to create jobs. As Europe has shown, inflicting austerity at this time is the path to a double-dip recession. The conservative head of the Federal Reserve, and the director of the International Monetary Fund share this perspective. It is also the stated assumption of the directors’ report of Simpson and Bowles and of the Rivlin-Demenici Commission. So we score members on their votes on the American Jobs Act and on other measures to put Americans to work.

Middle-class Americans treat Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid as basic pillars of family security. By overwhelming margins, across political lines, they do not believe these programs need to be cut to help reduce deficits. They reject efforts to turn Medicare into a voucher program. They worry about the layoffs of teachers and want more investment in education. So we score members on their votes on the Ryan budget plan, passed by the House and defeated in the Senate.

Over the last 30 years, Americans have struggled with wages that aren’t keeping up with costs. Workers have not been able to capture a fair share of the rising productivity and profits that they have helped to produce. Falling union density has reduced their ability to bargain collectively. Corporations have moved jobs abroad and used the threat of off-shoring to squelch wage demands. So we score members on their votes on strengthening the right to organize, and on ending tax benefits for companies that move jobs abroad.

America’s corporate trade policies led to trade deficits of over $2 billion a day before the economic collapse. These imbalances, the IMF concluded, were destabilizing and unsustainable, contributing directly to the bubble and its eventual bust. In 2009, the G-20 reached a consensus that surplus and debtor countries must move to more balanced trade. For the middle class, our trade imbalances have meant the loss of good jobs abroad, stagnant wages, and contributed to the economic calamities of the Great Recession. Not surprisingly, despite bipartisan Washington support for more trade accords, Americans are increasingly skeptical of our corporate trade policies. We score legislators on their votes on the bilateral accord with South Korea, whose mercantilist trade policies contradict any notion of a level playing field.

Middle-class Americans juggle mortgages, credit card debt, and student loans. They struggle to save money for retirement. Too often, they are victimized by lenders, tricked by complex small print agreements, defrauded or mistreated by banks that have grown too big to manage. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is the only financial regulator tasked solely with protecting consumers. In its few months of existence, it has already proved its worth. So we score legislators on their votes to weaken or compromise the Bureau.

Americans are concerned about deficits; they realize that choices have to be made. Strong majorities support raising taxes on the rich as part of the effort to address deficits while protecting vital investments. Extreme inequality now contributes directly to the decline of the middle class. So we score legislators on their votes on repealing top end tax breaks.

Middle-class Americans want affordable energy. But they also value clean air and water, protection against toxics and poisons. They support environmental review of projects that might do damage to their environment. So we score legislators on their votes to weaken or eliminate environmental protections.

Middle-class Americans are also increasingly concerned about the big money that is undermining our democracy. They see Washington dominated by corporate lobbies that rig the rules to their own benefit. They see legislators compromised by their need to raise money from those very interests. They want Washington cleaned up. So we score members on their vote on at least forcing disclosure of all campaign related expenditures.

We limited ourselves to issues members voted on. One of the most destructive actions to the middle class -- the debt ceiling debacle that undermined a fragile recovery and resulted in a destructive compromise that began to inflict austerity on a weak economy – is not included here. The real damage was done in holding the debt ceiling hostage, which entailed avoiding a vote, not casting one. We argued long about including the vote on the compromise as a vote against the middle class. It forced untimely and unbalanced cuts in domestic programs, while setting up the “sequester” process that makes austerity the focus rather than measures to get our economy going. The problem was the alternative – voting against the compromise and allowing default on the debt – was also destructive of middle class interests. This left legislators and the middle class with no good choices. So we decided not to score those votes.

What does the guide tell us? Not surprisingly, the guide reflects the growing polarization – both partisan and ideological – in the Congress. 181 House members get 0% on our score sheet, all Republicans. They would surely argue that they represent the middle class by opposing all tax hikes, cutting government spending, pushing deregulation, and supporting more trade accords. We disagree. Polls suggest most Americans disagree. In the end, the voters will decide whom they reward and whom they punish. The guide provides a clear screen that can help them see where their legislators stand.