THE CONGRESSIONAL REPORT CARD
‘JUST THE FACTS, MA’AM’
By Gordon Duff STAFF WRITER
I had a comment earlier today on which political party to support and who has done what to whom. Rather than allow the mountain of election year buffoonery to continue without ‘telling it like it is’ this is how your favorite politician stands on veterans issues:
How do Veteran Groups evaluate Republican vs. Democratic Legislators?
Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America is the nation’s first and largest group dedicated to the Troops and Veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the civilian supporters of those Troops and Veterans. They have members in all 50 states and no one has done more than them to advocate for the men and women serving our country in the front lines of our current war.
Disabled American Veterans has a very similar site. They appear to have used fewer votes to do their evaluations, and the results, though not identical, are similar. While the IAVA use letter grades from A down to F, the DAV use scores ranging from a high of 100% to a low of 20%.
The charts below were designed by me, Ray Dubuque, from information provided by their web sites to make it easier to see the contrast between Republican and Democratic politicians. I urge you to go to the original sites, http://iavaaction.org/ and Disabled American Veterans legislative research, so as to see and appreciate the tremendous amount of work that went into documenting the legislative records of every last member of the current Congress (as of 2006). I challenge anyone who disagrees with their findings to point to anything comparable to back up his or her conflicting opinions.
| State | Republican Senators : | |
| AL: | Shelby = D 40% | Sessions = F 40% |
| AK: | Stevens = D 40% | Murkowski = D 40% |
| AZ: | McCain = D 20% | Kyl = D- 60% |
| CO: | Allard = D 60% | |
| FL: | Martinez = D 60% | |
| GA: | Chambliss = D- 60% | Isakson = F 60% |
| ID: | Craig = D- 20% | Crapo = D 20% |
| IN: | Lugar = D+ 60% | |
| IA: | Grassley = D 40% | |
| KS: | Brownback = D 40% | Roberts = D 60% |
| KY: | McConnell = D 60% | Bunning = D- 40% |
| LA: | Vitter = F 40% | |
| ME: | Snowe = C 80% | Collins = C- 60% |
| MN: | Coleman = D 40% | |
| MS: | Cochran = D 40% | Lott = D 60% |
| MO: | Bond = D 40% | Talent = D+ 60% |
| MT: | Burns = D+ 60% | |
| NE: | Hagel = D+ 60% | |
| NV: | Ensign = D- 40% | |
| NH: | Gregg = D 40% | Sununu = D 40% |
| NM: | Domenici = D 40% | |
| NC: | Dole = D- 60% | Burr = F 60% |
| OH: | DeWine = D+ 60% | Voinovich = D 60% |
| OK: | Inhofe = D- 40% | Coburn = F 40% |
| OR: | Smith = C 50% | |
| PA: | Specter = C 60% | Santorum = D- 40% |
| RI: | Chafee = C 80% | |
| SC: | Graham = D- 40% | DeMint = F 60% |
| SD: | Thune = D+ 60% | |
| TN: | Frist = D 60% | Alexander = D 40% |
| TX: | Hutchison = D+ 60% | Cornyn = D- 60% |
| UT: | Hatch = D 50% | Bennett = D 40% |
| VA: | Warner = D+ 60% | Allen = D+ 60% |
| WY: | Thomas = D 40% | Enzi = D- 40% |
| State | Democratic Senators : | |
| AR: | Lincoln = B+ 80% | Pryor = B 100% |
| CA: | Feinstein = B+ 80% | Boxer = B+ 80% |
| CO: | Salazar = B 80% | |
| CT: | Dodd = A- 80% | Lieberman = B+ 80% |
| DE: | Biden = B+ 75% | Carper = B+ 80% |
| FL: | Nelson = A- 100% | |
| HI: | Inouye = B 80% | Akaka = B+ 80% |
| IL: | Durbin = A- 80% | Obama = B+ 80% |
| IN: | Bayh = B+ 80% | |
| IA: | Harkin = B 80% | |
| LA: | Landrieu = B+ 80% | |
| MD: | Sarbanes = B+ 80% | Mikulski = A- 80% |
| MA: | Kennedy = B+ 80% | Kerry = B 75% |
| MI: | Levin = B+ 80% | Stabenow = A- 100% |
| MN: | Dayton = A- 80% | |
| MT: | Baucus = B 80% | |
| NE: | Nelson = B- 60% | |
| NV: | Reid = A- 80% | |
| NJ: | Lautenberg = B+ 80% | Menendez = B 80% |
| NM: | Bingaman = B+ 80% | |
| NY: | Schumer = B+ 80% | Clinton = A- 80% |
| ND: | Conrad = B+ 80% | Dorgan = A- 80% |
| OR: | Wyden = B+ 80% | |
| RI: | Reed = A- 80% | |
| SD: | Johnson = B+ 100% | |
| VT: | Leahy = B+ 80% | Jeffords (I) = B+ 80% |
| WA: | Murray = A- 80% | Cantwell = A- 80% |
| WV: | Byrd = B 80% | Rockefeller = B+ 100% |
| WI: | Kohl = A- 80% | Feingold = B 80% |
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As anyone can see, the lowest grade any Democratic Senator got (from the IAVA) was a "B-" and the highest grade any Republican got was a "C". (And the Republicans who earned those C’s were the handful of more "liberal" Senators, whom many loyal Republicans consider "Rino’s".) |
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Gordon Duff is a Senior Staff Writer for VeteransToday.com. He is a U.S. Marine Vietnam Combat Veteran and regular contributor on social and political issues. He holds a United Nations diplomatic post.
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