Earl Pomeroy Gets Abysmal Rating From Citizens Against Government Waste
Rep. Earl Pomeroy makes a big deal out of his membership in the House’s “Blue Dog” coalition, which according to its website is a group of Democrats in that chamber of Congress who represent “independent voices for fiscal responsibility and accountability.”
I’ve long said that the “Blue Dog” coalition is little more than a ruse to give red state Democrats a cloak of fiscal conservatism to hide behind. And the facts bear that out.
Not only does Earl Pomeroy vote with Nancy Pelosi 97% of the time, he got an abysmal 3% rating from the government watchdogs at Citizens Against Government Waste. Pomeroy, who is often seen as being more moderate than his North Dakota colleagues in the Senate, scored well below Senator Kent Conrad at 10% and Senator Byron Dorgan at 11%.
In fact, Pomeroy’s Blue Dog Coalition as a whole did awful in this ranking:
The group tracked 120 votes in the House ranging from stimulus funds to bailouts to environmental projects. The scorecard ranks Democrats in the Blue Dog Coalition — who claim to be “independent voices for fiscal responsibility and accountability” — as just a smudge better than liberal members of Congress. Almost half of House Democrats — 105 out of 253 total — scored zero percent.
Blue Dog Democrats, meanwhile, averaged just 11 percent. The coalition’s leadership came in well below that: Reps. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin (6 percent), Baron Hill (3 percent), Jim Matheson (11 percent), and Heath Shuler (8 percent).
To his credit, Rep. Walt Minnick of Idaho scored the highest of any Blue Dog at 83 percent. He fared better than many Republicans. And that shows why some Blue Dogs deserve the moniker. They’re willing to stand up to party leaders on both big and small votes.
But in the Democratic Party, their examples are the exception rather than the rule. Blue Dogs might part company with leaders on a few major votes (but only, notice, when the legislation is guaranteed to pass without their support), but the vast majority of the time they line up nicely with Pelosi’s wishes.
Pomeroy is no “Blue Dog.” He’s a liberal, and his voting record bears that out.
Tags: blue dogs, citizens against government waste, Earl Pomeroy, election 2010, North Dakota News
