Say Anything Blog

An interesting excerpt from an NTU press release announcing their latest congressional rankings:

(Alexandria, Va.)—The multi-year decline of lawmakers’ pro-taxpayers scores under Republican control of the House of Representatives and Senate entered a nosedive in 2007 with a new Democratic majority, according to the National Taxpayers Union’s (NTU) 29th annual Rating of Congress. The scorecard, the only one to utilize every roll call vote affecting tax, spending, and regulatory issues, was based on a record 609 votes—427 in the House and 182 in the Senate. . . .

The Rating likewise provided clues to how Republicans, now in the minority, responded to their 2006 drubbing at the polls. House GOP Members seemed to have taken the election results as a referendum on their declining fiscal discipline, as the average pro-taxpayer score rose nine points to 69 percent. Senate Republicans, however, didn’t seem to get the same memo. Their average fell nine points to 66 percent in 2007. Democrats in both chambers saw drops in average scores: 16 percent to 6 percent in the House and 15 percent to 8 percent in the Senate.

Meanwhile, approval ratings for Congress in general remains in the teens.  Coincidence?  I think not.

There’s little doubt that, for Republicans, the road to redemption lays with a return to fiscally conservative principles.  People want less government waste and lower taxes.  Until Republicans can say they’re delivering that, and we can actually believe them when they say it, they’ll stay in the minority and Democrats will enjoy majorities as the default party.