AFP Grades the Florida Congressional Delegation
Submitted by Kevin Derby on January 25, 2011 - 8:49am
On Monday, the Florida chapter of Americans for Prosperity (AFP-FL) released their grades for the Sunshine States congressional delegation. Based on the congressmens votes on a number of issues during 2009 and 2010, the group gave the delegation members higher marks based on their adherence to the principles of less government, lower taxes and more personal freedoms.
Rather than the State of the Union seating assignments alternating by party, AFP-FL thinks the Florida delegation should sit according to their grades, said Apryl Marie Fogel who heads up the state chapter.We are proud of Representatives Mack, Miller, and Posey for their perfect scores. They have shown a real commitment to the free-market principles and we applaud them for their efforts. The returning members from Florida have some work to do, and the members that earned an 'F' appear to be hostile to any free-market legislation.
Florida Republican Congressmen Connie Mack, Jeff Miller and Bill Posey earned A+ grades while their fellow Sunshine State Republicans Vern Buchanan, Ander Crenshaw, Lincoln Diaz-Balart, Mario Diaz-Balart, John Mica, Tom Rooney, Cliff Stearns and Bill Young earned A grades. While Fogel did not thank them, U.S. Rep. Gus Bilirakis and Adam Putnam, who left Congress to become state agricultural commissioner, earned A+ grades as well.
Other Florida Republicans did worse on the report cards, as Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and the now-retired Ginny Brown-Waite earned B grades.
Sunshine State Democrats fared poorly on the report card: Corrine Brown, Kathy Castor, Ted Deutch, Alcee Hastings and Debbie Wasserman Schultz earned F grades; Kendrick Meek, who ran for the U.S. Senate and lost, garnered an F grade; Robert Wexler, who vacated his seat, received a D- grade.
Democrats who lost their seats in November did poorly: Allen Boyd and Suzanne Kosmas earned D grades, while Ron Klein got a D-mark and Alan Grayson was handed an F grade.
The grades for Floridas U.S. Senate members followed a similar pattern. During the 2009 session, Mel Martinez earned a B while his replacement and fellow Republican George LeMieux received an A grade. Democrat Bill Nelson, who is running for a third time in 2012, received a D- grade.
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