I took 11 votes in the Senate that seemed to be the worst examples of BuShit, and compiled the Democratic Senators' voting record on them. The votes are:
- No Child Left Behind (2001)
- Patriot Act (2001)
- Tax Cut I (2001)
- Iraq War (2002)
- Medicare "Modernization" (2003)
- "Healthy" Forests (2003)
- Energy Policy Act (2003)
- Tax Cut II (2003)
- "Partial Birth" Abortion Ban (2003)
- Estrada Confirmation (2003)
- Appropriations filibuster (that changed overtime and FCC rules in bad ways) (2004)
Senators who were "not voting" or were not in Congress at the time had the vote factored out. After that, I awarded a point for each no vote, and divided by the total. I call it the BuShit Refusal Index (BSRI). Here are the results
- Russ Feingold (WI) 90.91%
- Richard Durbin (IL) 81.82%
- Ted Kennedy (MA) 81.82%
- Jack Reed (RI) 81.82%
- Maria Cantwell (WA) 72.73%
- Hillary Clinton (NY) 72.73%
- Jon Corzine (NJ) 72.73%
- Chris Dodd (CT) 72.73%
- Bob Graham (FL) 72.73%
- Carl Levin (MI) 72.73%
- Jay Rockefeller (WV) 72.73%
- Paul Sarbenes (MD) 72.73%
- Debbie Stabenow (MI) 72.73%
- Daniel Inouye (HI) 70.00%
- Barbara Boxer (CA) 70.00%
- Daniel Akaka (HI) 63.64%
- Joe Biden (DE) 63.64%
- Robert Byrd (WV) 63.64%
- Jim Jeffords (VT) 63.64%
- Barbara Mikulski (MD) 63.64%
- Charles Schumer (NY) 63.64%
- Ron Wyden (OR) 63.64%
- Joe Lieberman (CT) 62.50%
- Pat Leahy (VT) 60.00%
- Patty Murray (WA) 60.00%
- Bill Nelson (FL) 60.00%
- Evan Bayh (IN) 59.10%
- Jeff Bingaman (NM) 55.54%
- Mark Dayton (MN) 55.54%
- Fritz Hollings (SC) 55.54%
- Herb Kohl (WI) 55.54%
- Tom Harkin (IA) 50.00%
- Thomas Carper (DE) 45.45%
- Kent Conrad (ND) 45.45%
- Tom Daschle (SD) 45.45%
- Harry Reid (NV) 45.45%
- Byron Dorgan (ND) 36.36%
- Diane Feinstein (CA) 36.36%
- Tim Johnson (SD) 36.36%
- Max Baucus (MT) 30.00%
- Blanche Lincoln (AR) 27.27%
- Mary Landrieu (LA) 20.00%
- John Breaux (LA) 9.09%
- Zell Miller (GA) 0.00%
- Ben Nelson (NE) 0.00%
Some notes:
-I gave Bayh half credit for his vote against the '03 tax cut because while he voted against the ultimate conference report, he voted for earlier versions of the bill.
-I took out Kerry & Edwards because they missed so many votes that their data really isn't comparable. I also took out freshmen senators Lautenberg and Pryor. Here are their numbers, FWIW
Lautenberg (NJ) 85.71%
Pryor (AR) 57.14%
Edwards (NC) 57.14%
Kerry (MA) 42.86%
-Lastly, I wouldn't say that this is the best way to evaluate a senator, rather it just gives me a look at how often they agree on the issues that are most important to me. For a much more detailed list, that interestingly, gives somewhat different results, go to progressivepunch.org