United Liberty

The freshman class elected to the House during the 2010 mid-term elections came Washington with a lot of hype. After all, this group of 87 members were dubbed the “Tea Party Class” thanks to coming to power during the height of the Tea Party movement. But not all of the members of this class have voted in the best interest of taxpayers, despite some still claiming the mantle of the Tea Party.

Yesterday, the Club for Growth released a study examining the votes of the class, showing that many have indeed been disappointments:

In the 2010 election, 87 freshmen House Republicans came to Washington pledging fealty to the Tea Party movement and the ideals of limited government and economic freedom. The mainstream media likes to say that the freshman class is the most uncompromising group of fiscal conservatives in history…but just how Tea Party are they? Did all 87 freshmen always vote to cut spending and limit the size of government, or did some of them vote like the big-spending R.I.N.Os of the past?

This study was compiled from the Club for Growth’s Congressional Scorecard, which evaluates lawmakers based upon their commitment to limited government and pro-growth policies. What we found was that while some freshmen have lived up to the promises they made to the tea party movement, dozens of them are big-spenders and are no different from many of the veteran Republicans they serve with.

We covered the Club’s Congressional Scorecard back in March, the results of which were based on dozens of voters related to fiscal issues, including the repeal of ObamaCare, cutting market distorting energy subsidies, and a wide range of spending cuts.

So which members of this freshman class are the best when it comes to protecting the taxpayer from government waste and abuse? Below are the top 10 best, worst, and others of interest:

10 Best Freshman

• Justin Amash (R-MI): 100%
• Tim Huelskamp (R-KS): 100%
• Raul Labrador (R-ID): 100%
• Mick Mulvaney (R-SC): 99%
• Marlin Stutzman (R-IN): 99%
• Joe Walsh (R-IL): 99%
• Ben Quayle (R-AZ): 98%
• Jeff Duncan (R-SC): 97%
• Trey Gowdy (R-SC): 97%
• Dennis Ross (R-FL): 96%

10 Worst Freshman

• Lou Barletta (R-PA): 47%
• Davd Rivera (R-FL): 47%
• Michael Grimm (R-NY): 46%
• Jon Runyan (R-NJ): 45%
• Steve Stivers (R-OH): 45%
• Richard Hanna (R-NY): 44%
• Chris Gibson (R-NY): 44%
• Michael Fitzpatrick (R-PA): 43%
• Bob Dold (R-IL): 42%
• Patrick Meehan (PA-7): 42%
• David McKinley (R-WV): 37%

Other Freshman of Note

• Andy Harris (R-MD): 95%
• Timothy Walberg (R-MI): 86%
• Austin Scott (R-GA): 85%
• Rob Woodall (R-GA): 84%
• Dan Benishek (R-MI): 72%
• Allen West (R-FL): 64%
• Sean Duffy (R-MI): 58%
• Renee Ellmers (R-NC): 59%

Despite his strong, and often pointless, rhetoric, Allen West still remains popular with the Tea Party movement. Rarely do I read where anyone has called him out for his fiscally questionable votes. Oddly enough, I read a lot of criticism of Renee Ellmers, despite the fact her and West are only separated by a few points.

There were a lot of other names that should have gone along with the top 10 listed above. The class has a number of good fiscal conservatives, however, there is also some disappointment, some that were thought to be strong taxpayer advocates, but have otherwise been weak.