NTU's Fiscal "Snapshot" of the 2008 Presidential Race

National Taxpayers Union ^ | National Taxpayers Union

[K-oneTexas]

NTU's Fiscal "Snapshot" of the 2008 Presidential Race

2008 Presidential Race: Fiscal Snapshot of Leading Contenders with a Record In Congress
	1. NTU Congressional Rating – Most Recent Grade and Rating	2. NTU Congressional Rating – Percent of "A" Grades (1992-2007)	3. NTUF Spending Agenda (BillTally) – Most Recent Congress	4. NTUF 2008 Candidate Spending Analyses
Democrats
Barack Obama (IL)	F (5%)	0%	+$40.5 billion	$343.6 billion [updated analysis in PDF]
Republicans
John McCain (AZ)	A (88%)5	67%	+$8.8 billion	$68.5 billion [updated analysis in PDF]
Notes: 1. NTU Congressional Rating – 2007 Grade and Rating – NTU's Rating presents a comprehensive picture of the fiscal records of these Members. Unlike those of other organizations, NTU's annual Rating does not simplistically focus on only a handful of equally-weighted "key votes." NTU's Rating is based on every roll call vote affecting fiscal policy (in 2007, NTU included 182 Senate votes and 427 House votes), and assigns a "Taxpayer Score" to each Member of Congress that indicates his or her commitment to reducing or controlling federal spending, taxes, debt, and regulation. 2. NTU Congressional Rating – Percent of "A" Grades (1992-2007) – This is the number of times, expressed as a percentage, that these Members achieved an "A" on NTU's annual Rating over the course of their careers since 1992. See Note 1 for a description of the NTU Rating methodology. 3. National Taxpayers Union Foundation's (NTUF) BillTally – BillTally determines the dollar cost of lawmakers' agendas. BillTally tabulates the cost or savings of every piece of spending legislation introduced in either House of Congress during each two-year session and cross-indexes these figures with the sponsorship and cosponsorship records of every Member of Congress. BillTally thus produces for each Senator and Representative the amount (expressed in dollars) of their legislative agenda. The numbers represent the annual change in federal spending that would occur if all the legislation sponsored or cosponsored by that Member were enacted into law. The data presented in this table is for the entire 109th Congress. 4. National Taxpayers Union Foundation's (NTUF) Presidential Candidate Spending Analyses – NTUF tallies the spending associated with the campaign promises made by the presidential candidates. NTUF assumes the most conservative cost estimates of federal outlays based on a variety of sources, including the candidates' own projections; summaries from the Congressional Budget Office, Congressional Research Service, and the White House Office of Management and Budget; and results from equivalent legislation from NTUF's BillTally cost accounting system. 5. Senator McCain's score is from 2006. In 2007, the Senator voted on 50%, or less, of the weighted total of votes cast. A score and grade were not issued.

[K-oneTexas]

There are two interesting and well written/researched articles in Newsmax, June 2008 print issue: 'Obamanomics' pages 50-53; Obama's Policies: Point by Point', pages 54-57.

I have not been able to find them online.

[Always Right]

Obama is gonna make Jimmy Carter look like a great president.

[Norman Bates]

The contrast could hardly be starker

The McCain List.