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Thanks for the link...

Obviously, Club for Growth must have different standards and priorities for ranking “Conservative.” Some of this looks like a Paulite standard. Any group that would give Justin Amash #1 is going to be questionable. I don’t trust Amash, and his going to bat for the Iranian President against a joke made by McCain was outright bizarre.

I know for a fact that Scott DesJarlais (ranked 107th), despite his personal problems of the past, is the most Conservative member from my state of TN, yet this list has Stephen Fincher, who is establishment-leaning and takes gov’t subsidies despite being quite wealthy, as the “best” from TN. Cassidy of LA, the leading challenger to Landrieu, is a RINO to the point that I’ve accused him of being a ringer for her next year, yet he ranks at 77.

Allen West at 106th place, below RINO Pete Sessions of TX ?

Matheson jumped from 42% to 68% for an election year by their reckoning (which again contradicts the ACU, which says he is still in the low 40s). That simply doesn’t pass the smell test, either. Many of the Dems appear to have “doubled” their scores from the prior year, but there certainly has been no movement from the caucus in reality to be headed in the right direction (if anything, the GOP moving left — and your hypothesis that Congress isn’t nearly as Conservative as some think is actually correct).

In any event, we’re probably better off getting an amalgamation of the scores from different groups to rank individuals (and I’d even take into account public statements beyond just their voting records). Even the ACU gets a bit odd with its ratings from year to year.

I’ve been saying for a decade now that a combination of several vote ratings would be better than anu one rating. I prefer to average the “conservative score” for 6 ratings that appear in Barone’s Almanac. Three of the ratings sre by conservative groups (ACU, Club for Growth andFamily Research Council), and the other three are from liberal groups (ADA, AFSCME and League of Conservation Voters),, so I first subtract the liberal score from 100 to get a conservative score (e.g., an ADA score of 68% is equivalent to a conservative score of 32).

I’ve been a fan of the Club for Growth but if they’re “pro-growth scorecard” for 2012 ranks Matheston as more “pro-growth” than conservative Republicans such as John Shimkus and Erik Paulson I have to question their criteria for that year.

And I know we like to hate people like Eric Cantor (also rated below Matheson for 2012) Matheson but that is also a friggin joke to pretend Matheston is half as conservative as him even in a single election year when he was running scared.

As DJ has pointed out Club for Growth’s lifetime ratings gives Matheson a 42%, (Shimkus a 72%).

I used to rely on ACU ratings, they’ve had some weird numbers in recent years though. And the current 2012 ratings are only available in the form of a “scribd” page where they appear sideways. WTF? Their operation has gotten pretty shoddy.

Still, their lifetime ratings for longtime members are still fairly decent, I would say. Shimkus get’s an 87. Matheson gets a 40. That’s on par or slightly worse than the most liberal RINOs to serve in Congress. Pre-party switch Jim Jeffords and former Maryland House Liberal Connie Morella are the only Republicans I’ve seen with lifetime scores under 40 from ACU. Arlen Specter as a Republican got 44% lifetime.

And let’s not forget, he votes against his party on some things on purpose in an ongoing effort to fool idiots in his district into thinking he’s less liberal than he is and voting for him. He’d vote half as conservative as he does now if his district wasn’t heavily Republican. And he’d vote down the line moonbat if he had the good fortune (for him) to represent a safely rat seat. Let’s also not forget the most important thing, all democrats are DEMOCRATS who support having democrat organization of the House which means MOONBAT MAJORITIES on every committee. So the most conservative rat (which is not Matheson) is still a filthy traitor to this country for the first 2 votes they cast every 2 years (for Speaker and for House rules).

I believe AuH2ORepublican uses his own personal formula that combines various organizational rankings.